Barking from the top of the wrong tree. You are so far off that you are at the top and still don't realize you are failing in your efforts.



I thought this design would be subtle enough to make a decent shirt... and at the same time, anyone with brains might actually realize their advances are wasted on you.

oh, i get it. first i thought it was jut a dogwood tree (because its barking), and i had no idea what the check marks were for...



i suppose i fall into the category of drastically ignorant people then

This really doesn't stand on its own without the presentation title, partially because there is nothing "wrong" with the "wrong" tree and the "right" tree is not distinguishable from the "wrong" tree (and yeah, I saw the "x" and check marks).



Subtlety does not equal cleverness.

The saying is "barking up the wrong tree." That doesn't mean barking from the top of it. It means standing at the bottom barking up at the top of it.



e.g. Dog chases squirrel or cat or whatever. Squirrel or cat climbs tree. Dog then barks up the tree at the squirrel or cat. Or, if the dog is misguided, he "barks up the wrong tree" while the squirrel or cat sits in another tree altogether.



Part of the reason it's so "subtle" is because it's got the cliche wrong, so really it doesn't make any sense at all.



I think most people are gonna think the tree is barking because honestly, how many dogs do you know that climb trees?



If the bubble from the tree said "meow" I think more people would assume there was a cat in the tree because we know pretty much all cats can climb them. But then there'd be no "barking" anyway, so it'd make even less sense.

I got this straight away without looking at the text. Just because the design doesn't fit with a rather pedantic view of a saying doesn't lessen its appeal. And working out what the t-shirt means is half the fun.

I think it would be better with just the wrong tree. Lose the second tree.

Well, if I had a dog barking from the bottom of the tree, it would be cliche' and not creative enough. ...can't win for losing.



barking = woof

up = top

wrong = x

tree = tree



entire idea = subtle on purpose



I know what the saying is... I really didn't need a lesson in what it is supposed to mean, but thanks anyway.



It's called being creative, thinking outside of the box, and trying something new.



oh, and subtlety may not equal cleverness, but sometimes (more often then not) cleverness comes across as subtle. Don't beleive it, go checkout the shirts that get printed.



thanks for the comments.

very much later, but just wanted to put in that I, too, got the "barking up the wrong tree" thought without any text explainations... I like "can you figure it out?" things like this... so yeah. that to say, I liked it and wanted to give a thumbs up :)

thanks.