Archive for January, 2012
All eyes are on Salus University Volleyball Tees
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Eye-popping art for tee
Maybe it’s the eye of the tiger or just creative vision, but one of teams in the intramural
volleyball league at Salus University, a college of Optometry, located in Elkins Park, PA, has a sharp focus on fashion. The “Eye Candy” icon designed by one of the team members and refined/vectorized by the Wear It’s At art department adorns the front of Gildan ash grey cotton t-shirts. It is a depiction of the human eye in illustrative form with many of its characteristics, enveloped in a candy wrapper.
This distinctive art was reproduced in full resplendent color in a “direct-to-garment” process which allows images (photographs) to be printed digitally with minimal set-ups. In other words, without the need and additional cost for traditional screens (negatives). For best image quality on white, light, black and dark colored apparel, artwork submission requirements include Photoshop PSD,
JPEG and TIFF files. Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, vector EPS or vector PDF files
with 300 dpi (dots per inch) images will work best. Generally speaking, 100% cotton
garments are recommended.
The back of the Eye Candy team tees feature vinyl numerals and names like Beef, Guns and the Gibbernator. Net result of this volleyball juggernaut is a pretty cool
court appearance.
5 Apparel Trends for 2012
Posted by: | CommentsLooking for something new to wear, check out these latest fashion trends:
Performance Apparel–This is apparel with moisture-wicking properties and related
performance technology. We’ll also continue to see expansion of antimicrobial wearables.
There is particular popularity in the corporate casual field.
T-Shirt Resurgence–The simple, yet ever utilitarian tee will continue to surge ahead,
especially with cotton prices stabilizing. Look for an on-going emphasis on soft fabrics and
fashion looks.
Draped Tank Tops–Flowing tunics and capes have become very popular. And, this look
is making its presence felt in warm-weather apparel such as tank tops and t-shirts.
Draping gives these garments shape and added flare for a decidedly feminine appeal.
Outerwear Coming On Strong–More and more, logoed jackets are becoming more prevalent
in promotion. This is an increasing fashion trend. The key focus is on all types of jackets
and fleecewear with hoods.
Graphic Sweatshirts–Inspired by clean, collegiate printed graphics, crewneck sweatshirts
with bold, unique and cleaver designs in restricted area or overall patterns are all the rage.
Contact Wear It’s At at 215-884-0310 if you’d like to adapt any of these apparel trends
for your company, community or institution.
NOSA MAKES IT’S MARK FOR 2012 WITH WIA ASSISTANCE
Posted by: | CommentsNOSA, the National Optometric Student Association, held its annual t-shirt design competition in 2011 Participants included talented art enthusiasts from its affiliated institutions around the country from Philadelphia to Boston and Illinois to California . The winning design was created by Natalie Nguyen of University of Missouri–St. Louis College of Optometry.
After conferring with local optometry students, Andrew Williams and Erica Turner, of Salus University in Elkins Park, PA, Wear It’s At produced the distinctive t-shirts which were distributed
to the various NOSA member colleges across the United States. Utilizing a quality Hanes Comfort Blend T-Shirt in Navy Blue, the design features “NOSA” with a distressed type look and eyeball on the front and the full name of the organization spelled out in an “eye chart” manner with a pair on glasses superimposed on part of the type on the full back. The e-mailed, low resolution design was transformed and “vectorized” to digital form as an .eps file to insure sharp reproduction and eventually screen printed in lime green and white.
T-shirt Front
T-shirt back
Wear It’s At, also furnished retractable pens featuring the NOSA logo in silver with a black imprint
and blue with a silver imprint. Both with silver trim and black grip from supplier, Targetline.
Cotton Update for 2012
Posted by: | CommentsLast year I wrote about the price of cotton going up and up. My suppliers were sending me what appeared to be weekly price increases. The impact was felt on orders of virtually every cotton fabricated wearable we supply from tee shirts to polos shirts. This apparel is a mainstay and staple of our promotional products distributorship, Wear It’s At. It was brutal and left one wondering where when the rise in materials would cease. Alas, it has mercifully stopped. Cotton prices have stabilized and retreated to historic highs of $2.29/lb. to $1.10/lb.
So, what are the projections for cotton this year? Though it’s still volatile, the higher costs have encouraged farmers to move back to the crop. Therefore, production of cotton is expected to increase by 8% in 2012. Increased supply should help steady the price in the next year or two. But that doesn’t translate into immediate price drops on apparel. Other factors that figure into the price of apparel are increased labor costs in Asia, the status of the US dollar and stable-but-higher prices of synthetic fabrics like polyester.
Wear It’s At strives to hold the line on costs by informing our customers about where prices are and where they might be going. In many cases, we try to absorb increases to make purchases as palatable and budget-friendly as possible.