Why Choose Us?
Why choose Critical Element Designs?
The short answer is that we focus on providing quality products and excellent customer care.
When I first contemplated designing t-shirts, I recognized that there are a lot of places to look to buy shirts. Graphic tees have long been a saturated market, and yet, I couldn't find any established places offering shirts with the kind of humor that my friends and I enjoy. On the occasions when I have found a shirt design that I like at a major retailer, it's usually quite generic, and it doesn't have the feeling of individuality and expression that I want from a graphic tee. With these things in mind, I decided to design my own shirts.
It was easy for me to find companies offering custom printed tee shirts for reasonable prices, and I set out on the journey of designing and ordering Print-On-Demand merchandise.
Starting with a few basic design ideas, and a POD partner in mind, I got right to work. It wasn't very long, however, before I realized that having the idea was the easy part. I still needed to design those ideas into existence, review & edit those designs, and properly format that design to fit onto a print template for the shirts and other merchandise. The ideas I started with took a bit longer than I expected to turn into usable designs, and even longer still, to edit and adjust them until I had what I thought was a good final product. I was happy with my effort though, so I made an account with the POD partner, chose my shirt style, loaded the designs into a print template, and I clicked "buy" with a smile.
In under a week, I had my first products in hand, but my excitement slowly waned when I realized that each shirt had just a little something off about it. Certain design elements appeared fuzzy. Some colors did not turn out as well as I expected, and some design details ended up being lost altogether. On top of that, the shirt fabric I chose was heavier than expected, and not as soft and comfortable as I had hoped. It was then that I realized there was a lot more to making good-looking, comfortable t-shirts than just having a design idea.
So, I set out to learn more about t-shirt printing. I read and watched videos about the different techniques used for various designs and how the fabric of the shirt can affect the color, feel, and longevity of the print. There was actually a bit of science to this, which pleased me, and made me realize I had been all too hasty in the beginning.
My next step was to expand my skills with some better design tools. The free web-based software I used was great for getting started with some basics, but the design options were very limited, and it was not going to allow me to create properly scalable graphics which I learned can be very important to the quality of my final product.
For each design I create, there are several design iterations. Some changes are small and only noticeable with a designer's eye, others are large formatting shifts to improve readability, look, and feel of the print. I share mockups of my designs with friends and family for input, as well as gathering feedback from online forums to try and really get a polished look.
Lastly (though honestly this often sends me back to the previous step), I order the designs for myself to test the final product. This gives me the ability to see what my designs look like in real life, to ensure that the design looks as good on my product as it did in a mockup image. This step is honestly my favorite. Even though it may require additional time for design adjustments, and more money for a new test shirt order, getting to see the improvements I have made in real life makes all the difference, and leaves me feeling satisfied that the product I am offering will look great for my customers, family, and friends.
You may find places online with a similar niche that offer a wider variety of shirts, possibly many more designs, and perhaps fancier AI generated ads, but you will not find an online store more committed to providing quality products that have been designed and tested by real humans. It is because of my careful design iterations and thorough testing that I am happy to offer 30-day hassle-free returns. If you don't like our products for any reason, let us know. I don't know of any other POD partnered apparel company who is willing to make that same statement.
AI doesn't wear t-shirts, so why let it design them?