* * * Please convert your fonts to outlines before submitting your t-shirt entries! Failure to do so will result in your shirt being rejected from the contest. * * *
The creator of Typop is trying to ensure victory with these beauties. But the original Typop still remains the strongest because of it's bold use of color. Hello (last of this bunch) is also great.
i'm liking the typop stuff the best too, the good stuff seems to be few and far between. i'm wondering if there's even more of a backlog of entries, i sent mine in on the 15th and it's not up yet.
I'm not sold on "Hello". It reminds me too much of a Hot Topic-ish "Hi my name is: Slim Shady" shirt. It _is_ a good shirt, it just has has an unfortunate predecessor.
I've seen alot of personalized shirts kits happening lately. I could be cooler if the signing on the shirt had more to do with typography - like say, offers a myriad of new characters on a heat-transfer letraset or something.
I once had this idea where you have a blank sweatshirt and a complete alphabet of "university-style" letters that attach to the shirt, so you could spell out "UCLA" when you're visiting Boston or "NYU" when you're in Paris... :-) Anyway.
from following the submmissions and comments I think its simply a short form of the word Typophile, perhaps a hipper version, anagrams and such were discussed a couple days ago and typop was mentioned.
Who knows what typop really means. Maybe it stands for the popularization of typography. Suppose we make up our own meaning for it. Although it lacks a clever or deep concept, people would still wear it. It's well crafted and it would promote Typophile.com better than most. Whoever designed it kept in mind the immediacy that a shirt of this kind needs and the importance of making it print friendly. The design isn't too big, nor doesn't it have a lot of important detail and it smartly uses the two or three colors afforded. There are a few other excellent designs that have also been made with these things in mind.
Maybe we should have a contest to guess how old Hrant is.
> Who knows what typop really means. Maybe it > stands for the popularization of typography. > Suppose we make up our own meaning for it. > Although it lacks a clever or deep concept, > people would still wear it. It's well crafted > and it would promote Typophile.com better > than most.
I don't care as much for the "Typop" submissions. The "Typop" logotype looks cool, to be sure, but I don't understand what it means either. If the idea of the shirts is to promote Typophile.com (even if only among our own group), it seems to me that this approach doesn't accomplish the goal. It seems an unnatural abbreviation, void of any reason other than arbitrariness.
If even we don't know what it means, how can we expect an everyday viewer to understand it? And if they don't understand it, I don't see how it would effectively communicate or promote Typophile.com.
Just my opinion. I love the letterforms, but I don't think the design works. I think that several other submissions suffer the same problem, by the way -- certainly not just this one.
I agree, David. I think people forget that design is meant to be the bridge between message and audience. It is meant to craft the medium in an effort to facilitate or focus understanding. By putting design ahead of the message (such is the case with the "typop" submissions as well as many others) meaning is essentially subverted. In these instances we're really talking about decoration and not design.
I think that Typop is a link between Type and Pop (a kind of art, remember?) and and abbreviation of Typophile. (it is not so difficult to understand guys!)
there's a term we use at work "retro strategizing"
when we design before thinking and then go back and justify why the design is cool and works.
I would suspect that alot of these have been retro-strategized while the designers toy around on their computers. On the other hand there's an intuitive aspect that validates the designs for some schools of thought. Depends what side you sit on
I think you guys are analyzing this too much. For what reason, I'm not sure.
Typop is just a clever shortening of typophile, and the 'Pop' part finds echoes in Pop Culture, Sub Pop records (nirvana's original label), Yum Pop clothing (hypercute japanese flava), and of course, Pop Tarts breakfast treats. Pop is just a cool word. It pops.
These are Tshirts, c'mon now.
People aren't going to see a shirt with a website address printed on it and sprint to their browsers. We have a highly specialized auidence What this is more about is finding a Tshirt that *we* will REALLY ACTUALLY BUY, something we wouldn't be ashamed to wear because it is, for lack of a better word, cool. BUYING the judge's choice helps ensure that typophile is still here in five years.
My favorite so far is 18.008/ and I like Typop, but if I was submitting it to this contest, I'd flip the 'o' and lose the little boy icon in favor of something more typographic -- remember *who* is judging. I think they are all over 30.
