IMA fashion a good idea...?

[nzric]

Hey all,

In the interests of promoting the joy of IMA to all dem laypeople, I've been playing with the idea of getting some paints and stencils and doing my own tai chi/IMA clothing designs. Still just an idea though.

Question is, from your pov, do you think it'd work? Would you wear a t-shirt/shirt with a tai chi/IMA design? and if so, what would you like (silhouettes, graphics, pictures, logos, words, chinese letters, abstract pics???)

What kind of clothes and what kind of designs (ultra urban, graffiti, trendy, cartoony, stylish??) What would the gist of the pictures be? what kind of message do you want to promote about the art? what are the core values of the art that the average person would recognise straight away?

Thanks for any ideas!

[TkdWarrior]

new age tai chi mixes well with graffiti :D
hey how about homer simpson doing tai chi??

-TkdWarrior-

[Syd]

Hey Rich,

Great idea, I've been doing this at home for the last year and half. I just bought a whole bunch of t-shirts and designed a load of Taiji symbols and made stencils, then screened them with the proper paints and voila! Most people think my shirts were bought and it's a hell of allot of fun especially when they are your designs and they're what you want. Infact I wore a couple when you and Andy and myself used to train though I probably didn't mention it at the time.

[TkdWarrior]

oh we were meant to promote the message?? :D
damn I m stuck...

Would you wear a t-shirt/shirt with a tai chi/IMA design? and if so, what would you like (silhouettes, graphics, pictures, logos, words, chinese letters, abstract pics???)

you know abstract pics looks cool...
then we can look more like Zen Monk ;-)
-TkdWarrior-

[nzric]

Syd - you mean your black t-shirt with the big tai chi symbol was one of your own??

Wicked! u mind if I rack your brains later - I'm trying to figure out the technicalities of printing/fixing something that'll stay after you wash it a lot. Any ideas on screen printing shops/books?

[Syd]

Syd - you mean your black t-shirt with the big tai chi symbol was one of your own??

Yeah, that was one of mine. If you remember, what I did on the black T-shirt that I like, and haven't seen anybody else do, was that I did the white half of the Taiji symbol and left the black side naked except for the white dot where it ought to be so you create a kind of optical illusion as the black side melts into the black shirt, but the symbol itself on that side is implied because of the white dot being in the right place.

Wicked! u mind if I rack your brains later - I'm trying to figure out the technicalities of printing/fixing something that'll stay after you wash it a lot. Any ideas on screen printing shops/books?

I used fabric paint and it's over a year old and it has been through allot of washes ... it has a small amount of wear on the stencil but I can always touch it up at home, which is good. I think most shirts with stencils tend to wear over time anyway. I didn't use any books but just used my intuitive noggin and did what I thought would work ... it all worked out and I'm really happy. I have done a heap of shirts for my band and other kinds of logo's and catch phrases in tank tracks etc like PANZER DIVISION and that sort of thing.

Would you believe I did all the stencils with some thick art paper, no proper screen.

Ask me anything you need to!

[Sandus]

I'm all for Chinese characters and related IMA symbols (but NOT yin-yang--it's way overdone). I'd buy one if you made them.

I think it's best to stick with t-shirts (both long and short sleeve) because they're the most versatile. You can play around with extra designs that are simple such as stripes on the sleeves or around the neck, etc. Though a hoody might be pretty cool too...

[nzric]

Did you put a (home-made?) screen over the stencil then the paint and/or a roller?

Oh, do you know the legal side if I wanted to buy t-shirts to print on then resell? I take it I couldn't paint and resell a Nike tshirt but do you need permission from the makers all the time?

Cool peoples, thanks for the posts. I've got loads of ideas so I'd like to know what designs people really want.

[Syd]

Did you put a (home-made?) screen over the stencil then the paint and/or a roller?

