There are some pretty substantial changes made between the submission and the print. I commented in another blog, but the changes are so significant that I wanted to type more. The changes made to the print are different enough that, although I was originally looking forward to purchasing this shirt, I now will not.

The submitted piece is a much better design in terms of the color and size of the argyle pattern. Pertaining to the color, I think that making the image monochromatic was a poor decision, and printing on the navy blue is another problem. There is a black outline of the snake that also defines some of the snake's contours, but printing on a color shirt as dark as navy eliminates the value contrast. Because there is not enough contrast between the black and shirt navy, objects like the tongue, crown, and stars lose their significance and visibility.

One thing I liked about the submission is how well the colors work together. The low intensity (brightness) of the argyle pattern colors matches lower intensity of the shirt while not becoming overly prominent. However, from the submission to the print, the pattern lost that balance by instead having jarring contrasts between the different values of blue diamond shapes, and the brightness of the argyle compared to the shirt. I do not know how Ron Lewis's original colors would look if they were printed, but I imagine they would not be as intense as the blues of the current print. Also, because the argyle pattern has been enlarged, there is an even greater contrast between the darkest and lightest blue diamonds in the argyle pattern. The original submission's argyle pattern was more subtle, and balanced much better with the shape of the snake and the crown.

Does anyone disagree or agree with me?

Other questions:
Why were these changes made to the shirt?
Did Ron Lewis approve of the changes for the print?
Will there be a reprinting at some point in the future with the original colors?
And, although I think it unlikely, would new screens be created with a smaller argyle pattern?

I would really like this shirt, but not in its current incarnation.