We have decided to money raised will go to a popular choice for a Birmingham based charity: Acorns Children’s  Hospice.

This is the first call for submissions and here is how it will work:

• Anyone can submit a design entry to the competition, as long as you follow the specifications needed for printing.
• From the entries 20 final designs will be chosen and made into 50 limited edition pin badge sets.
• One final design will be chosen and will be made into 50 limited edition t-shirts and 50 limited edition canvas bags.
• All items will be lovingly screenprinted by hand and sold online by Cut – Out, a fantasic DIY print company based in the West Midlands. All items will be printed with eco friendly inks and on top quality Earth Positive apparel.

The brief:

We want to make a t-shirt that people will really want to wear, so the brief is very loose. The emphasis here is celebrating creative talent in Birmingham and raising some money in the process. You could design something which reflects the creativity of the city, or just your own style, it’s up to you!

Submission guidelines:

• The design should work using one colour, if the image is a photograph it needs to be converted to half tone.
• The design you submit needs to be 300 dpi (usual print quality).
• The design should be no bigger than A3 in size.

Deadline: Friday 6th March 5pm. Send your design as a PDF or JPG file to Createdinbirmingham[at]gmail.com, and hang on to your originals.

When I was looking at Ben Javens’s website shop yesterday I had a flash of inspiration. Here is my idea:

• Brum’s best known 2D artists donate an original image, drawing, photograph etc. to CiB
• CiB sets up an online shop using a website service like Cafe Press.
  
• CiB sells limited edition t shirts, canvas bags, pin badges etc which sport the original images
• All the profits go to a Birmingham based charity suggested by you, the CiB readers.

So, that is the bare bones of an idea which could be made into a rather nice charity project, with a bit of your help. What I am asking you, the readers is:

• Would anyone like to offer an image / illustration to be used?
• Can anyone recommended a Cafe Press type service?
• Most importantly: What Birmingham based charity could the proceeds go to?

Answers in the comments please! Any other ideas / comments gratefully received.