No screen, just cut out the design on thick art paper, placed it over the shirt and then hand painted the design. As to the legal, there are places you can buy good quality T-shirts for screening with a basic no name label ... not sure about Nike though. Most screeners get these good quality blank cottons.

[Sandus]

Oh, do you know the legal side if I wanted to buy t-shirts to print on then resell? I take it I couldn't paint and resell a Nike tshirt but do you need permission from the makers all the time?
It's my understanding that if you have a blank shirt, you can put whatever you want on it and resell it, provided there are no trademarks or logos of other companies present on the outside of the shirt (at least under American law). I know there are craft stores that sell shirts that are made to be painted on, etc., and are okay to resell.

As long as you're using the product as capital and not as a sales tool then the manufacturer should have no qualms.

[axelb]

hey how about homer simpson doing tai chi??

that is a class idea! :D

[Johnno]

I'd favour something very simple. Like a black t-shirt with BIG white chinese characters, front and back, in a vertical line to the left of centre, saying things like 'Tai Chi Chuan', 'Wu Wei', - stuff like that. A choice of designs, like.

I can picture it now... beautiful! :)

[daftyman]

I made a t-shirt with:

walk like a cat

that's all that's on it. white letters on a black t.

doesn't look like a ima shirt and you do get some odd questions sometimes.

Ideas I've had, but not put into practice.
a 'tribal' tai chi symbol
a 'celtic' tai chi symbol

Like the abstract figure idea and the homer one. I'd prefer to go for a simple design that isn't too overstated. As far away from the brucie t-shirts as I could get.

edit: a t with the character 'song' on it. no explanation, just the character. Solar plexus height and about 2-3" high

[averan]

i'm down.....i've gotten into fashion design, creating modern versions of traditional wear. and have thought seriously about marketing graphics representing some of the daoist principles that we hold so dear.

anything artistically beautiful, simple is more conducive to beauty and communicating the message...and for printing.

i'm leaning towards flash animation type graphics, graffitti stencil inspired stuff.

and i'm all for raising the bar!!! too much cheesy crud out there which just looks dumb.

[Taiji Butterfly]

I am planning on doing a 'Butterfly School of Taijiquan' T-shirt so when I do I'll post a picture on this thread..... :cool:
:Angel:

[wonk]

Beyond the T-shirt.... check out this guys stuff...

http://www.do-creation.com/index.php?do_crea=f8933fc3c63aec03a7f617d79d71bbdb

[Buddy]

Nehru jacket

[wonk]

I spent some time looking thorugh t-shirt designs on cafepress.com .

I thought these were fun....
Retreat Organic Cotton Tee
Http://www.cafepress.com/lotusdragon.43512485

Filled with Chi
http://www.cafepress.com/gisela1.3236064

Meridian Man
http://www.cafepress.com/lotusdragon.44013999

The Grand Ultimate
http://www.cafepress.com/martialspirit.32493012

Blue Tai Chi/Yin-Yang on Black
http://www.cafepress.com/drunkinmonk.74668830

World Taji & Qigong Day
http://www.cafepress.com/koh_yin.52132973

Caution Liver Qi Stagnation
http://www.cafepress.com/runningpiglet.57439302

Qigong Sun
http://www.cafepress.com/thea7.37949284

Trigram Series - Thunder
http://www.cafepress.com/drunkinmonk.74669634

Taiji Dragons
http://www.cafepress.com/exotic_tees.12278801

100 Years on Black (enlarge image - read yellow text)
http://www.cafepress.com/martialmayhem.51733697

hexagrams
http://www.cafepress.com/chaosdancerplus.32540726

Got Chi?
http://www.cafepress.com/planetcalamari.69817332

Got Wood?
http://www.cafepress.com/magentastudios.3149336

Neijia - Jing on Black
http://www.cafepress.com/neijia.47587306

[Mixitup]

Have you seen these, if you use the right T-shirt they can last for ages

http://inkandmedialtd.co.uk/acatalog/Iron_on_for_T_Shirts.html