70: Chapter 70 Design

Chen Sheng took the portfolio and flipped through some of the so-called case studies.

How should he evaluate them?

In his layman's eyes, they all looked pretty good.

Then again, if they didn't have some real skill, they wouldn't be running this kind of studio.

Chen Sheng closed the portfolio and asked the question he cared about most, "If I order today, can I get them today?"

"If you can finalize the design this morning, you can have them before 5:30 PM. If it's finalized in the afternoon, we can work overtime so you can get them within the day." Boss Liang paused for a moment before continuing, "The studio has its own small heat press machine, so small batches can be completed right here. It mostly depends on when you finalize the design."

Chen Sheng nodded. "And the cost?"

"The cost is split into two parts. First is the graphic design, which ranges from 100 to 2,000 yuan depending on the complexity, with 2,000 being the maximum."

"Then there's the printing, which costs between 10 to 50 yuan per piece depending on the size of the design. Large-scale prints are priced separately."

"We also provide T-shirts, pants, banners, flags, and other items to print on. If you're interested, you can take a look later."

Once everything was clarified and Chen Sheng nodded, Boss Liang went out and called someone in. "Mr. Chen, this is our studio's lead designer, Zhang Tao. He'll be handling the design details with you from here on."

"Mr. Chen! Hello!" Zhang Tao was the first to extend his left hand.

"Hello, Designer Zhang!"

While shaking hands, Chen Sheng also sized up the designer in front of him.

Just based on his flowing long hair—permed into small curls and held back with a headband into a slicked-back style—he certainly lived up to the title of lead designer.

Most people really couldn't pull off that hairstyle, nor would they have the courage to try.

After the greetings, Zhang Tao got straight to the point. "Mr. Chen, I heard from the boss that you're in a hurry. Shall we get started right away?"

"Sure! What's next?"

"Mr. Chen, please follow me."

Zhang Tao led Chen Sheng to his workstation to grab his laptop, then walked into a workspace that resembled a reception room.

The two sat side by side, and after a bit of small talk, Zhang Tao began to focus on the task at hand.

"Mr. Chen, let me confirm once more that the item is a T-shirt. Are there any others? Each item has different dimensions, so we need to use different templates during the design process..."

"Just T-shirts."

"Alright. Will the T-shirts be a specific style or standard sizing?"

Chen Sheng thought for a moment and said, "Standard sizing, the unisex kind."

He figured these T-shirts would mostly be for collection, so the style didn't matter much. What mattered were the designs and signatures on them. Of course, if someone insisted on wearing them out, then never mind.

On the other side, Zhang Tao's fingers tapped a few times on the keyboard, and a blank T-shirt design template appeared in the design software.

"Mr. Chen, do you want the design on the front, the back, or both?"

"Both, I think. I want the front design on the chest, and for the back, I want a full-page print."

Zhang Tao noted down the requirements and continued, "And do you prefer a text-based design or a graphic-based one?"

At this point, Chen Sheng perked up and immediately shared the plan he had in mind. "I'm part of De Hua's fan club. We received news that De Hua will be coming to Shu City in the next few days."

"We're making these T-shirts primarily to support Brother Hua, so we want to design something based on his name, combined with his actual likeness. We want the design to clearly show both Brother Hua's name and his face."

Chen Sheng finished explaining his entire vision in one breath.

As for whether the other guy understood?

At least he felt good getting it all out.

However, Zhang Tao... or rather, Chief Zhang—it was clear he had earned his position through genuine talent.

He pondered for a moment before speaking confidently, "I think I understand what you mean. How about this: I'll make a draft first, and then we can discuss it."

Before Chen Sheng could reply, Zhang Tao's hands were already flying across his tools.

He first found a classic promotional photo of De Hua from a certain drama online, downloaded it, dragged it into the software, and set it as a semi-transparent background layer.

He created a new layer, typed in De Hua's full name, and enlarged it to match the size of the background image. Then, he broke the characters apart and used the transformation tool to slowly trace the contours of the background image.

While working, Zhang Tao seemed like a different person—someone solely focused on his task and a man of few words.

Getting bored while waiting, Chen Sheng pulled out his phone and opened TikTok. He went to his account and started picking out interesting fan comments to reply to.

This counted as fan interaction.

Of course, for those brain-dead comments—anything involving family or parents—he blocked them as soon as he saw them. For more serious cases, he even treated them to a "report package."

Half an hour later, Zhang Tao finally put down the mouse, which had been moving so fast it left afterimages. He turned the screen toward Chen Sheng and said, "Mr. Chen, the draft is ready. Take a look and see if it meets your requirements."

Chen Sheng quickly put down his phone and looked at the screen. On the blank T-shirt template was a design where De Hua's full name had evolved into his classic promotional photo.

An image immediately formed in Chen Sheng's mind.

"Designer Zhang, you're the man." Chen Sheng sincerely gave Zhang Tao a thumbs-up.

But...

Chen Sheng felt there was something indescribably awkward about the whole design, but if he had to explain why, he couldn't put it into words.

He simply asked, "Designer Zhang, I feel like the design is a bit off, but I can't say exactly why."

Zhang Tao thought for a moment and asked tentatively, "Do you feel like the whole design looks too empty?"

"Yes, exactly!" Having the mystery in his heart solved in one sentence, Chen Sheng became a bit incoherent with excitement. "I just feel the whole design is too empty. I wonder if you have any solutions for that?"

Zhang Tao smiled. "Mr. Chen, this is just a draft. If you're okay with it, I'll start coloring the graphic. Once it's colored, it won't look empty anymore."

"Alright, let me see!" Chen Sheng examined the draft once more, confirming it matched his vision. He nodded and said, "I really like the draft. Let's go ahead and color it based on this."

"Alright! Then please wait a moment, Mr. Chen."

When Zhang Tao returned to his work, Chen Sheng, once again idle, picked up his phone. This time, he didn't reply to comments or block trolls; instead, he put on his headphones and watched a clip of Forged in Fire that had just been recommended to him.

Every time it was Brother Gou's turn to test a blade, Chen Sheng, just like other netizens, looked forward to him saying, "It will cut."

When he heard "It will cut," Chen Sheng smiled knowingly like everyone else. "It's a lock."

...