Also, Jared/Joe, the contestants need to know how revisions and variations are viewed by the judges. Could Typop variations and revisions have the effect of splitting his own votes? (I'm assuming 'he' because I saw the little boy icon on his website a while back.)
Are the revisions 'swapped out' for the originals when it's time to judge?
Are the judges under the impression that Tshirt colors are flexible, thus picking the *design* they like best, regardless of Tshirt color and design colorway?
Well, with a couple of exceptions, Tshirts are always made to be sold. That is the case here. A person wearing a Tshirt is a 'walking billboard' but if I mention Typophile to someone (friend, wife, etc.) they are like, huh?
Not that Typop will win or won't win, but that kind of shirt will get worn with more frequency than another -- possibly. And thus, promote Typophile well.
Also, a shirt like El Typophile, which shows some nice craft, might not sell as well to US TYPOPHILES as something more 'pop'.
So hopefully the judges choice will represent a balance of typopgraphic faithfulness and coolness, or pop.
bj: "These are Tshirts, c'mon now...something we wouldn't be ashamed to wear because it is, for lack of a better word, cool."
that idea defines my retro-stratigizing term. Its just a product, its just a game, its just a logo, its just collateral? Everything is 'just' then. This contest offers a unique opportunity to create something for a specific market. If I just wanted a cool t-shirt then I'd suggest typophile cancel the contest altogether, hire & sell some retail labels that are already determined 'cool' instead of going through an ardous task of finding cool, which could flop because well - "cool" will change with the next pop star endorsement.
haha - the forms "Chase" each other...I just had an image of someone chasing themselves round and round in circles. I'm sure that's a good image to reflect when you run a bank.
anywho, your right, the contest is a promotion thing....damn, and they all want to be the next cool person who wins...hmm maybe I am thinking too hard about this
Okay, after a little thinking, I want to retro-strategize® something I said. All the analysis...that means people care and that's a good thing!
But...>>> Tanya: "If I just wanted a cool t-shirt then I'd suggest typophile cancel the contest altogether, hire & sell some retail labels that are already determined 'cool' instead ..."
Besides self promotion, the Typophile Tee Shirt Contest will also provide *us* the opportunity to support Typophile when we buy the winning t-shirt design. Bandwith is not free. + All the time Joe and Jared spend on the site. Having a contest like this, as some kind of annual contest that provides Bandwith Revenue, will ensure that Typophile is around for a long time.
Everybody wants that.
I don't know if the judges have a mandate, but I hope that they pick a 'cool' design that typophiles will buy as opposed to an obscure design that people hate.
Who wouldn't want that?
Maybe we have different ideas of what the term 'cool' means. I don't mean 'trendy' or 'lowest-common denominator', I mean something people, us, would BUY. Maybe the word 'appealing' is better. (retro-strategizing® the use of the trite word 'cool')
>>Tanya: This contest offers a unique opportunity to create something for a specific market.
Exactly. Design with a purpose. Consider your audience. Because it's a contest, consider your judges. And consider the utility that your design will provide. So, somebody, anybody, knock off the current favorite designs with something amazing, something typopgraphic, something that won't need retro-strategized® in the morning.
A design like Typop might actually _stimulate conversation_ better than a design that spells everything out....like it has done here. Hey dude, What's Typop, What's Typop? If you're wearing the shirt, is there any better 'lead-in' to discuss typography.
That being said, I hope we see a lot more entries that give Typop a run.
The final shirt will be a means to support Typophile financially. And for that to happen, the shirt has to appeal to the Typophile community. And we hope people will buy it because it's cool, not merely to support our bandwidth bills.
The shirt is absolutely not a means to generate site traffic or promote Typophile. This wouldn't be that effective a means anyway. (And it's why we haven't required the ".com" on them. It cheapens it.)
Even though "Typop" is not my favorite shirt, it's successful for the amount of discussion it has created.
I don't think the objective of this contest is to "sell typophile" or even "pick a cool design that typophiles will buy". It seems much more about communication and creating a forum in which ideas and thoughts are easily exchanged.
