Student’s T-shirt to be sold at bookstore
Posted on February 21, 2008
Senior Westly Kern never knows when he’ll run into someone wearing his clothes. Well, wearing his T-shirt design at least.
Kern is the first winner of the Student T-shirt Design Contest co-sponsored by the JMU Bookstore and SGA.
“It’ll be pretty cool, it’s not something that I would ever imagine,” Westley Kern said. “To see someone wearing something from the bookstore that I designed will be pretty remarkable.”
26 designs were submitted, according to SGA President Lee Brooks, who said the judges stared at the designs for over an hour trying to decide on a winner. Kern’s design won because it featured an unusual font, was the most creative and could easily be replicated onto a shirt, according to Brooks.
Kern decided to enter the contest in his free time with no anticipation of winning. He said he figured he would at least learn a thing or two about Adobe Photoshop during the process.
After downloading Photoshop tutorials and letting his creative wheels spin, he created a snapshot of the iconic Duke Dog. Kern included billiard balls, which are found in every dorm’s common room, in the design as something he thought everyone would relate to and associate with their first year on-campus experience.
In order to make the shirt affordable, the number of colors had to be reduced to five, according to Kern.
“The actual printed version on the t-shirt, in my opinion, doesn’t look as good nearly as the original,” he said. “But generally speaking, it’s alright.”
The contest provided Kern, who strives to get into the advertising world, a great resume builder.
“Ultimately, I would like to use some creativity in my job,” he said. “Having something like this take place definitely looks good.”
For his creativity mind, Kern received $200, which he already spent on an iPod nano. The remainder of his winnings will go toward clothes to wear on job interviews and two of his shirts; one for his mom, one for his dad.
The shirt is available in the bookstore for under $20.
According to Brooks, the two runner-ups designs have also been submitted to the bookstore, who is looking into getting those shirts made.
