What online source was that? We have a our shirts on CafePress but we haven't actually bought any yet. Hopefully the bad source wasn't them.

Cormac McInnean
Ollamh Gobae (Mastersmith)
Ancient Celtic Clans

We used Zazzle at Christmas. The shirts weren't what I was expecting from "premium". It was synthetic, had a weird finish to it and just felt strange. They don't provide a whole lot of detail on the type or brand of garments they are using.

I have been looking at a few different places online today. Hanes Beefy Tees are the gold standard of quality T-shirts around here, but they tend to be pricey. Many sites are using American Apparel, Fruit of the Loom and Gildan. Anyone have any input on those brands? I've really just scratched the surface but I have been looking at customink.com, spreadshirt.com, and brokenarrowwear.com so far. I'd like to get an idea of how many and what sizes and styles everyone would want so I can get some realistic qoutes to present at the next meeting.

The place that we got them printed up last time was right next to the Bluepoint Brewery. (wonder how I found that place) They do inkjet printing, so there is no set up fee, and they can do any and all colors. It was pretty affordable, too.

Personally, I'd rather spend a few extra bucks on a shirt to get the better quality material that the Hanes Beefy T's seem to offer. The last batch of shirts, in the dark brown, were a great quality and I believe these were the Hanes shirts.

I haven't ordered yet from Cafepress either though I do have a shop :)

But their T shirts do say they are Hanes, and at least the long sleeved one said Hanes Beefy, if that's at all helpful.

The benefit to putting your T shirt art on Cafepress is that it can go on multiple products, and folks can pick and choose what might be best for them. And folks like me can get in on the cool art too! :)

~Sionnain

Although I do like the convienience of cafepress, I don't think it's really right for our group. First, I like the idea that once thy sell out, there is no more. I wear the clan shirts all the time, so I buy 5 at a time, just for myself. If I had the option of getting it whenever, I would get one here or there. I also like the idea of walking away with the product in my hand. I've used the shirts as gifts to people who have done something for the clan or have made an extra effort to make the event more. I think it's better hancing it to someone then telling them it's shipping, or whatever.

By the way, are we doing shirts?

I sort of like the idea of being able to reorder a favorite when it wears out.
My all time favorite is the 2001 gray heather shirt, and I'm afraid to wear it because it will wear out!

Custom Ink looks like a more reasonable deal. They actually tell you what product you're buying (ie: you can order a Hanes Beefy Tee in a whole mess of colors). They also have 1 through full color printing on front and back, and the price goes down as you increase quantity. (I got a quote for $12.40 for 20 Hanes Beefys with 2 color printing on front)

Guthrum hasn't mentioned it here, but the last shirts used a superior printing process (not silk screening) so an online house needs to be asked whether they would offer that as well.

I've been working on several ideas, and Vollund and I might be getting together sometime this week if we can work it out. Personally, I feel strongly that the shirts should always have some archaeologically correct Celtic element. I'm not a big fan of the Green Man or other such Celtic revival motifs. Vollund and I have spoken and he agrees. At Imbolc we discussed using art from ancient Celtic and Roman coins, or stone carvings. One idea I had was to trace out the La Tene patterns on the Battersea shield and do something with it, maybe color it or otherwise mess with it in some fashion. I did this today just to see what it would look like. The design was done in Illustrator and then brought over to Photoshop for coloring. There are a couple images of the Battersea shield in the galleries already. I also like the design used at the top of this thread for TdB Bardic Circle, but I think I want to make shirts out of that for the Bardic Circle folks only :)

Battersea inspired I updated this a little and replaced the old one. I changed the year from Roman numerals into 2008, and changed the outer colors a bit so the curvilinear pattern is more pronounced. I didn't change the color palatte at all though. Then I also changed the pattern at top and bottom a bit. One thing folks with sharp eyes will notice is that I have not included the swastikas that originally graced the embossed circles on the artifact itself.

Are you thinking about the same colors, or different for the shirt? Also, would it have the same front and back, or just one side? I very much want a Bardic Circle shirt.