Lent Inspired T-Shirt Print Design

This design is about a lenten activity called Visita Iglesia, a Catholic faith tradition wherein pilgrims visit five to seven Catholic churches during Lent, especially on Maundy Thursdays. From a distance, you can clearly decipher what the design is all about because of the prominent title "Visita Iglesia."

For the background, I used a cropped map of Bulacan, showing only its southern part wherein the seven churches are located.  To give emphasis to the names of the Churches, I lighten the colour of the map and all its other elements which are not significant to the purpose of the design. The map, together with the church icons and names, suggest a journey of the pilgrims.

For the reason that the upper portion of the map is irrelevant to the purpose of the design, I covered it with a prominent title. But the title was not enough to hide what isn't necessary. Furthermore, with the title and the map alone, the design looked flat and boring. So, I designed a logo for the activity and put it on top.

With the text and the logo, the design looked out of balance. To remedy it, I placed a dark bar beneath the word "iglesia." This is also to emphasise that the word "iglesia" is more important than the word "visita." The dark bar should serve a better purpose other than aesthetic. So, that's where I put the tag line "Communion of Communities."

Unfortunately, the organisers of the visita iglesia opted to have the bar removed. Instead, they asked me to put the text around the logo.

It is sad that sometimes, a designer has to sacrifice the principles of design to favour what the client wants. In the case of this tee shirt print design, I had to sacrifice —
  • simplicity and minimalism (the lesser the elements, the better; no redundant elements such as texts placed twice; in the final design, "visita iglesia" was placed twice)
  • emphasis of the most important word (which in this case, the word "iglesia") and 
  • balance of elements (the dark bar removed.)
Though I do understand, that I cannot expect every client to understand the principles of design, I have to consider what would satisfy them. At other times, I would opt to cede to what they want than insist on what I believe is more appropriate, just so I can finish the project without delay. After all, though it is my design, the final product is theirs.

Design is an intimate process. For designers, each design is like an infant that was conceived in their minds. It is not some kind of food like burgers and fries that you buy cheap from fastfood chains.

Visita Iglesia (eng church visit) is a century-old tradition of the Catholic faithfuls in the Philippines. It is a pilgrimage when Catholic faithfuls in the Philippines visit five to seven Catholic sanctuaries on Holy or Maundy Thursdays, when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for adoration by the Christians.

Comments

Unknown said…
Wanna have my shirt printing in Singapore but I need cool ideas first what to print on my shirt. What can u suggest?
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