I'm taking from this contest what I've learned by reading the comments in the forums and looking at the designs. Who wins is not that important.
If you really think this is about selling shirts or typophile then you should tell people to read the forums, enter the contest and get involved. A t-shirt is just a t-shirt.
I don't think a word like Typop would stimulate a conversation any more than the word Typophile all spelled out. Until about two weeks ago I didn't even know about this site so both words would mean absolutely nothing to me. I would have exactly the same curiosity about a shirt that spelled Typop or Typophile. As long as the design has a good concept behind it, catches somebody's eye and springs curiosity the person will come to visit this site and maybe buy a shirt whether the shirt spells Typophile, Typop, Typhopile, Typhileop, etc...
Didn't you read what Joe just wrote? There's really no point at all in getting more people to visit the site. Maybe Typophile is now sold-out, and there's simply no room... But wait: Even like music concerts that *are* physically sold-out continue to promote and advertise... I wonder why.
Dude, what "conversation"? How often do people stop a guy in a cool shirt to ask him what it's about?! If you mean conversation at the workplace (where it can be presumed that other people are also interested in fonts), then you don't need a shirt - you just tell the guy about Typophile when you get a chance.
In general, you see a cool shirt, it motivates you to remember it, and perhaps soon do something about it. Like visit the friggin' site! And assuming we want people actually interested in type to *"collaborate"* with us, then it also helps if he can figure out what the site might be about...
- Hrant, maybe this is rhetoric, but why must you continue to rabble rouse? If you don't like the fact that nobody has commented positively on your designs, then do something better. It seems that you are trying to harm the process, a process that doesn't care much for the designs you have submitted. Are the two related?
Do you care about Typophile, specifically, or is this 'just another forum' to you?
You should care. You are the most prolific Typophile here. Millions of pixels owe their life to you.
it's simple, this site needs funds to survive. they get thousands of hits. that eats bandwith. that costs money. they are NOT putting money in their pockets. their putting money in their IP's pockets. Of course they want new people to come. Do you really believe otherwise?
If you want to try to hyperanalyze every pixel and find sinister motives, then that's your choice. That's what these forums are for. But don't forget what you always talk about: consequences of behavior.
I know I could never expect to get a last word in, so I'm going to go have fun today. fyi, it's nice today in our neck of the city. maybe i'll see you at the park.
Typophile is just as interesting a word - why change the name. Perhaps we're finding the word typop interesting because its new to *us*
'Typophile' is the id we're trying to promote and it will be new to well...new people. conversation about 'what is a typophile..?' will spring just as well if not better. At very least, when we buy a "typophile' shirt we'll all be able to explain it rather then saying I donno what Typop means but I bought it from Typophile cause its cool...I think its just an abreviation.
Hey guys and gals. I was one of those dot com casualties. I thought I was going with a good thing and now I'm doing side work to stay afloat. I am working on several designs for this competition. I hope to win like everyone else. The money could come in handy too. I disagree with Tim Lee who said whoever wins is not that important. Why should some one enter this competition. I saw all the designs. Some people don't care it seems if they win or lose. I would have put the names on thse inital posts. That way you would have more quality over quantity. People wouldnt put their name on some of the designs. I dont exactly know how to capture the essence of typophile. Its a forum to discuss type and design. There are a lot of those on the internet. I'm unsure about what the judges are looking for. Some of them are type designers so the type should be topnotch. NOt Arial or Times. I agree with Joe Pemberton that putting a dot com on a shirt (like www.dotcom.com) is so "three years ago" Every one three years ago was proudly wearing their dot bomb shirts on casual Fridays and weekends. It was a big joke if you ask me. People walking into the grocery store wearing their dot bomb shirts. It was like showing off. Now you wouldnt be caught dead wearing a dot bomb shirt. As for people visiting the site. I don't think non-designers give a whip. But every designer should at least stop by. That would be my target demographic. Especially a lot of these web designers who track Arial or Helvetica tight and think that is design. Then if you are at a party with other web designers then I would wear it. If it was a party with the regular population I wouldn't wear it. I think if the winning design is reeeeeely good then people would approach and say nice shirt buddy but I dont think theyd pull out a pen and write down www.typophile.com and then get home and check it out first thing. Thats a stretch. I think peoplemake fun of any shirt now that says www.something.com. Do I haaaaave to do that I look foward to seeing my designs posted. It seems like theres a huge backlog.
