Creating the PERFECT Bespoke Darts Shirt for The Outlaw Stephen Thomas

Very kind person with lots of patience! I can imagine I wasn’t the easiest to deal with but the results came out amazing! Look forward to getting use of these shirts! Would definitely recommend getting a shirt designed! - Stephen Thomas Google Review

When we reached the end of this process, Stephen and I had a laugh about exactly how we would review each other after the journey we went on to create his bespoke darts shirts - needless to say, without the full details of what we did it would sound like it was absolute torture - which couldnt be further from the truth

I always deliver a truly bespoke darts shirt and not use templates and generic designs - but create something that is reflective of the player and their personality - and offering unlimited edits and communication with the player untill we are both happy and ready for it to go to print. You cannot have a darts shirt that is not 100% perfect - its makes a statement on the oche and to your opposition. That statement needs to be accurate

Stephen is a man who knows what he wants and has taken an interest in his brand as The Outlaw - having worked on a character, text, logo and general imagary for his branding - Stephen knew in his mind what he wanted his shirt to look like, and needed me to turn those ideas into a reality. Which is exactly what I thought I liked!

Stephen sent me the images and details - and said he wanted the shirt to be green, purple and black. Obviously being named The Outlaw and being from the Midlands - The Robin Hood motif was a huge part of the theme - to the point Steve would send me pictures of him 'doing a Robin Hood' on the Dart board in his practice sessions

I started by putting his logo ideas together to create his perfect icon going forward - something he can use in all of his merchandise going forward. (I threw this service in as part of the deal - any player that understands the need for a custom shirt and branding, deserves a quality logo)

For the shirt - I started with a 'swirl' design that bled down the front of the shirt - obviously in the colour scheme Stephen wanted - this is where it got INTERESTING. We kept going back and forth with ideas and changes to the shirt design - we changed the swirl pattern into cubes, changed it so the swirl bled into the cubes, added subtle light beams and spots, overlays of the logo, played with the layout of the swirl, added stripes in the purple and green colour scheme - basically any variation of the colours and patterns until we found the exact design that Stephen wanted and had in his head

Eventually we found the perfect design for The Outlaw - but it was a long process of trial and error - which is EXACTLY what I want to deliver, a truly happy customer who is part of the design process and create something truly unique and reflective of their darts persona and brand

AFTER we had gone through the process of creating the logo and shirt (after 15 version of the shirt!) Stephen and I had built a friendly relationship and were talking about other darts items for the Outlaw - including hats, hoodies and sweat pants that I am planning on suppying in the near future - and he showed me some of the designs and graohics he had created himself, including this...

After all the interaction and creative block from the green and purple shirt - THIS graphic is what changed the ENTIRE direction we went in and what the shirt would look like!

I seperated the background from the imagary and used that as the background for the shirt and added the motifs in the appropriate places (including the charity logos that are important to Stephen)

Within 30 mins we had a brand new design for a darts shirt that Stephen actually PREFERRED! Most likely because it was in line with the designs he had created himself. Which is what we originally discussed when we started the project!

This lead to Stephen being torn between which shirt he wanted to go with and eventually opted to have BOTH created and will be wearing them in the Bardon Premier League this coming season

The key takeaway from this experience is that I still love working with people to create the perfect shirt for a player and working with a perfectionist like Stephen was brilliant - because we know that his shirt is truly one of a kind - not a generic template made to fit his colour scheme.

From speaking to Stephen after he recieved his shirts (which he was very eager to get!) He is absolutley delighted with them and i am grateful for his 5 star review (I told him to be honest and didnt force the 5 stars) - and we have been posting updates on our instagram accounts celebrating the two new shirts he owns!