MGoShirt Alert - Day 2
“YOU KNOW THEM. YOU LOVE THEM. AND YET YOU FEAR THEM…
THE SLOT NINJAS!”
This is the second entry of the 2009 MGoShirt Alert , a design project that will enable MgoBlog readers to vote for upcoming designs in the brand spankin’ new MGoBlogStore. To reach the store, click here. To read more about exactly what
MGoShirt Alert is and will be about, click here.
And, because you demanded it:
CLICK HERE FOR DETAIL OF SHIRT GRAPHIC
For our second entry, I wanted to go with this phrase, something I have never heard anywhere outside of the MGoBlog community and yet something that I think would be well received and acknowledged by at least the more football-savvy individuals of your 107,501 best friends. The little ninja guy is drawn to capture the speed and elusive qualities of Martavious and company… On a side note, I can’t tell ya excited I am in seeing what Gallon can do. But that’s another story.
So, time to vote! What do you guys think?
pollcode.com free polls |
What do you think of MgoShirt #2? |
Five Stars Four Stars Three Stars Two Stars One Star |
***** Five Stars: This shirt is miraculously as good as Denard is fast.
**** Four Stars: Think healthy Carlos Brown afterburners.
*** Three Stars: Reminiscent of the above average speed of Greg Mathews.
** Two Stars: Like the winged cleats of Nick Sheridan.
* One Star: Comparable to the velocity of George Morales.
To address something that came up yesterday—Some of you expressed concern that you’d rather a maize shirt with blue artwork. Since almost all of these designs are one-color art, that’s not a problem; we’d simply change the shirt and change the printing ink. So keep in mind that if a given shirt was a big hit, it would not be difficult to offer the shirt in both navy and maize, just as the Worst State will be offered. With a few exceptions, however, all of the designs featured in the MGoShirt Alert will be maize ON blue.
Place your votes, ladies and gentlemen, and feel free to add any comments below! I’ll be revealing a new shirt tomorrow that honors a past tradition of the Lloyd Carr Wolverines. See you then for another exciting round of – MGoShirt Alert!!
August 11th, 2009 at 10:53 AM ^
I like it worth four stars personally, but I think the total lack of mass appeal is a big drawback. Most people just wouldn't know what it means. Two stars.
August 11th, 2009 at 10:59 AM ^
I think I could explain this to my alumna nana in about a sentence, as opposed to maybe a half hour for yesterday's shirt, so I still gave it 4*
August 11th, 2009 at 11:32 AM ^
Almuna nana is 100x more awesome if you make it one word.
Alumnanana. Rolls off the tongue.
Also, the shirt is cool. An improvement over yesterday, but not quite enough to bump it to 4* IME. Keep 'em comin'!
August 11th, 2009 at 2:30 PM ^
Alumnanana is also 100x more awesome in person... She made my dad and uncles bring her with them to AC/DC's Back in Black tour.
So at least one of the "bluehairs" wouldn't mind RAWK.
August 11th, 2009 at 3:27 PM ^
eliminate a couple letters and go with alumnana
August 11th, 2009 at 10:57 AM ^
I thinkpeople are rating it based on the funniness of your rating scheme. I wanted to vote 2 jus for LOLZZZ sake
August 11th, 2009 at 11:02 AM ^
I do wish it had Odoms' #9 on the chest.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:05 AM ^
Its simple, original and relevant. I would get one for sure but I wouldnt wear it on Saturdays since its not very outwardly "Michigan" aside from the colors. 4 stars.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:26 AM ^
I whole heartedly agree with you, without realizing it wasn't "outwardly Michigan." Initially, after seeing there was no block M (or something) I was thoroughly let down. But after thinkig about it for a minute I don't think that bothers me. The people who understand this shirt are the people you want to talk football to anyway, it's like a little reward in itself.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:05 AM ^
change the drawing of the Ninja a bit.... At first glance the figure looks like a dress is being worn.
Then again.. I still have a crush on Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
I have an idea... How about: Vlad: The Buckeye Slayer.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:09 AM ^
I see it and now I can't unsee it. This is worse than when someone told me Lake Michigan looks like a flacid penis. Its ruined.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:48 AM ^
Now I keep seeing it too. Maybe if the left leg isn't as high there can be some maize negative space. That would make it less dress like, plus the foot would be lower, also making it less dressish.
Love the concept though.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:12 AM ^
Pretty good. If one of our slots really steps it up you should be prepared to put his jersey number on it and watch the sales pick up into the season.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:16 AM ^
....if you put a #9 on the chest of this slot ninja, are you also going to have him fumbling the ball?