I don't know what to say... Everyone reads these posts the way they want too. Similarly, everyone reacts to a t-shirt design differently.
I just don't think the success of this contest should be judged on what "tee" we pick. If you look at the amount of people who decided to participate and share their opinions, it is a success.
I think Anna (Go2sea) is a great example. Two weeks ago she didn't know abou this site, but now she does. And even better, she is involved.
I still don't think the outcome is as important as the way we "play the game".
A month ago I had never heard of typophile, I can't even remember where I had heard about it... Now I'm here I'm going to stick around. If you are a designer and your truly interested in typography then I'm sure you would want to stick around too. I think this competition is an amazing opportunity for the great typographers and graphic designers of typophile to show off their craft in the best possible way and assist the creators spread the word to other like-minded designers.
and .... Typop can raise eyebrows on here and generate interest but would it in the real world?
Who's Online:
There are currently 23 users and 84 guests online.
User login
New to Typophile? Accounts are free, and easy to set up.
20.Aug.2002 10.53am
* * * Please convert your fonts to outlines before submitting your t-shirt entries! Failure to do so will result in your shirt being rejected from the contest. * * *
20.Aug.2002 10.53am
20.Aug.2002 12.55pm
35.001-002 / Typop is at it for round two!
35.010 / Hello is cool.
35.007, I hate typeos. =)
20.Aug.2002 2.10pm
Harsh.
20.Aug.2002 5.21pm
Harsh? Naw, just a play on words -- or typos, in
this case...
20.Aug.2002 8.29pm
Just for all the doubters TYPOP is still going... and its even cooler this time!!
20.Aug.2002 8.31pm
I kinda dig the suitcase one
21.Aug.2002 6.16am
I still like the yellow and pink typop better, though.
21.Aug.2002 7.11am
35.007 (back), harsh typo or not?
35.005 is great,
21.Aug.2002 10.42am
The creator of Typop is trying to ensure victory with these beauties. But the original Typop still remains the strongest because of it's bold use of color. Hello (last of this bunch) is also great.
21.Aug.2002 11.14am
i'm liking the typop stuff the best too, the good stuff seems to be few and far between. i'm wondering if there's even more of a backlog of entries, i sent mine in on the 15th and it's not up yet.
21.Aug.2002 12.07pm
I sent mine 14th and 20th and its not up yet too
21.Aug.2002 12.22pm
I'm not sold on "Hello". It reminds me too much of a Hot Topic-ish "Hi my name is: Slim Shady" shirt. It _is_ a good shirt, it just has has an unfortunate predecessor.
21.Aug.2002 12.30pm
I've seen alot of personalized shirts kits happening lately. I could be cooler if the signing on the shirt had more to do with typography - like say, offers a myriad of new characters on a heat-transfer letraset or something.
21.Aug.2002 12.45pm
I once had this idea where you have a blank sweatshirt and a complete alphabet of "university-style" letters that attach to the shirt, so you could spell out "UCLA" when you're visiting Boston or "NYU" when you're in Paris... :-) Anyway.
So, again: WHAT IS "TYPOP"?!
hhp
21.Aug.2002 1.10pm
from following the submmissions and comments I think its simply a short form of the word Typophile, perhaps a hipper version, anagrams and such were discussed a couple days ago and typop was mentioned.
21.Aug.2002 3.27pm
Hello looks like > http://www.peterfunch.com/
21.Aug.2002 3.41pm
using the hello sticker is a common form of grafitti tags as well.
21.Aug.2002 4.13pm
You know what sucks? The biggest effect all these tshirts are having on me is making me feel like an old, uncool fart.
hhp
21.Aug.2002 4.43pm
Jason, Alejandro, we're sitting on a pile of about 45
designs, yet to post. Look for it soon(tm).
