Could work with pretty much any colour combo. Because I'm a dullard, I like the blue on sand, but it could be really bright.

I hope you like and no one is offended.

It makes me really want to read it. What does it say? Very good idea though. I don't know if anyone would take offense though.

DUDE THIS IS AN AWESOME DESIGN! pleaseeeee print.

fijickivie2....I believe what is says is also the title name.

hmm it is hard to say if this is offensive or not....I think if you wear this and you are not deaf it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense....I don't know though

Why would it be offensive? (head scratch) There are t-shirts with french on them. That's not offensive. This is just another language. If it said, "The deaf are retarded." That would be offensive. But it doesn't.

i'm not deaf, and i can still read it because it's just letters. deaf people don't spell everything out. they have signs for full words, just like how we don't spell things out but speak in full words. ... sorry if that was confusing.

anyway, i still think it's cute. $4

it says, if you can read this you are probably deaf! I'm not deaf by the way!

It's a nice clean design, but I can't see who would wear it. It's a bit too cartoony and blunt for people who are "mysterious and introspective" or whatever.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just agree with the others that you should use your artistic talents for something with a bit more substance

fuckin' awesome
5

The N and T look kind of off, for N isn't the thumb supposed to be between the middle finger and fourth finger? And for T, I thought the thumb is between the forefinger and middle finger.

si puedes leer esto, probablemente eres mexicano!

Well, I could read it, and I'm not Mexican :-) In fact, I don't speak Spanish (but I studied French and Italian) and I'm a really good guesser given the proper context.

I agree with HipHopaPotamus; someone who generally communicates using sign language would not say this phrase (if he or she did) in this way. But it's a nice looking design.

if all the lines were centered rather than more to the left I would buy it

some of the hands are backwards, if you are going to fingerspell something you need to stick with one hand either the left for the right, most people are right handed, also some of the letters are not front facing such as your S and T and A


sorry to be so critical but ive studied ASL for 3 years, i have friends that are deaf, and my best friend is a Deaf Studies major...this like this will bug people who are actually deaf

actually all those hands should be front facing as in palm to the reader...

Clever and hilarious. Well done!

Hmmm, seems like I may have ruffled a few feathers already. I used finger spelling over actual sign language because I felt it would communicate better to non-deaf people who speak in words, but write in letters.

Rambunkcious, thanks for your comments, this was a bit that I was worried about. I researched the alphabets and went for the angles I liked better. Maybe a mistake. Maybe I should have gone for all front facing hands and/or asked an expert. I did critique it and got a few helpful comments but no one commented that all signs should be forward facing.

that girl is scary

I did actually do a version with all the hands facing forward which could be substituted for the above. I chose the above and first version I did because I thought it looked better....

Please look here for alternative hand positions

madeleinealbright
finally someone who agree with me!
freaky eyes!

Nice one

all i can think of is some deaf person probably reading this... dont you think theyd be offended?

Why on earth would they be offended?!

"Oh someone has made a jokey t-shirt that I can read because I know sign language. How very offensive."."

coolness!

If it said "If you can read this, you're probably deaf... and a cunt" then it would be a tad offensive.

I would love to have a shirt that would express my love for deaf culture! (Yes, it's more than a language, it's definitely a culture. [And they do have a sense of humor.]) But yeah, they really do need to be palm-out. The R looks almost like you're flipping the reader off from here.

I like the idea.

I like the front facing hands :)

$5

With hindsight it would have been better to use the palm out hands, the one I submitted just seemed cleaner somehow.

Ogro dice: si puedes leer esto, probablemente eres mexicano!

O argentino !!!

i made a shirt like this kinda,
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n274/gogo13yay/Aquabats/DSC00142.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n274/gogo13yay/Aquabats/kuva1a_iacross.a.gif
nice shirt though, 5

i like the other hand option better. looks a little more put together.

i think deaf people whould like this... its cute

i think deaf people whould like this... its cute

i take back my five... that was a typo and unfortunatly you can edit your coments. its a little rude, and a very easy design

i love it! it's not offensive and it's pretty coool. i hope it gets printed because i'd buy it! $5

You win.

I like it. I'm not deaf, but know ASL and how to fingerspell. Maybe " If you can read this, you know more than one language." 5$

I have never laughed out loud literally at anything on this site but i read the caption and looked at it and that is genius....awesome

I really like it! It's not offensive, it's FUNNY. As an overall design, it works great. I think you really should use the proper finger signs for the letters, though. If you were writing it in English and skewed some of the letters so they looked WRONG then it would be a problem for those of us who can read in English. IMO

I don't think it's offensive at all. Pretty clever.

This really needs to be printed. Maybe don't do it letter by letter, but actually use the signs for the words... I'd like to see it done both ways. Either way, this needs to be printed. I love the idea. $$$

5$ for the updated version

I think this is hilarious. Great job!

I like. Prefer the front facing version though.

I dont' know how this is offensive, that's like saying "if you're overweight, you're probably fat" it's an observation, is all.

I agree with bramish!

Simply Creative ! 5+ .

lol

Go with the alternate placement one on your blog $4

it's definetily not one of those t-shirts that make you stare and ponder at what its meaning is but i think if i wore this to school i'd get a couple of laughs
5 :D

i really like it

the N looks like an M and the T looks like an A.
its a cool idea though...

Maybe someones already mentioned this but the hand signals is just a font u can download for free. Its called GALLAUDET REGULAR.

Sorry.

Yes, the alternative version is based on a free typeface called Gallaudet regular.

