We had a lightbulb moment when coming up with the idea for this month’s cover. For our slate of T-shirt features, we picked the Beefy-T (5180) from Hanes Branded Printwear (asi/59528; circle 103 on Free Info Card). The design was created by ASI Editorial Designer Monica Fisher and printed by A&P Master Images (asi/702505; circle 102 on Free Info Card).

1. Beefed Up

Hanes’ signature item, the Beefy-T, turns 40 this year, and the supplier has been celebrating the milestone in a multitude of ways. Some things have changed with the Beefy – improved stitching, lay-flat collar and tag-free label. Its quality and construction have not. “After 40 years, the Hanes Beefy-T T-shirt is still the same soft, quality, durable tee,” says Rachel Newman, Hanes director of marketing and sales.

2. Go Halfway

Had the colorful lightbulb logo been translated literally, it would have been a 12-screen job and prohibitively expensive. A&P utilized the varying shades in the logo to reduce it to a six-screen job through halftone printing. “This is a great way to save customers money when they want a complicated design printed,” says A&P General Manager Sean Hogan. “It also significantly cuts down on run times.”

3. Bright Idea

Creativity is a major theme within this issue – an idea we wanted to drive home with the cover design. “When I think of a creative mind, I think of being expressive with the use of color, brightness, shapes and texture,” Fisher says. “I thought this free-form lightbulb fit well with that theme.”

Decoration Tip :
Want to print halftones? Get a helping hand through software. “For this particular job we broke down the colors and created the halftones directly out of photoshop,” says Hogan. “You can use third-party halftone-making software to get a similar effect as well.”

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