T-Shirts Are in the Media Again

Just this week a big political t-shirt row was in the media again. Three T-shirts were designed by pupils of a Durban high school. T-shirts bearing the faces of President Jacob Zuma, former president Nelson Mandela and African National Congress national executive committee member and former police commissioner Bheki Cele, with derogatory captions, were displayed at the Westville Village Market Mall in Durban on Tuesday 05 November. An enormous row started between the ANC and the DA with regards to the T-shirts. The ANC reportedly moved a motion demanding that education MEC launch an investigation. With the end result being that the three t-shirts which were part of an art exhibition being removed despite DA protests that learners have the right to express themselves in whatever way they want to. This right is enshrined in our Constitution as the right to freedom of expression. No matter who you support, the handing out of t-shirts, although creating huge amounts of debates, is just a clever way of marketing. Colours are chosen so that from a distance it is obvious that the party is that is represented. If you saw a large group of people from a distance with yellow t-shirts on, which political party would you assume they would represent? Now because there are two political parties who both have the same main colour that may be a confusing. Is this because they want to blur the line and make it easier to move over to a new party? Who knows? In the past if we got an enquiry for high volume t-shirts in yellow, we would have assumed that it would be the ANC, but now we would wonder if it would be COPE. Blue t-shirts would be considered to colour of the DA’s t-shirts. In South Africa we have a large number of political parties, each with their own choice of corporate clothing, but for this article, I have chosen images for the parties who have t-shirt images that are easy to find on the web. While you are debating the use of colour for your t-shirts, or other corporate clothing, let’s look at branding. For t-shirts the most obvious choice of branding would be silk-screening. Screen printing is a stencil method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of polyester or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance. Ink is forced into the mesh openings by the fill blade or squeegee and onto the printing surface during the squeegee stroke. It is also known as silkscreen, serigraphy, and serigraph printing. One colour is printed at a time, so several screens can be used to produce a multi-coloured image or design. Screen printing is a versatile medium that can be used to create fine art or commercial reproductions. Of the four printmaking methods, screen printing is the only one which can personalize a wide variety of items, from textiles to ceramics. Sadly many companies when ordering t-shirts or other corporate clothing, done know what their pantone colours are. The Pantone Colour Matching System is largely a standardized colour reproduction system. By standardizing the colours, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colours match without direct contact with one another. So when you want to have a strong brand identity, it is important to have your pantone colours on hand to brief your t-shirt printing company. So when you want to create a massive impact, then t-shirts with silk-screening are the best option for large volumes and maximum impact. For more information about our t-shirt options, contact Belle Regalo on info@belleregalo.co.za or visit us on www.belleregalo.co.za or call us on 0829487461.