Thanks for the Peter Funch link. His photography is great.
21.Aug.2002 7.28pm
Hrant - I was surfing your site today. v.v. far from uncool. that kind of experience and knowledge never grows old, trends and styles do.
21.Aug.2002 7.49pm
(Tanya, thanks.) hhp
21.Aug.2002 8.51pm
What is "Typop"?
hhp
21.Aug.2002 8.51pm
What is "Typop"?
21.Aug.2002 9.16pm
Fast-forward to Act V, Scene ii:
Stephen, don't worry, from your site it's clear that you're a particularly mature pre-teen. ;-)
hhp
21.Aug.2002 9.24pm
Rad. Thanks.
22.Aug.2002 10.15am
Hrant, you feel like an old fart. that is too funny. How about that for a t-shirt design, properly set is a choice typeface.
23.Aug.2002 4.01pm
Who knows what typop really means. Maybe it stands for the popularization of typography. Suppose we make up our own meaning for it. Although it lacks a clever or deep concept, people would still wear it. It's well crafted and it would promote Typophile.com better than most. Whoever designed it kept in mind the immediacy that a shirt of this kind needs and the importance of making it print friendly. The design isn't too big, nor doesn't it have a lot of important detail and it smartly uses the two or three colors afforded. There are a few other excellent designs that have also been made with these things in mind.
Maybe we should have a contest to guess how old Hrant is.
23.Aug.2002 4.08pm
Hrant is 33 or 34.
(The above link lists him as "Person666". Hmm.)
23.Aug.2002 4.43pm
Is my MyFonts ID-number cool or what! I hit the big 2^5 two years ago (real computer geeks count in binary, not wimpy decimal).
BTW, Pablo said *guess*, not *lookup*, you party pooper! ;-)
hhp
23.Aug.2002 4.45pm
I poop all parties.
23.Aug.2002 11.35pm
Thanks for winning that contest Stephen. Even if you did cheat.
24.Aug.2002 2.35am
> Who knows what typop really means. Maybe it
> stands for the popularization of typography.
> Suppose we make up our own meaning for it.
> Although it lacks a clever or deep concept,
> people would still wear it. It's well crafted
> and it would promote Typophile.com better
> than most.
I don't care as much for the "Typop" submissions. The "Typop" logotype looks cool, to be sure, but I don't understand what it means either. If the idea of the shirts is to promote Typophile.com (even if only among our own group), it seems to me that this approach doesn't accomplish the goal. It seems an unnatural abbreviation, void of any reason other than arbitrariness.
If even we don't know what it means, how can we expect an everyday viewer to understand it? And if they don't understand it, I don't see how it would effectively communicate or promote Typophile.com.
Just my opinion. I love the letterforms, but I don't think the design works. I think that several other submissions suffer the same problem, by the way -- certainly not just this one.
What do the rest of you think?
David
24.Aug.2002 9.24am
I agree, David. I think people forget that design is meant to be the bridge between message and audience. It is meant to craft the medium in an effort to facilitate or focus understanding. By putting design ahead of the message (such is the case with the "typop" submissions as well as many others) meaning is essentially subverted. In these instances we're really talking about decoration and not design.
24.Aug.2002 9.27am
David, Christopher:
If you've submitted designs yourselves, I would say one thing to you: Shshsh! :-)
hhp
24.Aug.2002 9.30am
Hrant
24.Aug.2002 9.48am
I think that Typop is a link between Type and Pop (a kind of art, remember?)
and and abbreviation of Typophile. (it is not so difficult to understand guys!)
I dont like this one.
PS: where is day 35th?
24.Aug.2002 9.51am
Yeah, I get the type-pop hybrid, but is typophile really characterized by pop? Doesn't it have broader appeal than that?
24.Aug.2002 9.59am
there's a term we use at work "retro strategizing"
when we design before thinking and then go back and justify why the design is cool and works.
I would suspect that alot of these have been retro-strategized while the designers toy around on their computers.
24.Aug.2002 9.59am
there's a term we use at work "retro strategizing"
when we design before thinking and then go back and justify why the design is cool and works.
