This is an old sketch I had lying around, and I thought I'd trace it in Illustrator and see if anyone else thought it would make an interesting shirt.

its interesting, to be sure.



Maybe put "box of happy" on the shirt as well? Without it, I'd think it was Pandora's box with a smiley sticker on it O-o

So what does everyone think I should work on here? Surely there's more to be done than simply adding the text to the shirt? (That seems so wrong from a Threadless critique.)

maybe have little stick people with a ladder trying to climb into the box? i dunno..



i like that we don't know what's in the box, it reminds me of the briefcase from pulp fiction.

So should I bother continuing to work on this design? Only one person seems to think it's submission worthy, but I'm not sure what I should change to make it so.



Would more detailed art help? More complex art? I was thinking I could add a shadow perhaps, I'm not keen on the idea of adding people, but perhaps another label or two on the box.

How does it look with a shadow and stamp? Also, which shadow looks better?

Try just a shadow on the back and left side.

Looks heaps better with the shadow. i think it makes sense to have it on all four sides, since the light is coming from inside the box. But you do have light falling on it from the right front as well lighting up the smiley face side, so a shadow should extend further on the left and back sides.



I like the look of the stamp. Not sure about 'imported' though...why imported? Maybe "fragile", or "limited edition".



I like the concept (I like anything happy!), but I'm not sure how to make it better! Not much of a designer here, more of a consumer :) Sorry I'm not very helpful. Perhaps a more detailed illustration will bump people's opinions to Submit This!

Thanks for the comments. Alice, that was my intention with the shadow, that it's being cast more by the light coming out of the box than ambient light, but you're right, I did shade the box as if there's another light source.



As for the stamp, I don't really know if I like it myself, I just thought I'd throw it in there to see what people thought, since there was a suggestion alluding to it earlier.



I think perhaps I'll sleep on the design and see how I like it in the morning. Maybe then I'll see more stuff I can change.

Okay I lied. Quick shadow tweak, and I tried out some other stamp options. (Organic Happy and Pure Happy.)

Liar! :p



Good one! I like it a lot :) I think "pure happy" rolls off the tongue a bit easier. Organic reminds me of super-health-conscious people. Which isn't a bad thing (kudos to 'em), but, you know.

Hi Ryan,

The stamp could just say "IMPORTED" and work better... It's a little redundant since there's a recognizable symbol that says the same thing, and also stamps don't describe the contents in real life.



The shadow is an improvement. Although it's basic, one thing I like that shows your design skill is the transparency of the glow. However I think that's more than 5 colors. Maybe instead of all grey lines you could use some halftone gradients using only black and grey.



I'd also suggest cleaning the corners of the box lids.



Overall, this would do a lot better if you also had some children standing beside the box in awe, perhaps.. Add some characters with shadowy faces.



That's all... I look forward to seeing more stuff! I've got one up for scoring right now and a few more coming. See here for the current sub.

Hey Ryan,



I think there's some great potential here.

I like the use of the stamp. Have you thought of, "Grade 'A' Happy"?

This may go against what you're intending, but have you tried it without the happy face? Or maybe somehow make the happy face look like a stamp (factory style-like).



Love your designs, so keep putting them out!

/j

I really like this.