Making & Designing Robotics Club T-Shirts and Hoodies

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    Last semester my friend and I worked on designing making the the Robotics Club T-Shirts and hoodies. For the design, we chose robots sitting around a table playing cards. This was because, as a club, we often play Euchre when we weren't preparing competitions, especially when we went to Michigan for a competition. Since we enjoyed playing Euchre, we thought it would be fun to incorporate robots and card games into our design. I came up with the general design for one of the robots and then a few more of my friends each designed a robot. My friend created the artwork for the design and hand drew everything in the main graphic. 
    After finalizing the design, we began making the T-Shirts and hoodies, which included finding the best and most cost effective place to buy them. We considered buying from a local stores like Michaels, JoAnns or Hobby Lobby, but decided against it because they didn't have the color we wanted in both a T-Shirt and Hoodie. Even if they did, the stores didn't have the right quantity in the sizes we needed. We needed to order about 50 T-Shirts and a few hoodies, so we decided to order from a wholesale website that didn't require a special wholesale license. 
    Once we decided where to order the T-Shirts and hoodies, we uploaded our design to a website where we could order DTF (Direct To Film) gang sheets. DTF printing involved printing directly on a film carrier sheet, which the company ships to us. We would then separate and cut the designs apart and heat-press them onto the T-Shirts and hoodies. After ordering the DTF gang sheet, we had to cut each design apart from the large roll it came on. Finally, We went to the Maker Space and heat-pressed the designs onto the garments. 
    Overall, making the shirts and hoodies ourselves was cheaper than paying a company to do it. However, my friend and I didn't fully consider how much time it would take to design and make all the shirts and hoodies.

Comments

  1. Tia B.February 12, 2025 at 1:43 PM

    I can totally relate to this as a graphic designer! Seeing a design go from concept to final product is such a rewarding process, but it’s easy to underestimate the time it takes—especially when handling production yourself. It must have been a great experience collaborating with friends on the artwork!

    ReplyDelete
  2. KaileiaFebruary 12, 2025 at 7:06 PM

    I think that this is one of the most interesting things I've read all week. I love that you incorporated club activities into a design with such creativity. I know absolutely nothing about robotics, but I would honestly buy one of these because it's just so cool to look at and it feels like a worthy buy after hearing about how much personal effort was put into making them. It was cheaper and may have taken a lot of time, but it really adds to the creative aspect of the shirts and hoodies for the club and I think that's awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  3. MerariFebruary 13, 2025 at 10:50 AM

    This is such a fun and creative project! I love how you incorporated your club’s love for Euchre into the design which makes the shirts feel even more personal and meaningful. The effort you and your friend put into sourcing the materials, designing, and heat-pressing everything yourselves is seriously impressive.

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