Need your Dark God T-shirt input

ByJohn Brown

I’ve got a deal to make t-shirts for my book available, and I have to make some decisions. The problem is that I am terrible at making these kinds of decisions. So I’m asking for your help. Any input would be appreciated.

Mind-boggling question number 1

So we’ve decided on the design. It will say “Servant of a Dark God” on the font as shown. We might put “Welcome to the Grove” or “Beware, the Mother is Watching” on the back. It will NOT have the Tor logo indicating it’s a book. Who knows what that is anyway? Instead, the question is whether to put my name on the shirt in some fashion.

Option 1

Some suggest that it’s better to just have a shirt that has the crazy label, suggesting the wearer is a servant of a dark god. It’s provocative, and if someone asks, the person wearing it can talk about the book. With this option we would NOT put my name on the t-shirt, just a small open book icon under the title. The idea behind this is that those who would buy the shirt would already be fans and the provocative statement will do more to spread the word than my name because going this route will make the shirt more fun to wear.

Option 2

Others think that you should have your name on the shirt to advertise. So we’d put “by John Brown” underneath the title. Or we’d put it on the back of the shirt. But some say it would make the shirt less fun.

What would you prefer and why?

Mind-boggling question number 2

Because of the way we’re going about this, the color of the letters must be fixed. So the question is do we simply let people choose their own shirt colors that they thing will work with the color of the lettering or fix both the color of the lettering AND the shirt?

Option 1

Fix the shirt colors. Brown for guys and plum for women. Make the lettering a fantasy green or cream.

Option 2

Give people as much choice as possible and choose a font color that will work with the bulk of the shirt colors here: http://gildan.com/distributors/colorpalette/.

But what would color would do that and still say fantasy, or would it matter?

So which option to you think would work best? If you chose option 1, which colors?

Mind-boggling question number 3

Why is John worrying about this? Shouldn’t he be spending his time tracing his ancestry back to old grandpa lemur?

The answer to that is that John’s mind works in mysterious ways, dear Reader. You must bear with him. And you must now face your greatest fashionista test ever: which colors would say fantasy and still be something people would want to wear? I will be making shirts up for the book store employees to wear before I come to signings.  So I have to decide. Someone suggested plum is all the rage this year for women. Make the letters a nice new willow green. We could have another color for men. Any ideas of what would appeal broadly?

I await your ideas.

(Ha, look at this. It appears one of my greats did indeed live his life out in the Prague menagerie. Hum.)

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5 Comments

  1. For me, I’d say go with black as the standard shirt, with maybe a couple of brighter colors for the ladies. I like black t-shirts because the text pops.

    I’d also say stick with the shirt that is most fun. I think the people who are likely to buy shirts will already be a fan, for the most part. IF someone’s not a fan of the book already, they’ll appreciate the “shock value” of the fun shirt.

    I would just have it say “Servant of a Dark God” with a little book logo below the text and an arrow pointing up toward the wearer like some of the more clever “I’m with stupid” t-shirts. I’d definitely buy one if it had the arrow. I just think “I’m a servant of a dark god” doesn’t have as much shock as the simple arrow. Just my two cents. I’ll probably be getting one either way. Great conversation piece.

  2. Hi John. I agree with bdayton, just have it say “Servant of a Dark God” without your name. It would be more fun that way.

    As for colors, I’s say simple black with white letters. A Dark God would not give people a choice.

    Hope this helps.

  3. Hum, I didn’t make that clear. The idea wasn’t to print “I’m a servant of a dark god.” Just print the words “Servant of a dark god” which suggest the person is such.

  4. My opinion on the text: Fun always wins out with t-shirts. Especially when you’re paying for them. My opinion on the color: Black is boring. I have enough black t-shirts to wear one every day of the week plus some. Make it somewhat interesting. I like brown or plum. Having a choice is even better. Maybe you could offer two standard choices, but let people choose their own color if they wish. Black or cream text would probably work pretty well. I think the font you choose will have a lot to do with whether it’s perceived as fantasy, perhaps more than the colors.

  5. I too think the text should be just the title and the little book icon. As for colors, I like the plum color idea but I also like options. Maybe black or brown for guys and black or plum for women.

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