August 11th, 2009 at 11:24 AM ^
...Why am I laughing at the idea of this shirt being sold in 4XL?
...Looks at coffee, scratches head....
August 11th, 2009 at 11:27 AM ^
Changing the sun rays to michigan helmet wings would have increased my vote to a 4. I wouldn't wear this on a football saturday though since it's blue (and this one would look idiotic in maize as the sun background would be blue).
August 11th, 2009 at 12:28 PM ^
I thought the sun rays were a slot chip (because of the whole "slot" receiver concept). Now I don't know how to view it.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:40 AM ^
I think it's better than yesterday's shirt. I would give it a solid 4.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:44 AM ^
I love it. I gave it a 5. I was surprised I liked it that much.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:47 AM ^
I *only* wear Maize to Michigan Stadium, on the off chance that there is a Maize Out that day. It looks sooooo much better, especially in the sun.
I read the note above about how a popular shirt would get offered in both Maize and Blue versions. I don't want to see the blue version; I think we need more Maize in Michigan Stadium.
Sadly, despite how awesome a design might or might not be, it will get downgraded at least one star by me if it's on blue.
Therefore, 3* for this one. I like the ninja. I don't think that the Heisman pose looks like he's wearing a dress. Good design, clean lines, not too busy.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:54 AM ^
Maize is good for michigan stadium, but for those of us with bright and beautiful pasty-white skin, miaze shirts are unwearable and unforgivable on non-gamedays.
Keep the blue shirts comin!
August 11th, 2009 at 12:02 PM ^
Nice execution. Cool shirt overall, but I doubt anyone would particularly think "Michigan" if they saw it, say, on the streets of Peoria. Reference seems a little Mgoblog insider-ish, too.
I know your showing these out of scale to give viewers a better look at the art, but is there way to show a second view to show actual scale and placement with respect to the shirt? (perhaps ala the way you've provided the "detail" view?)
Anyway, let me echo what others have said, great project. These are fun to look at.
August 11th, 2009 at 12:11 PM ^
Way too insiderish. Only 1000 of our closest friends will understand, nowhere near 107,000+.
Also, not my favorite design. I just think about kung fu movies, not football.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:10 PM ^
I don't care if others don't understand it. I also don't care if it doesn't scream Michigan. If I wanted that I would buy a Go Blue shirt at WalMart.
I give it a solid 4 star rating. I would purchase it.
August 11th, 2009 at 12:24 PM ^
Six Zero, do you have a separate website/ portfolio for your artwork? I'd like to see what else you have created. Thanks--
August 11th, 2009 at 12:41 PM ^
It really hard for me to like these shirts because the design is so large on the demo. I know that its going to be smaller, its just hard for me to imagine.
August 11th, 2009 at 12:57 PM ^
I think the design would be improved greatly if the ninja had a winged helmet. Same thing with Vader on the first shirt. This would take care of the "It's not screaming Michigan" problem.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:06 PM ^
Great design, but we really haven't seen the slot ninjas do their thing yet.
Also, is there any way the designs could be scaled down a bit? Too much and it's like a billboard on one's chest.
That said the quality of the work is great, and I gave it 3*.
Keep up the great work 60, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the shirts.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:13 PM ^
Try making the design NOT the size of the entire shirt. It reminds me of those shirts really fat people buy that have airbrushed "hot bodies" on them (male & female). Those are embarrassing!
August 11th, 2009 at 1:42 PM ^
I think he addressed this yesterday. The size is exaggerated a bit so that the graphic can be seen better. Resizing isn't a big deal.
[Edit: Specifically, this is what he said:
Keep in mind that the design will not actually appear this large on an actual shirt-- I made all designs occupy most of the shirt space just to give everyone as good a view of the art as possible. That shirt graphic is also probably not anatomically accurate in the first place.]
August 11th, 2009 at 5:20 PM ^
There are better ways to show the size and detail of a graphic than intentionally enlarging the graphic beyond what would actually be printed. I think showing the actual printed size would minimize confusion and may produce a more accurate response from the voting audience.
You can easily post a legit mock-up with an additional link saying "larger view of graphic here." I don't know why Six Zero chose to exaggerate the graphic size in the mock-up when he included a link to a larger view, too.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:19 PM ^
I would really like to see a shirt featuring Brandon Minor and the other runningbacks.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:36 PM ^
I would definitely buy one.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:55 PM ^
Fun, but the reference is too obscure.