I would suspect that alot of these have been retro-strategized while the designers toy around on their computers. On the other hand there's an intuitive aspect that validates the designs for some schools of thought. Depends what side you sit on
24.Aug.2002 10.28am
I think you guys are analyzing this too much. For what reason, I'm not sure.
Typop is just a clever shortening of typophile, and the 'Pop' part finds echoes in Pop Culture, Sub Pop records (nirvana's original label), Yum Pop clothing (hypercute japanese flava), and of course, Pop Tarts breakfast treats. Pop is just a cool word. It pops.
These are Tshirts, c'mon now.
People aren't going to see a shirt with a website address printed on it and sprint to their browsers. We have a highly specialized auidence What this is more about is finding a Tshirt that *we* will REALLY ACTUALLY BUY, something we wouldn't be ashamed to wear because it is, for lack of a better word, cool. BUYING the judge's choice helps ensure that typophile is still here in five years.
My favorite so far is 18.008/ and I like Typop, but if I was submitting it to this contest, I'd flip the 'o' and lose the little boy icon in favor of something more typographic -- remember *who* is judging. I think they are all over 30.
Also, Jared/Joe, the contestants need to know how revisions and variations are viewed by the judges. Could Typop variations and revisions have the effect of splitting his own votes? (I'm assuming 'he' because I saw the little boy icon on his website a while back.)
Are the revisions 'swapped out' for the originals when it's time to judge?
Are the judges under the impression that Tshirt colors are flexible, thus picking the *design* they like best, regardless of Tshirt color and design colorway?
bj
24.Aug.2002 10.41am
I think we're analyzing things because we're designers and that's what designers do
24.Aug.2002 10.47am
yes, Alterpop.com.! You guys have a nice site.
Well, with a couple of exceptions, Tshirts are always made to be sold. That is the case here. A person wearing a Tshirt is a 'walking billboard' but if I mention Typophile to someone (friend, wife, etc.) they are like, huh?
Not that Typop will win or won't win, but that kind of shirt will get worn with more frequency than another -- possibly. And thus, promote Typophile well.
Also, a shirt like El Typophile, which shows some nice craft, might not sell as well to US TYPOPHILES as something more 'pop'.
So hopefully the judges choice will represent a balance of typopgraphic faithfulness and coolness, or pop.
24.Aug.2002 10.59am
I disagree completely -
bj: "These are Tshirts, c'mon now...something we wouldn't be ashamed to wear because it is, for lack of a better word, cool."
that idea defines my retro-stratigizing term. Its just a product, its just a game, its just a logo, its just collateral? Everything is 'just' then. This contest offers a unique opportunity to create something for a specific market. If I just wanted a cool t-shirt then I'd suggest typophile cancel the contest altogether, hire & sell some retail labels that are already determined 'cool' instead of going through an ardous task of finding cool, which could flop because well - "cool" will change with the next pop star endorsement.
24.Aug.2002 11.33am
> retro strategizing
Or post-rationalization.
The biggest case I know of is the Chase Manhattan logo.
http://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0202&L=typo-l&D=0&I=-3&P=30813
Riiight.
> Are the revisions 'swapped out' for the originals when it's time to judge?
I think it should be possible to withdraw a submission (before the deadline).
BTW, BJ, good questions - although second-guessing judges is tricky.
> If I just wanted a cool t-shirt then I'd suggest typophile cancel the ...
Except this contest is a promotion itself!
hhp
24.Aug.2002 11.52am
haha - the forms "Chase" each other...I just had an image of someone chasing themselves round and round in circles. I'm sure that's a good image to reflect when you run a bank.
anywho, your right, the contest is a promotion thing....damn, and they all want to be the next cool person who wins...hmm maybe I am thinking too hard about this
24.Aug.2002 5.20pm
Okay, after a little thinking, I want to retro-strategize® something I said. All the analysis...that means people care and that's a good thing!
But...>>> Tanya: "If I just wanted a cool t-shirt then I'd suggest typophile cancel the contest altogether, hire & sell some retail labels that are already determined 'cool' instead ..."
