︎ PROMO ︎
Our first print advertisement was a Call for Submissions. We wanted to cover all the doors of the graphic design studios to make sure everyone saw it. Ed Fella left a note on this studio door so we decided to put it on the wall next to it.
Our advertising goal was to go big or go home. Our plan to save money and create less waste (than the traditional silkscreened promotions), was to create large tiled posters on recyclable materials. Instead of spreading our reach, we would just create a small number of very big impacts.
For our first poster, we planned to hang it in a common staircase that the majority of students pass by on a daily basis. We were fortunate that CalArts has such a small campus that most students pass by the same common areas. We started by tiling together larger chunks to save tape and make the process easier.
Our next poster was placed in the design program’s hallway. While mostly designers would pass by there, there are also dance and theater studios nearby. The purpose of this poster was to let the designers know what was up, though.
The final poster was by far our most ambitious poster to date. We wanted to cover the wall near the cafeteria, which happens is also the most popular common space of CalArts. Most students will pass by this area whether or not they are eating a meal there. We called for help from a couple of our friends who were still awake at midnight and got to work.
︎ PRINTING ︎
For the first time in several years, we reached out to the alum network for designs as well. We were hoping to create a sort of homecoming with this year’s T-Shirt Show. In return, we received a total of almost 50 designs from students, alumni, and faculty of the CalArts Graphic Design Program. While we were planning on printing every design we received, due to our limited budget, we had to cut out a couple. We ended up printing 45 different designs.
The shirts and totes that we sell for T-Shirt Show are designed and printed by students every year. Four of us stayed up until 4 AM for two days printing all of our designs. After over 20 hours, we finished all 45 designs. Most of the designs got 13 shirts as well as 2 tote bags. We also printed on yellow paper for a catalogue book we made and sold.
(My design on a tote bag)
(Designs by Alex Irit, Ben Woodlock, Bryan Gelderbloom, Ed Fella, Ethan Östling, Jacob Halpern, Jessica Peng, Loren Brown, and Spencer Abrams)
︎ THE BIG DAY ︎
Finally, the big day had come. We had recruited several students to help us with selling the day of T-Shirt Show.
We started with creating one last tiled poster that showed all of the designs we were selling that day. We also had individual sheets that showed all the designs so people could choose while in line.
In the end, we sold out of 30+ of our designs, with very few of the leftover designs. We also were selling leftover shirts from previous years for half the price. In total, we earned around $4,000 for our program.
︎ THANKS FOR VIEWING ︎