August 11th, 2009 at 2:23 PM ^
I like it. The design is fresh and fun. Yes, most won't understand it, but that's ok. There's a wicked kinda cool looking little dude in there, and it's a Michigan shirt. What more is needed? The colors make it obviously Michigan; at the game most people won't bother to read the thing, much less get it. At the tailgate, they'll ask, and you can talk about the importance of the slot in the offense, lament about the Rivals star system when applied to tiny quick guys, or shoot, compare Hong Kong ninja movies. Or they'll get it immediately and flash you the MGoBlog sooper-sekret sign. What's wrong with any of that?
August 11th, 2009 at 2:45 PM ^
this shirt screams OMG LOOK I'M A HUGE WITTY GRAPHIC and not just standing alone as a, you know, witty shirt.
1 or 2*
August 11th, 2009 at 3:00 PM ^
i like it. definitely unique and brings out the necessity of slot receivers in our offense. you can tell its a michigan shirt clearly enough and i think it'd be a fun shirt to have.
on another note. i know you probably couldnt do this because of licensing problems, but i think a tshirt with a picture of richrod holding out his hand saying "come with me if you want to live" would be awesome. maybe he could be wearing sunglasses too.
August 11th, 2009 at 3:07 PM ^
I would not by either of the shirts so far :(
August 11th, 2009 at 3:19 PM ^
Interesting reactions-- Alumnanana would be proud.
As far as the whole winged helmet requests, Timmaay and others put this to bed yesterday. They're out. Period. Trust me, no one wants 'em in there more than me-- you could throw a winged helmet motif on a plunger and it suddenly works... but this is how we're doing it.
In response to the all-over-the-shirt fat guy six pack tee shirt comments, i.e. that the graphic is too big for the shirt template-- I tried to discuss this yesterday as well. Yes, of course it's too big, and the shirt is too short in the first place. It's all about giving you, the readers a chance to get a good look at the designs in the first place without taking up too much blog space. Since the first post I decided to add the detail link, so perhaps that takes care of this-- If you all find it really too distracting to judge the shirt correctly, I will certainly be willing to change it.
August 11th, 2009 at 5:21 PM ^
Six Zero, do you have a separate website/ portfolio for your artwork? I'd like to see what else you have created. Thanks--
August 11th, 2009 at 3:23 PM ^
2 stars. Sorry, just not a fan of this design.
August 11th, 2009 at 4:07 PM ^
is kind of an awesome compliment? This must have been remarked on previously.
Your roommate scores at Rick's: "Dude, you're a slot ninja."
August 11th, 2009 at 5:38 PM ^
That came to my mind as well, but I couldn't put it in a clever and funny wallpost as an example.
And so, +1 to you.
August 11th, 2009 at 5:00 PM ^
Not bad at all. If it had the wing on the helmet, that would help the shirt out even more. Maybe if slot ninja was made a little smaller and another phrase was put under it? Just a suggestion.
August 11th, 2009 at 6:23 PM ^
A little better than the last. But I want to readdress: your shirts don't mention MGoBlog anywhere on them. I thought the whole idea was to show Brian some love, and maybe have something cool to wear on game-days. Why not "MGoBlog - the Premier Michigan Football Community" on the front with the team sched on the back? Make Brian a cool logo for MGoBlog, slap it on a shirt, and sell it.
Like I said in the last post, I show my player appreciation by buying jerseys, and team appreciation by buying Michigan t-shirts. I think the MGoStore's top selling novelty shirts are going to be either (1) Coach appreciation or (2) Rival bashing.
But like I said before, if you could print on top quality t-shirts, I'd buy a straight blue with maize number (front, back, sleeves) of my fave players. MGoBlog where the Adidas logo normally is. Anti-microbial material (ideal). Solid.
August 11th, 2009 at 7:22 PM ^
Simple, subtle, and very much in the spirit of both the RichRod era and MGoBlog's take on it. 4 stars and please, keep them coming!
August 11th, 2009 at 7:35 PM ^
Meh, MGoMemes for t-shirts won't get anyone laid before, during or after the game. 1*
August 11th, 2009 at 11:40 PM ^
I guess for it to be an MGoShirt, it must be somehow distinct from your typical Steve and Barry's.
August 11th, 2009 at 9:53 PM ^
The ninja looks too much like the Joker; it's cartoonish-supervillain scary. And, aren't ninjas veiled or is it just me?*
I'm only nitpicking though. I give it 4 stars...and that's not counting the sweet sweet double-entendre possibilities.
*EDIT: Just realized it's a football helmet...niiice.
August 11th, 2009 at 9:50 PM ^
For the legal experts: I know there are copyright rules against using the wings. Does that go for any form of block M also?
Would you get BOOM TRADEMARK'D if you put a typed capital "M" (in whatever font) by itself in a random place on the shirt, like on the whitespace of the gear for example?
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