vorteks wrote:Very cool. It seems to me that it *may* be off theme (yes, it's science-y, but is it about the scientific process?). But I've voted for it anyway, because I would definitely wear it. I'd like to have some more non-cartoonie Woot! shirts.
Thanks for the vote, and I'm glad you like the design. I wanted to try one more time though to explain why I think this design is on topic, as well as offer some thoughts about the theme in general. I know this won't stop any arguing (in fact, I am sure it will only serve to fuel the fire), but I will try my best to stay out of it as much as possible after this. I think people are getting stuck on the fact that this isn't much changed from the original, but please keep in mind that the original design was about scientific discovery in the first place. The changes that I made were to broaden the scope of the shirt to be about the study of DNA in general, which is why I added the specific molecular structures, as well as the representation of xray crystallography, which was a specific experiment in the study of DNA.
That said, the theme this week is "The Scientific Method." It is difficult for people to differentiate between this and "experimenting." Although experiments fall under the greater category of scientific method, that's not what the topic is. Designs shouldn't need to show the experimental process to be on topic. The scientific method encompasses all parts of the process: question, hypothesis, testing, results, conclusion, etc. Designs can include any one or all of these aspects. For example, tgentry's donut design is showing results of some sort. There is no question or hypothesis or experiment or anything involved, just a zoom in on a donut. Spiritgreen's design is showing the testing portion, without anything else. Very few designs show all of the parts of the scientific method, most simply choose one and run with it. And while I still believe that there are many off topic entries (simple math and test tubes=/scientific method), woot even expressed that they intend to be lenient with this theme in the writeup, since they essentially said they will take anything with a beaker on it.
The analogy was made to woot doing a derby about cooking. In that case, designs could include people washing vegetables, cutting meats, throwing things over a fire, heating something in the microwave, etc., but eating is not part of the process of cooking. With themes like this, the entire scope has to be considered when viewing entries. In this case, the theme extends beyond what most people are thinking about. It's possible that the way I interpreted the theme was not woot's intention, but I'd argue that they chose the wrong name and description for the theme if they weren't looking to allow such a broad range of designs.
I don't think that saying this design is on topic is even a stretch in any way. There's a lot going on in the design, and I encourage anyone who doubts that it is on topic to take a closer look and pick out the individual elements of the design. The design shows a progression of thought, and results of on experiment leading to another. I never said that I made changes so drastic that nobody would recognize the original, only that the design is on topic. I think it's more wearable, more generally relevant, and easier to understand thematically than the original with the changes that I made, but comparing small thumbnails of this to the original won't yield you anything in terms of understanding where I tried to go with the design. Subtle changes can be effective in changing the idea behind a design, but not if they are dismissed.
I'm sorry to respond specifically to your post, but I wanted to make this statement in general. A lot of people say that they don't care if this is on topic, but I do and I believe that it is.