Besides self promotion, the Typophile Tee Shirt Contest will also provide *us* the opportunity to support Typophile when we buy the winning t-shirt design. Bandwith is not free. + All the time Joe and Jared spend on the site. Having a contest like this, as some kind of annual contest that provides Bandwith Revenue, will ensure that Typophile is around for a long time.
Everybody wants that.
I don't know if the judges have a mandate, but I hope that they pick a 'cool' design that typophiles will buy as opposed to an obscure design that people hate.
Who wouldn't want that?
Maybe we have different ideas of what the term 'cool' means. I don't mean 'trendy' or 'lowest-common denominator', I mean something people, us, would BUY. Maybe the word 'appealing' is better. (retro-strategizing® the use of the trite word 'cool')
>>Tanya: This contest offers a unique opportunity to create something for a specific market.
Exactly. Design with a purpose. Consider your audience. Because it's a contest, consider your judges. And consider the utility that your design will provide. So, somebody, anybody, knock off the current favorite designs with something amazing, something typopgraphic, something that won't need retro-strategized® in the morning.
bj
24.Aug.2002 5.42pm
> I hope that they pick a 'cool' design that typophiles will buy
But it also has to sell Typophile, not just please the buyer. Otherwise its windfall will be restricted to the revenue from shirt sales.
hhp
24.Aug.2002 6.02pm
>> But it also has to sell Typophile.
A given Hrant, but here's a twist...
A design like Typop might actually _stimulate conversation_ better than a design that spells everything out....like it has done here. Hey dude, What's Typop, What's Typop? If you're wearing the shirt, is there any better 'lead-in' to discuss typography.
That being said, I hope we see a lot more entries that give Typop a run.
bj
24.Aug.2002 6.03pm
BJ is on the right track with his comments.
The final shirt will be a means to support
Typophile financially. And for that to happen,
the shirt has to appeal to the Typophile
community. And we hope people will buy it because
it's cool, not merely to support our bandwidth
bills.
The shirt is absolutely not a means to generate
site traffic or promote Typophile. This wouldn't
be that effective a means anyway. (And it's why
we haven't required the ".com" on them. It
cheapens it.)
24.Aug.2002 7.16pm
Merde alors.
hhp
24.Aug.2002 10.08pm
Even though "Typop" is not my favorite shirt, it's successful for the amount of discussion it has created.
I don't think the objective of this contest is to "sell typophile" or even "pick a cool design that typophiles will buy". It seems much more about communication and creating a forum in which ideas and thoughts are easily exchanged.
I'm taking from this contest what I've learned by reading the comments in the forums and looking at the designs. Who wins is not that important.
If you really think this is about selling shirts or typophile then you should tell people to read the forums, enter the contest and get involved. A t-shirt is just a t-shirt.
24.Aug.2002 10.13pm
A t-shirt is just a t-shirt...
I prefer mine blank.
24.Aug.2002 10.53pm
I don't think a word like Typop would stimulate a conversation any more than the word Typophile all spelled out. Until about two weeks ago I didn't even know about this site so both words would mean absolutely nothing to me. I would have exactly the same curiosity about a shirt that spelled Typop or Typophile. As long as the design has a good concept behind it, catches somebody's eye and springs curiosity the person will come to visit this site and maybe buy a shirt whether the shirt spells Typophile, Typop, Typhopile, Typhileop, etc...
25.Aug.2002 9.20am
> the person will come to visit this site
Didn't you read what Joe just wrote? There's really no point at all in getting more people to visit the site. Maybe Typophile is now sold-out, and there's simply no room... But wait: Even like music concerts that *are* physically sold-out continue to promote and advertise... I wonder why.
hhp
25.Aug.2002 9.36am
> stimulate conversation
Dude, what "conversation"?
How often do people stop a guy in a cool shirt to ask him what it's about?! If you mean conversation at the workplace (where it can be presumed that other people are also interested in fonts), then you don't need a shirt - you just tell the guy about Typophile when you get a chance.
