- 1). Shadow a team of emergency medical technicians for a couple of days to experience first-hand the rigors of the tasks they perform. Query EMTs on the pros and cons of the shirts currently hanging in their closets so you have an idea of what they like and what they don't like. Ask whether the company, fire department or medical service for which they work requires the shirt design to include a specific color scheme, particularly if there's a Pantone Matching System number you'll be required to replicate.
- 2). Request a high resolution, digital copy of the EMT team's logo art to start the design process. Boot your computer and open the software you prefer for design projects---page layout (QuarkXpress or InDesign), draw (Illustrator) or photo manipulation (Photoshop) program. Render shirt designs in a variety of styles: tab top, t-shirt, polo shirt and dress shirt if your charge is to outfit EMTs with shirts for occasions that range from on-duty uniform shirts to business-appropriate ones.
- 3). Import the logo into the draft shirt renderings you've created, re-positioning the art in a variety of ways---enlarge the logo to cover the entire shirt, fashion a unique border by repeating a small version of the logo to create a distinct pattern or isolate one distinct segment of the art. Mix and match patterns and shirt styles so you offer an array of options.
- 4). Present your draft shirt sketches to administrators, supervisors, members of the EMT corps and other decision makers so the group can reach consensus on the styles and designs they like and those they don't. Recommend ways to keep production costs low by pointing out the one or two colors with screens you specified on your shirt art so embroidery, silkscreen and logo transfers don't cost a fortune when the shirts are manufactured.
- 5). Render the final selection of shirt designs once everyone has weighed in on your EMT shirt design options. Prepare the files for direct transfer to shirt manufacturers in two ways: burn the shirt art to a CD for fabricators whose websites aren't set up to capture uploads and transfer the images directly to those who do.
- 6). Weigh in on the subject of fabrics since you've learned more about how these shirts are worn by EMTs than most. Recommend synthetic blends for work shirts to resist the stains, dirt and soil EMTs encounter on the job and suggest cotton broadcloth uniform shirts for other occasions.
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