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The Dark Elf wrote:A post in one place for T-Shirt ideas and feedback....

Greetings and Salutations. Well okay, I guess I'll add my thoughts into the mix, and like many of my posts this could be lengthy and wordy (so try to bear with me).

Colors: Black, Gray (various shades), and White colors will be the safest and probably sell best. They mix well with a variety of clothing. Next I'd go with blues, and generally darker shades being better. Darker colors come closer to that black feel, while still adding some variety into the mix. For example, the navy blue Game Master t-shirt (cyborg with chainsaw) is a shirt I'll wear out, because I like the color. Though, on a personal note, Rifts t-shirts aren't really my thing (as I've never really gotten into the setting). And note to Dark Elf, if you find the right shade of navy blue, it can mesh with other navy blue (such as dark blue jeans or slacks). At least that's my personal opinion on the matter.

Design vs. Color: Simply adding in a color isn't always enough. I'll use the red Panther Shark t-shirt as my example. There's already been two comments in this thread about how they wouldn't buy/wear it. I'm in the same position (though, again, I'm not really a Rifts guy so the Panther Shark doesn't do that much for me in the first place). The color red kind of stands out, and it doesn't really highlight the picture. Now, I do (and will continue to do so) wear Flash t-shirts of the same color, and I would (but don't have any that color) wear a Spiderman t-shirt that color. Why? What's the difference? With the Flash and Spiderman, that color helps represent the character. I see that red, the symbol on it, and I go: "That's the Flash!" When they put that symbol on a black t-shirt (for instance), I won't buy it (yes, I know there's a Black Flash, but that's not my character), though I do know there are people who will (hey, it's black, and it sells, I won't deny that). The choice of color and the image need to compliment each other, not feel random. The panther shark (to go back to it) feels like a random image on a random color. Neither are bad in their own right, but they don't work together to make me want to buy it either.

To give a Palladium example of a color I think can compliment an image, I'll use the classic Ley Line Walker image from Rifts (the color one). Put it on a light blue t-shirt (as close in color as possible), maybe call it "Ley Line Blue" (for promotional, because it helps the reader sync the color with the feel). Throw in a slogan something like: "Explore the Magic of Role-Playing" (or the Megaverse, whatever). Magic, Ley Line Walker, that Blue ... and they're all kind of working together to make the others better (in my opinion). The "Hell Was Full" t-shirt could've probably worked in more of a red. Hell you think fire, heat, rage ... red! The background image even had some reddish tones, and it's all working together. Granted, I'm sure it works fine in black (though I admit seeing it on black just felt ... off to me, and never really captured my attention). I'm just discussing how color and images can work together, and using that as one more example (I'm not suggesting to redo it).

An interesting idea (to me at least) could've even been doing the companies/brands such as Northern Gun, Wilks, NE, etc. as different colors. Each company having their own color/theme. Wilks black, Northern Gun cobalt blue (based on the limited edition hardcovers), etc. Now, I admit that selling them all in black will probably still sell better. If two companies are enemies/rivals, make one blue and one red and let fans start making Red vs. Blue type jokes. The overall concept though is that a color isn't enough. The color (to me) needs to represent something more and help get the fans invested not only in that image, but in the color as well. I don't just want a Panther Shark on a red t-shirt, I want to say: "That color, with that image, [bleep] yeah I want that!" Note: I don't know the Panther Shark too well truth be told, but my natural instinct is that it would've worked best on a shark gray type t-shirt, maybe a bit darker. Glitter Boy ... another gray (not sure the exact shade, but one that can give the closest feel/representation of chrome). With black and white pictures, this can be hard to nail down a color unless it's explicitly described somewhere, but can still go for a tone/feel (red being anger, fire, blood, with probably more of a horror type feel).

Favorite T-Shirts: My favorite t-shirts from Palladium (just to give an idea of things that you've done and, to me, worked and why) are the PF Living the Fantasy (while this is black again, the black and red give that feel of the classic PF cover), both Dead Reign t-shirts (I liked the "Relax, it's not the end of the world or anything" slogan, and the guy in a gas mask on a horse is just an awesome picture, admittedly). I'd wear the Game Master navy blue cyborg with chainsaw one if I liked the image more (again, I'm just not that into Rifts as I'm more of a PF guy, though I acknowledge Rifts is the big seller), but I do like the color.

Anyways, I guess that's all for now. Hopefully some of that helped. Thank you for your time and patience, please have a nice day. Farewell and safe journeys to all.

Spinachcat wrote:

The Dark Elf wrote:OMG Im at the opposite end of this spectrum.

And that's cool! But that's why PB needs a variety of shirts - mellow to extreme.

But...would you like to GM your next PF game wearing this?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Anne-Strokes-Dr ... 1244724506

No! Eghads no. I wouldn't want to wear that in general.

Um ... I mean ... Greetings and Salutations. I will admit that everyone has different tastes. If there were enough people who wanted that kind of thing, I'd be all for Palladium making them, though I personally think they look tacky and wouldn't buy one. I didn't like the Star Wars one posted earlier either, for the record.

As Wooly mentioned Splicers, I got to thinking and started looking at Chuck Walton's DeviantArt page because ... well, at this point I think many of us think of him when we think of Splicers. I've never even played Splicers and think of his art every time the setting is mentioned. First, if they were going to do a Splicers T-Shirt, I'd imagine something like this ...

http://chuckwalton.deviantart.com/art/S ... -325128632

My first instinct was to look for a color that matched the sky (in between the clouds, that dull bluish color with maybe a hint of green), but that's a tough t-shirt color to find (from the quick, half-hearted look I gave). On the other hand, I think it does look good on Navy Blue. I think the Navy Blue can help bring out the dark shades of blue on the bot, but that's my opinion and others may vary. I was going to do a sample picture, but couldn't come up with any good slogans. Splicers isn't my setting of choice so I couldn't come up with anything witty, and "The Splice Must Flow" (which is often used on these boards) would probably result in some copyright issues. So I just linked the image instead.

However, while browsing his page I did come across a different image that I think is interesting. I realize it's not Palladium (and as such the image itself wouldn't be an option), but more like it got me thinking.

http://chuckwalton.deviantart.com/art/D ... -311391727

Again, while this image couldn't be used, it's merely an example of an idea. To kind of mesh the ideas of the full t-shirt being used, I could see something like this working. Darker colors gives it not such an "OMG! Look at me!" feel (in my opinion). However, there's more to it than that. Have the front the humans (one side of the battle) with the slogan like: "It's us" ... then the dark scenery transitions to the back (using both sides, but no real images other than transition images) and on the back have the monster (or the other side of the battle) with the slogan like: "Or them!" I think something like that could use the sublimated shirts idea while remaining lower key. As an example, my wife bought me this t-shirt (or one very similar) and it's something I wear:

https://www.thepippinpatch.co.uk/upload ... _w750.jpeg

Look at the sleeves, for example. You can tell it's not a single color, it still has a pattern to it and not just a solid color. Yet it's not super busy either. So I'm referring to a smoother transition like that (as an example) that works to the back. The shirt can have two images, but has a meaning (two sides to a battle, two sides to the shirt, etc.). That's my opinion at least, take it for what you will. Farewell and safe journeys for now.