• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Lead guitar does not like my tee shirt design.

The theme of a lot of our songs is post-apocalyptic (see video)... it also has to do with the way we write songs... that's why our singer chose the name Edenforge. I kinda figured the anvil is an appropriate symbol for the band because it does reference the idea of forge. If someone in a post-apocalyptic world was going to start forging it would be with very little knowledge of modern metallurgy, so perhaps the idea of an anvil outside a forge is still relevant to the band. IDK, everybody likes it... I wasn't going for technical accuracy... just needed something that looks cool, but is simple to reproduce. The fact that it draws up this kind of conversation is just a testament to how it is an interesting design.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sartori
I read the thread, and watched your video, plus "the making of" video too and have a few thoughts. :)

All of you guys seem like normal young men, the guitarist doesn't come off as self-obsessive or an a-hole in the making of video. That tells me that unless there's something greater going on under the collective surface, this is probably a one-off social glitch.

White shirts, for all the same reasons as outlined in the thread, are probably a non-starter, and would probably be outsold 2:1 by black ones with a white or grey logo instead.

Guitarist's comment to you about the shirts was a bit dickish, but I bet he thought the conversation and his opinion were more lax than you took them.

You guys are all obviously on the same page, your music is interesting and well done. Band's tight and the players are solid - those are not easy things to get together in one band.

Lastly, there is nothing about your music that is not metal. Just because there are some clean parts and you guys are pretty melodic, that's no reason to think you're some kind of specialized rock hybrid that stands outside of "metal". You guys are metal, just embrace it...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sartori
As far as I know, to forge a piece of steel you can heat it up in a forge and hit it with a big hammer over an anvil.

Just heating it up in the forge would be a lot less dramatic. Waving the hammer at it would be wholly ineffective but somewhat dramatic. Pounding on the steel in thr dirt would be anticlimactic. Behold the central element of the whole drama that is the forge.. the anvil.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sartori
The pragmatic solution would be to print both versions and let the fans choose.
(The black versions will probably sell more/more quickly, especially in your genre as others have mentioned).

Obviously, this will be more expensive (e.g. 200 instead of 100) or at least less mark up (e.g. 2x50 shirts will usually cost more than 1x100).

Was it crystal clear when you were requesting feedback at the beginning that it was a black on white T-shirt design?
Even if you sent preview images with a black design on a white background, it's quite possible to incorrectly assume that at the end it will be printed white on black.

If it was, then you need to state "I asked for feedback then, now it's too late.". If not, you'll need to consider compromising.

A deeper problem would appear to be the guitarist's attitude (e.g. "lol poor you"), somewhat stereotypically.

Take time, in say a few days when you've calmed a bit and not having a bad day, to talk to him face to face and explain you need clearer, better, and more respectful communication in future. Try not let your own ego regarding the artwork get in the way (tricky I know). The communication is the underlying problem, not the T-shirt design.
 
Last edited:
when you said the Lead Guitarist clearly doesn't respect you, I think that's the issue here. This kerfuffle over the t-shirt design is just a symptom and manifestation of it. Just another example of him marginalizing you. Deal with THAT issue. I get it though. I've left bands when I felt like I wasn't being treated with at least the minimum respect that adults who are in a joint venture together should get.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The theme of a lot of our songs is post-apocalyptic (see video)... it also has to do with the way we write songs... that's why our singer chose the name Edenforge. I kinda figured the anvil is an appropriate symbol for the band because it does reference the idea of forge. If someone in a post-apocalyptic world was going to start forging it would be with very little knowledge of modern metallurgy, so perhaps the idea of an anvil outside a forge is still relevant to the band. IDK, everybody likes it... I wasn't going for technical accuracy... just needed something that looks cool, but is simple to reproduce. The fact that it draws up this kind of conversation is just a testament to how it is an interesting design.
Imho, iron/steel work will be the recycling of existing metal. The metals will need to heated to weld and to hot form. An anvil could be a piece of a rr rail, the side of a double Jack. The challenges will sources of flux, like borax.
 
I think it's a solid logo. It's not knockin' my hair back, but it's recognizable and it says Metal Band, and I didn't read the whole thread, but I've gathered its your first ever logo with this group...so it's a strong first logo in that sense.

I vote black t-shirts though. That's what most people who go to metal shows wear, overweight people tend to lean towards darker colors (and girls who feel insecure), so I agree with the poster above who said you'd sell more black ones.

But as a designer, I know EXACTLY where you're coming from. It's hard to put a ton of work into something and have someone (with lack of artistic ability, I assume?) shoot down your stuff. It sucks, and its really difficult to take easily.

Also, look at it this way - do a run of those shirts, and then can the design altogether. Make the next ones totally different, so when you run out, you run out. That'll make people who come to your future shows get excited because you aren't always selling the same design they own. Marketing 101.
 
neither my husband - a metalhead for years - nor myself buy or wear white tshirts. neither do my son and daughter (both over 35, not metalheads).

I'm the same, but I did make an exception for a shirt that Jimmy Page signed. Difficult to sign a black shirt, LOL!
ended up giving the shirt to a friend who'd also met JP in Pattaya, when I split from the Land of Smiles

Fender sent me a couple of t-shirts & I gave them both away, because they're white :smug:

Even when a I wear light shirts for Summer, they're cream or yellow, and I've got one neon green one from Bubba Gump.

When I was out in L.A. I couldn't get over how many folks were wearing solid black in the scorching heat. The waitress at Rainbow was serving drinks with a knit cap on :wideyed:
 
  • Like
Reactions: pcake

Latest posts