Are you suggesting that the design has no merit because of that? Does it need to be 100% drawn from scratch to be a good design? The design is based on an idea, and in my opinion looks good executing that idea. It doesn't matter that I haven't drawn every element from scratch. Look at my other designs, every element of them is drawn from scratch and took hours and hours of work so you can see that I can do it. This took a lot less time to put together but it is a simple idea and the execution, as such was simpler. I don't think that that detracts from the design. This is a t-shirt design competition, not a drawing competition.

Design is about ideas and execution. I had the idea and researched it, late in on my process I came across this font while I was looking at alternative hand placements. As such I used it as a base for the alternative design, altering the base of each hand.

As a designer I make use of the tools placed in front of me. Yes I could have re-drawn every single hand signal needed, but why would I when I have what I need with a little tweaking.

Sorry to come over all defensive there. People are totally free to make their own decision on what they feel it is 'ok' to use in a design. My conscience is clean on this one.

I hope you enjoy the design.

Drive through please.

Some of the comments are silly. So what if it's a font? Most text on designs here is a font. Also, so what if it's free? That makes it worse? It more likely makes it public domain and therefore less of a ripoff. Also, why would deaf people find the fact that they can read something offensive? That's utterly ridiculous, like Bramish said, it's not like you're calling them cunts.

It's like seeing a t-shirt with text on it and saying:
"Dear trendy designer, sorry to point this out, but those letters are just a font u can pay for. It's called HELVETICA. Also, I feel that this design might be offensive to people who can read English, since it's written in English and they can read it."

woh you guys are nuts. It was just a comment.

stop being so defensive, your just mad that i caught you out. I didnt say your design was bad, in fact i even chuckled a bit.

and squatterjohn, who asked you?! Let ppl comment on the design however they want. Its not a debate, just ppls opinions, thats all.

Cya.

My only comment is that the "r"s look like middle fingers a bit, and the "n" is a little funky looking. Otherwise, great idea :)

I think it's absolutely awesome. The end.
$5

haha, this shirt is hilarious but i don't think i'd wear it.

HannahBanana3450, please follow the link above to check out the alternative version

the only problem is that without the explanation most people would not understand why it's funny, you know? That might have been what you were going for though. It's a great design! Good luck

I think I'd like it better if it said something else in sign language. I think the idea is great, though.

this is the best shirt i've seen so far!!! keep designing chillster

i have such mixed emotions about this one. it's genius in some ways. but i also know that there is a font that you can just type out the words and the hands are the letters.

yes, the "n" looks like "m"

i haven't read all the comments either.

okay seriously? whether or not you are applying yourself to things that are moody and introspective enough, i think this shirt is pretty funny. go you.

There are two things to consider: First, as this is largely just a font, are you suggesting that typing a few lines of text is worth $2500? Doesn't that essentially make this a slogan? Second, many free fonts are free for personal use only. Did you verify that there's no licensing involved in a commercial application like this?

Interesting points MrDomino.

"First, as this is largely just a font, are you suggesting that typing a few lines of text is worth $2500? Doesn't that essentially make this a slogan?"

Well, that's not up to me, it's down to whether enough money could be made out of this design to warrant it being a winner. I don't really consider this a slogan. It's an idea that I put together. In the design world, an idea is worth whatever it is worth to the buyer no matter how simple.

"Did you verify that there's no licensing involved in a commercial application like this?"

I'm no legal expert but the only information I can find is "All Rights reserved" which from the research I've just conducted on the web seems to amount to very little.

Just as an aside. When I came up with this idea I was all set to draw everything. Finding a font just made the execution of the design easier.

I still think this is a great design, no matter how it came about.

How many times do you see something simple and say 'I wish I'd thought of that"!

I really hope this gets printed.

Great idea.

amazing! i want to own one already.. but definitely fix the r! now that would be a tad offensive lol

1: the phrase is awkwardly long
2: not all deaf people fingerspell
3: not all people who read fingerspelling are deaf
4: if that phrase were true why would I want a shirt that only deaf people could read?

5$

To the people who think the girl looks freaky - WHAT?!!!!

To the people who are nitpicking about the fineries of how it would be received by the deaf community - quit worrying: it's not offensive and there's a larger issue at stake.

To the people who think the design is worth less because the designer's used a font to make up the new letters - do you suppose the people who use standard fonts to make up company logos don't get paid? It's a great design and I give it 5$.

would you be offended if you were deaf and read this text on somebody's t-shirt?

Me? no... I'd put on a smug face and feel superior!

"1: the phrase is awkwardly long"
That's one opinion. I find it just right for the joke.

"2: not all deaf people fingerspell"
Most know how, even if they don't use it all the time.

"3: not all people who read fingerspelling are deaf"
Hence the "probably".

"4: if that phrase were true why would I want a shirt that only deaf people could read?"
Cuz it's freaking hilarious. Besides, Threadless tee's often strike up conversation. In this case
a: What does your shirt mean
b: (title of shirt)
a and b: HAHAHAA!

Thanks gtoast99. I couldn't have put it better myself!

This is my highest score to date. A little bit of controversy along the way, but thanks guys.

wow... what a whole lot of commentary. Great shirt you deserve to win!

Congrats on the great score, Jolly Brewer! I'm glad to hear it. I contributed a 5, so if you win, you gotta thank me in the liner notes :-P

Si vous pouvez lire ceci, vous êtes probablement français.

I'm pissed I didn't see this when it was up for scoring. Just know I'm giving you a 5 in here *points to heart*

如果您能读这, 您大概是一个坏司机。

MadIron, thanks very much.

J-Ray, you are a putz

Personal attacks are so classy.

yawn