Make great t-shirts for your tech conference. In this deck I share the process we use for DevOps Days Austin to make awesome t-shirts. Using this process you will be on your way to making great shirts. Link for shirt design in deck: - http://bit.ly/shirtops Get your #shirtops on!

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Shirt Ops
how to make a conference shirt people actually wear

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Lots of people have asked
me how we make the shirts
for devops days austin.
This is the answer.

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A quick survey of the
last 4 years of shirts…

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2012

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[n.b. In 2012, we had an attendance
drop from the first day to the second day.
One idea we came up with is to make a
limited edition “Day 2” shirt to incentivize
attendance for the second day.]

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2013
Day 1

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2013
Day 2

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2014
Day 1

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2014
Day 2

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2014
Sharing
Shirt

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2015
Day 1

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2015
Day 2

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2015
Fundraiser
Shirt

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92%
8%
Due to lame-ness, 92% of people never
wear the shirt after the conference
* unverified market research

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Printing on the back
Looks like a billboard
White T-Shirt
Logo way too big
Not-soft
Corporate Shill Look
* unverified market research
Lame comes in many forms

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We decided to make
meaningful art for our event

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Here is a simple guide to
eliminate lame shirts and
make art

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1. Decide your theme
for your event.

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2. Choose a few (2 or 3)
other people that you input
from, but remember you have
override authority. T-shirts
aren’t made by committee.

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3. Find examples of other
shirts you like. Use the
googles.

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4. Create a contest
with 99designs.
You can use my
99designs referral >
http://bit.ly/shirtops

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5. Go for the highest level
of contest you can afford
and guarantee the prize.

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6. Be really thorough
about your theme, what
you like and what you
want in your 99designs
contest brief.

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Here are some samples of briefs I wrote for
my 99designs contests:
http://99designs.com/t-shirt-design/
contests/los-dias-de-devops-rock-calavera-
sugar-skull-457509/brief
http://99designs.com/t-shirt-design/
contests/hand-drawn-vintage-goodness-
typographers-dream-366679/brief

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7. During the contest,
give lots of feedback to
the designers.

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8. Once you have a
winner, create a test run
of the shirts.

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The test run helps you
test design, colors,
and fabric.

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A test run is crucial and it
is not a waste. Think of it
as TDD for shirts.

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I use RockSports, they are great.
I work with James Payton >
james@rocksports.net
Their minimum run is 12 shirts. Tell him
@wickett sent you for the hook up.

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9. Get really soft
shirts.

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Stick with one of the main
brands:
District, American Apparel,
or Canvas

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Ask your t-shirt printer to do
several different brands/
colors of shirts in the test run.

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10. Once you are happy,
make the final order about
3 weeks before your event.

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Plan to start working on
this 6-8 weeks before
your event.

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Good luck.