In general, you see a cool shirt, it motivates you to remember it, and perhaps soon do something about it. Like visit the friggin' site! And assuming we want people actually interested in type to *"collaborate"* with us, then it also helps if he can figure out what the site might be about...
hhp
25.Aug.2002 10.42am
- Hrant, maybe this is rhetoric, but why must you continue to rabble rouse? If you don't like the fact that nobody has commented positively on your designs, then do something better. It seems that you are trying to harm the process, a process that doesn't care much for the designs you have submitted. Are the two related?
Do you care about Typophile, specifically, or is this 'just another forum' to you?
You should care. You are the most prolific Typophile here. Millions of pixels owe their life to you.
it's simple, this site needs funds to survive. they get thousands of hits. that eats bandwith. that costs money. they are NOT putting money in their pockets. their putting money in their IP's pockets. Of course they want new people to come. Do you really believe otherwise?
If you want to try to hyperanalyze every pixel and find sinister motives, then that's your choice. That's what these forums are for. But don't forget what you always talk about: consequences of behavior.
I know I could never expect to get a last word in, so I'm going to go have fun today. fyi, it's nice today in our neck of the city. maybe i'll see you at the park.
bj
25.Aug.2002 1.16pm
Anna's made a very good point.
Typophile is just as interesting a word - why change the name. Perhaps we're finding the word typop interesting because its new to *us*
'Typophile' is the id we're trying to promote and it will be new to well...new people. conversation about 'what is a typophile..?' will spring just as well if not better. At very least, when we buy a "typophile' shirt we'll all be able to explain it rather then saying I donno what Typop means but I bought it from Typophile cause its cool...I think its just an abreviation.
25.Aug.2002 6.57pm
Hey guys and gals.
I was one of those dot com casualties. I thought I was going with a good thing and now I'm doing side work to stay afloat. I am working on several designs for this competition. I hope to win like everyone else. The money could come in handy too.
I disagree with Tim Lee who said whoever wins is not that important. Why should some one enter this competition. I saw all the designs. Some people don't care it seems if they win or lose. I would have put the names on thse inital posts. That way you would have more quality over quantity. People wouldnt put their name on some of the designs. I dont exactly know how to capture the essence of typophile. Its a forum to discuss type and design. There are a lot of those on the internet. I'm unsure about what the judges are looking for. Some of them are type designers so the type should be topnotch. NOt Arial or Times. I agree with Joe Pemberton that putting a dot com on a shirt (like www.dotcom.com) is so "three years ago" Every one three years ago was proudly wearing their dot bomb shirts on casual Fridays and weekends. It was a big joke if you ask me. People walking into the grocery store wearing their dot bomb shirts. It was like showing off. Now you wouldnt be caught dead wearing a dot bomb shirt. As for people visiting the site. I don't think non-designers give a whip. But every designer should at least stop by. That would be my target demographic. Especially a lot of these web designers who track Arial or Helvetica tight and think that is design. Then if you are at a party with other web designers then I would wear it. If it was a party with the regular population I wouldn't wear it. I think if the winning design is reeeeeely good then people would approach and say nice shirt buddy but I dont think theyd pull out a pen and write down www.typophile.com and then get home and check it out first thing. Thats a stretch. I think peoplemake fun of any shirt now that says www.something.com. Do I haaaaave to do that I look foward to seeing my designs posted. It seems like theres a huge backlog.
ciao,
dave
25.Aug.2002 7.42pm
I don't know what to say... Everyone reads these posts the way they want too. Similarly, everyone reacts to a t-shirt design differently.
I just don't think the success of this contest should be judged on what "tee" we pick. If you look at the amount of people who decided to participate and share their opinions, it is a success.
I think Anna (Go2sea) is a great example. Two weeks ago she didn't know abou this site, but now she does. And even better, she is involved.
I still don't think the outcome is as important as the way we "play the game".
26.Aug.2002 4.58am
A month ago I had never heard of typophile, I can't even remember where I had heard about it... Now I'm here I'm going to stick around.
If you are a designer and your truly interested in typography then I'm sure you would want to stick around too.
I think this competition is an amazing opportunity for the great typographers and graphic designers of typophile to show off their craft in the best possible way and assist the creators spread the word to other like-minded designers.
and .... Typop can raise eyebrows on here and generate interest but would it in the real world?