Color Schemes

It’s always fun to get a free t-shirt, but for me, I say it’s even more fun to help design it and see it made! Last semester, I was given the opportunity to choose the color scheme for the new Orientation Advisor (OA) T-shirts. The graphic design is the same every semester, with the school’s name and a flower-and-bird motif on the front, and the words “Orientation Advisor” with the school’s logo on the back. The colors, however, change every semester to give everyone a fresh look. Last semester, I went for a turquoise background with lime green graphics and white letters, representing the natural colors of the island. The T-shirt turned out pretty nice, and it was really cool seeing the 49 of us orientation advisors wear them.

This semester, I had the opportunity to choose colors again. I came up with several different schemes, as I show below. After getting input from numerous students, faculty, and staff on some of their favorites color schemes, there was one that was consistently liked, and therefore chosen to be the next OA T-Shirt color scheme. I won’t reveal which one it is – you’ll just have to find out come next semester!

Here are some of the design criteria I used:

1. The color combination should be as gender-neutral as possible.
2. The color scheme should be warm and welcoming (so no red on black or something).
3. The color scheme preferably should have some sort of symbolic significance.
4. The color scheme should be different from the OA T-shirts of the previous few semesters, as well as the shirts of other student groups.
5. The color scheme should make the letters easy to read.
6. The flower/bird design is complex and should use a more subtle color to prevent it from being distracting.

Check them out!