Anyone who knows me on a personal basis, this blog is based on yesterday's rant session(sorry about that).
We here at Tee See Tee are no stranger's to knock-offs...it comes with the territory, and for the most part, I have been vocal about my thoughts on trying to lawyer up on every good design we have...it's just not worth it when our business is based on not a single Michigan/Midwest/Great Lakes based t-shirt. Our business is constantly evolving, and every year, we will retire designs, introduce new designs, and not look back.
But sometimes, a knock-off is so obvious, and done so poorly, it tarnishes the original. This happened to one of our favorite designs, MIrate, or Michigan Pirate. I am not one to say I am always original...HOMES, one of our best selling designs, is based on a great meme shirt Bacon&Bacon&Bacon& and I am proud to admit that. Inspiration and imitation are divided by a very fine line, and I will not sit here and tell you incredible people that I have never been inspired by other people's t-shirts. But the difference between Tee See Tee and some of these other apparel companies is that I will always try my best to improve on the original!
Every single design out there has borrowed something, be it colors, layout, theme, or style from a previous design. We have been evolving from cave paintings for thousands of years, and will continue to evolve. But if we don't evolve, and in some cases, even take a step back, then the t-shirt industry will turn into something terribly boring and unoriginal.
So what's the point of all this? I don't know, maybe I just needed to vent, and the people who read this blog are obviously people who share my passion for cool and original t-shirts(you wouldn't be here otherwise), or maybe it is to lay all the cards on the table. I can't promise that a design I put on a shirt will not be somewhat styled or inspired by another t-shirt out there, but I can promise that it will improve upon that design, to become something even better!
And with that being said, I can't wait for you all to see what we have in store for 2016!!
Thanks for listening to me rant,
Beau Warren
President, Tee See Tee