The Very First Berkeley Project Tee, Fall 2006
The following are the end products and pre-final drafts for the
Berkeley Project t-shirt I was asked to help design. I'm hoping they might give me a t-shirt copy; maybe if I ask really nicely.
The blue/green leaf version I prepared was going to be the finalized version of the front, and they did like it. But then I was told about a 2-color limit, which the core members remedied with an overall desaturated version of the green. I don't entirely agree with their last minute tweaks to my colors on the back either.
These things happen though. You have to compromise to meet their requirements. And hey, I got printed, so I'm not complaining.
- Gordon Mei, 30 October 2006
Additional trivia: In the following semesters in 2007, I continue to see at least one different random person per week wearing these shirts on the Cal campus as daily wear. (And I'm exposed to less passersby on campus than the average student.) I've heard identical remarks from fellow Berkeley Project core members who independently made the same observation. So keep your eyes open if you're around the campus - they're still floating around.
The Second Generation Berkeley Project Tee, Fall 2007
Below are images of the second generation t-shirt for the Berkeley Project event on October 27, 2007. I wanted something fresh, so I felt a departure from the cut text from the leaf was necessary. My fellow core members on the Berkeley Project team shared this sentiment anyway. I wanted to try something swirly, like what I had seen on other shirts. I decided to create a vector by working off a stock swirl image, and then altering it to create text that would blend in with those swirls. Jaime, Kim, and the rest of the core provided feedback on concerns about what colors and floral elements were too feminine for them, and this was where we spent much of our discussion time. (We also moved the logo from the bottom corner to the top corner at the shoulder, but the t-shirt company printed it a little lower than we planned, but... oh well.)
I had to compromise a bit in those areas to meet their requirements, but it was needed to keep costs down and to keep as many people as happy as possible. (The green colors aren't quite what I originally intended, and the gray shirt color originally had a subtle mix of blue.) But hey, it was printed, and I stand by our decisions. Thank you event planning Jaime and Kim, and everyone on core!
- Gordon Mei, 31 October 2007
