T-shirts for joining Core Contributors

This page serves as a guide for a Community Member taking on the responsibility of preparing and shipping Core Contributor T-Shirts.

When a new Core Contributor joins the Program, they receive a personalized Core Contributor t-shirt, which is shipped to them a few weeks after joining. The responsibility for managing the design, order process and cost of these t-shirts rotates every year among members of the community. This practice fosters a sense of collaboration and ensures that each new contributor's welcome experience is enhanced with a unique and personal touch. The Community values the commitment of the person or organization taking on this role, and support is available at every step of the process.

Step 1 — The Core Contributor t-shirt form

As part of their onboarding steps, new members are asked to fill out a Google Form with their information. This includes the information to be included on the t-shirt (name, org, etc.), and shipping information. You will need to be invited as an editor on the Google form to access the information. To do so, request access from Sarina Canelake at Axim, or from a member of OpenCraft (Gabriel D’Amours) or Edly (Faqir Bilal).

Once you have access to the Google form, you will receive an email notification every time a new Core Contributor fills out the form. You will have all the information you need to design their t-shirt and ship it to them.

Step 2 — Design the t-shirt using a vector graphics editor

You’ll need to design the front of the t-shirt (don’t worry, no real designer skills needed!) to display the Core Contributor’s information, and export a PDF file.

Download the two following templates:

Front design template (SVG vector file)

Back design template (PDF file)

You will only need to design the front of the t-shirt, since the back design stays the same for every t-shirt. This is made easy using the template shared above. Here are the steps:

• Open the front design template file using a vector graphics editor, such as Inkscape.

• Click in the text box and replace the boilerplate text with the information that was collected in the Google form.

• Once the correct information is displayed (Name, organisation, role, first PR merged), highlight all the text and change its color to white.

• Save the file under a new name (#personsname-front.pdf is a good idea), and choose to export in the PDF format.

Step 3 — Upload the design on Printful and order the t-shirt

We use the Printful service to design and send t-shirts to new Core Contributors. Printful is a custom, print-on-demand and dropshipping company that allows quick design and efficient shipping all over the world.

Start by creating an account on Printful.

Step 3.1 — Design the t-shirt

Once you have an account, log in and follow these steps to edit your t-shirt design:

• Click “Product Templates” in the left-hand menu

• Click “ + Create Product” in the upper-right corner of the screen

• Go to “Men’s clothing” or “Women’s clothing” in the left menu, and choose “t-shirt”.

• Choose and click on which t-shirt you want the design printed. Options vary, depending on which countries they ship from. We suggest choosing a model that ships from the same continent as the destination, whenever possible.

• The next page is the Product Design page. Here you will upload your designs and choose the color and size of the t-shirt. Start by naming your template file — the name field is found in the upper left portion of the screen (#personsname is a good file name).

• Click “DTG printing” which means direct-to-garment. This is important; you do not want an embroidered t-shirt.

• Choose t-shirt color (usually black — remember that your design is white)

• Choose t-shirt size

• On the right portion of the screen, click on the “Front” tab, and click “drop your design here”. Click “upload new file” then upload your front t-shirt PDF file and click “apply” to select it.

• You will now see your front design displayed as a mock-up. The template is designed so that you don’t have to reposition the design. If you need to do so, reposition the design by dragging it across the mockup. The print quality indicator located on the left portion of the screen should indicate “good/vector”. If it doesn’t, try re-exporting your file from the vector graphics editor and make sure it’s big enough.

• Click the “Back” tab above the mockup, and follow the same procedure to upload the back design. Note that once you have uploaded the back design PDF file, it will be saved in Printful and you won’t have to upload it again.

• The back design template should be positioned correctly and should not be moved.

• Once all done, click “Save to templates” in the lower-right corner of the screen. This will take you back to the Product Templates page. You are now ready order and ship the t-shirt.

Step 3.2 — Order and ship the t-shirt

Now that your template is ready, you can order and ship it. Follow these steps:

• Choose which design/template you wish to order, highlight it, and click “Make an order”. At the next step, click “Create your order”.

• Printful will show you mockups of your design. Confirm color selection and size, and click “Continue”.

• At the next page, click “Continue to shipping”.

• Fill out the Core Contributor’s shipping address, hit “Calculate shipping”, and complete the order process with your payment. Success!

You will receive an order confirmation email in the following minutes. Once the t-shirt has been printed and shipped, you will receive an email confirmation with the shipping information.