2013 Shirt design

[Azzy]

Can't really add anything to what's been said so far but, if anyone's counting, chalk another one up for being in favour of the shirt. If it was much more obviously about Confuzzled then it would stay in my wardrobe for all eternity.

[James The Dog]

I personally don't get the people who say they like the fact "it's not obviously about the con". Isn't the whole point of a con shirt to be about the con? If you just want a shirt showing an abstract picture of a forest on a moonlit night, there's a ton of them on amazon! If a shirt that was "obviously" about Confuzzled is doomed to stay in your wardrobes, then why would you buy it?

[Azzy]

I personally don't get the people who say they like the fact "it's not obviously about the con". Isn't the whole point about a con shirt to be about the con? If you jsut want a shiort showing an abstract picture of a forest on a moonlit night, there's a ton of them on amazon! If a shirt that was "obviously" about Confuzzled is doomed to stay in your wardrobes, then why would you buy it?

I didn't buy the shirt per se, it came as part of the sponsor upgrade which I'd've got anyway - shirt or no shirt. As such I was pleasantly surprised that it was a) a design I liked, and ii) a shirt I could actually wear rather than a mere souvenir. I can sympathize with those who were expecting something different, of course.

[aurora]

many people like to wear the t-shirts as normal t-shirts at work (for instance) and don't necessarily want to start answering possibly awkward questions about what "ConFuzzled" is.

So why is it so awkward to answer, Confuzzled is just a social gathering of people with interests in anthropomorphism?

People wear T shirts with names of music bands, holiday resorts they have visited, sports teams they support, films they like so why not a T shirt featuring an interest in anthropomorphism?

[Aurocard]

many people like to wear the t-shirts as normal t-shirts at work (for instance) and don't necessarily want to start answering possibly awkward questions about what "ConFuzzled" is.

So why is it so awkward to answer, Confuzzled is just a social gathering of people with interests in anthropomorphism?

People wear T shirts with names of music bands, holiday resorts they have visited, sports teams they support, films they like so why not a T shirt featuring an interest in anthropomorphism?

Because, unfortunately, the furry fandom has a different meaning to us than it does to everyone else who either:

a) Doesn't understand it, doesn't take the time to, and only goes by what stereotypes there are out there (Those nasty evil ones that make us ALL look like perverted perverts with no other interest whatsoever)....

or

b) Doesn't understand it, tries to, and discovers that it's not for them for various reasons (weather it be the suits make them uncomfortable, to the crowds, to the fact that everyone relates to an animal in one way or another etc etc...too many variables to list).

Some of us, not all of us, are up for keeping this their own hobby, sharing it with only like minded people. And personally, I think that's okay. Having family members who wouldn't understand, or friends who might back away at the mere look of a shirt is something that does happen, and it's an unfortunate thing. The lack of understanding and proper education on the subject is part of the problem, but sometimes being able to educate others on it is not an option because the fandom tends to be a little....."in your face" if you will.

There will always be people out there who just don't get it, and some of us want to avoid the criticism and the guffawing remarks that can lead to broken friendships or even a broken family (yes, I've seen that happen before...it sucks). Some of us would like to just live our day to day life and escape from it all on our own with like minded people.

Despite how long furries have been around....it'll take a while before society as a whole just gives up and moves onto something else that they can try to make sound horrible at first sight.

-Auro

[Amethyst]

I've never had anyone ask about what's on my shirt. That's kinda weird.

I explained it to my, rather backwards, work as a " Fancy dress/ Mascot ( like the football ones)/ Scifi con". It worked .


And isn't a con shirt meant to be a souvenir of the con? Something to remember the con by and maybe for others to recognize when you go to other events.

 Like others said, if you want a shirt to wear everyday with no questions asked ( Do the fashion police take you in for an interview? xD) go head to Primark and pic up an animal print shirt for £3.

[Lazerus101]

Different strokes for different folks I suppose.

I personally think this shirt is one of the nicest so far, with last years being my favourite.
I love the minimalist design and not being black is always good. I have too many black tees as is.

[Oddity]

I like it. It's maybe the only furcon tee I'll actually wear more than once per year. I like the toony and more obvious shirts as well, but I have enough of those

[SFW]

I wear my tshirts from other conventions to work, so the name being on it isn't an issue for me. I'd have liked it on there on the front or smaller on the back.

[Kamuniak]

I agree the part that picture does not reflect the convention or the theme. At least Confuzzled logo and year could have been on different color. Black is not too well visible from dark green background

Other than that, I really like the shirt! Picture and colours. And I'm one of those who don't like convention name to be in shirt with huge letters. I was really happy when I saw this year shirt.

Still doesn't beat Eurofurence 15 shirt though, best one ever

[yagfox]

I liked that it wasn't purple. That one is still in it's bag in the garage! 

[JessLyra]

i was gonna suggest this in feedback, but if you want to go down that arty route for tshirts, maybe have one official Brock shirt that everyone can see advertises CFz and then have a 2nd one for those who wanted the more non furry casual look. Especially if you have two artist GoH. I know printing etc = money, but maybe you could look into doing that?

Just that this year, I'm with the majority, I was expecting Brock in armour or somthing.

[ferret]

I liked that it wasn't purple. That one is still in it's bag in the garage! 

Pfft.  The purple one is the best one.

It seems there are a lot of people for and against having a subtle con shirt, and unless by some amazing design voodoo we can make a shirt that can do both I'm not sure how this will go!

Two shirts which you could choose between would obviously fix the problem, and it is a consideration and has been considered before.  As you've said, money is a factor.  Price breaks for printed t-shirts are ridiculous - the more you can buy at once, the better by far.  There's also extra work in getting art of sufficient quality prepared.  This, plus having the design(s) available early enough for registration, are in the list of things we are aware of and would love to do if we could.  Perhaps some year all of this will be possible, potentially depending on where the breaks in the price breaks are...

For this year's design - I will be wearing it more because it will go to work with me, whereas none of the other T-shirts will.  In fact, I bought an extra one at the yard sale.  Like most staff I have a lot of the older T-shirts, mugs, glasses and things to remind me of ConFuzzled and don't need another one.  I'm glad people have come back to us and told us their feelings about this, as it's very easy to lose perspective.

[SlyCat]

Incidentally, I didn't get the Residential+ because I wasn't fussed by the theme and figured the t-shirt wouldn't be that interesting to me. However, I ended up buying both the convention glass and t-shirt. The design of the t-shirt is notable in it's subtlety; I've attended many conventions and see many con shirts and I've never seen one which featured no writing at all, not even the name of the convention. It was quite a bold choice of design for a convention shirt but I understand the specification for the shirt was one which could be worn anywhere. While I liked this fact as it was a shirt I could wear to work without 50 questions, I do agree with other comments here that because it's not obviously a convention shirt, it feels less of a convention souvenir. The result is only those in the know, know it is a furry shirt so wearing it kinda results in a private nod to others who are aware

Anyway, in summary, it's an interesting design choice but would prefer the more classic con shirt design for next year

[Bungle Bear]

Held a BBQ yesterday with three attending wearing their CFz 2013 shirts - when you're outside of the surreal atmosphere of a con (with 6' tall wolves running around behind bright pink rabbits and neon 'roos) they have a nice appeal

But it is indeed a very curious design! Personally, though, I like it! I don't really wear con shirts much anyway (I'm one of those sad sods that keep them generally un-faded and nice for special occassions) but this design did make me smile