Final projects in introductory printmaking classes are typically reserved for rectangular paper. But James Barrett wanted to do something original. He wanted to make T-shirts.

Barrett, a sophomore communications design major, turned his final project into an enterprising T-shirt business, receiving a copyright for his design and selling approximately 350 shirts out of about 400 produced.

The custom T-shirts have an outline of a hand giving a peace sign that stretches across the majority of the front. The hand and background are painted whatever colors the buyers choose.

‘It’s very universal,’ Barrett said. ‘It doesn’t really go toward one particular crowd.’

Though Barrett said he advocates for peace, the main inspiration for the shirts was a piece of art he already had of a peace sign. He put it through a filter in Photoshop and simplified it for the design of his shirts.

As Barrett envisioned his final project, he created a Facebook group asking his friends if anyone would be interested in buying one of the T-shirts. He anticipated 40 requests at most — he received 100.

‘I never expected this,’ he said.

Over summer break, Barrett bought a screen and produced more than 300 additional T-shirts to sell. He also created a website as a platform to sell the shirts. He told more friends, who in turn told their friends. He said his design is now worn in at least 10 different states by many people he does not know.

Ariel Simon, a sophomore communications design major, was in the class with Barrett when he came up with the design. She has bought a T-shirt and said she would like to buy more.

Though peace signs are hardly a new feature on clothing, Simon said she thinks Barrett’s T-shirts are unique for their personal touch.

‘It’s something more significant and authentic,’ she said. ‘I have no idea whose T-shirts I’m buying at the mall. With this, I have some background, already, about the designer.’

Barrett is not without his critics, though. His professor critiqued the final project and told Barrett it was no longer art because he was making a profit from it, Barrett said.

But Barrett said he is not selling T-shirts to make a profit. He is selling the shirts for $12, up from $10 when he started. He said he is saving all the money he has made and has not yet counted any of his profits.

Barrett said he does view his shirts as art.

‘I like to have art on shirts because they travel the world, rather than hanging on a gallery wall,’ he said.

Barrett is currently putting a hold on producing shirts until winter break because he said he needs to concentrate on his classes. But he is still selling the remaining of the batch he produced over the summer.

Now that he has received a copyright for the shirt design, Barrett is contemplating the next step for his business. He would like to expand by placing the design on other objects, such as backpacks. He said he is not ready to create a new design, as he said he thinks there is still a lot of potential for the peace sign.

‘This is still just the beginning,’ he said. ‘It could go so much further.’

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Published on September 15, 2010 at 12:00 pm