Artistic Revolution: The New Wave of T-Shirts.

An artistic revolution changed the face of t-shirt design as we know it today. In the 1980s, graphic designers found a new way to display their talents… the t-shirt. It was the artwork on the t-shirt at this time that began to sell the shirts. This also caused an increase in the cost of the t-shirts. Once what was a few dollars now soared up to 15 to 20 dollars just because it had art on it. Once big corporations began to see how fast the t-shirts were selling, they realized that they could use them as tools for advertising. Hence the reasons why in the 80s there were so many t-shirts with company logos out there. People bought them because they liked them. So not only did the companies advertise, they also made a profit on the selling of the advertisement.

As the 80s turned into the 90s, graphic t-shirts continued to increase in demand. It was then that event promoters realized that they could increase sales by adding customized t-shirts to advertise and promote events. Anything from bands to save the whales is now promoted through the purchase of t-shirts. Think about it… the last time you went on a vacation, I bet you bought a t-shirt that had the name of the place on it. You have now become a walking advertisement for that place. Boy was someone thinking when they started making graphic t-shirts.

The designs on t-shirts are very unique. They can range from cute to rude to completely strange. You can have someone design it or you can design it yourself. Whatever it is, it has a story to tell. Graphic t-shirts will exude your personality. Graphic t-shirts will advertise to other what your views are, or what you like or dislike. What you wear will tell everyone what kind of person that you are. No matter what you want printed on your custom t-shirt, in the end, it is a strong instrument of expression oneself.

Savey Bakarne is a graphic designer who works in alternate forms such as on Printed T-Shirts and print making and computer technologies.