71: Chapter 71 Final Draft Material Selection

Another half hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhang Tao finally looked up, then gently swayed his head from side to side. A faint cracking sound of bones rubbing together rang out, making him want to groan in relief.

After a moment of savoring the feeling, Zhang Tao's gaze fell on Chen Sheng, who had proactively moved to a corner to avoid disturbing his thoughts. He coughed lightly and said, "Ahem! Mr. Chen, the design draft is finished. Please take a look."

"Thanks for the hard work!" Chen Sheng turned off his phone, put away his earphones, and sat back down beside Zhang Tao. Looking at the design on the computer, he fell in love with it at first sight.

The original sketch was just composed of lines, appearing very empty and thin. After Zhang Tao's refinement, the lines were hardened and transformed into small fragments. Some fragments were filled with color, while others were left blank.

The use of color was very bold, with various contrasting combinations that made the entire design extremely eye-catching.

"Mr. Chen, you can zoom in or out on the image; it has different effects," Zhang Tao reminded him.

"Oh?" Once Zhang Tao moved out of the way, Chen Sheng eagerly grabbed the mouse and zoomed in on the design according to Zhang Tao's instructions.

As the design was continuously enlarged, De Hua's full name gradually appeared. When the design was shrunk, De Hua's name was hidden, transforming into De Hua's likeness—a bust of De Hua pieced together from countless color blocks.

At this point, Chief Zhang said proudly, "Mr. Chen, I utilized the deceptive nature of colors when composing this. When the image is printed on a T-shirt, you see the portrait from a distance, but you see the name from up close..."

Chen Sheng: "..."

What could he say?

He could only give a thumbs up and call it awesome.

"Impressive!" He inexplicably felt that even the highest design fee of two thousand was too low.

"You flatter me!" Zhang Tao said modestly with a curl of his lips. "Mr. Chen, is there anything else you're not satisfied with?"

"No! I am very satisfied with this design draft."

"As long as you're satisfied!" Zhang Tao sat back in his seat. "Mr. Chen, if there are no issues on your end, then we'll finalize the design."

"Fine! Finalize it!"

"OK!" Zhang Tao operated the computer to merge and save the image, then exported it and sent it to Boss Liang via green bubble.

Less than half a minute after the image was sent, Boss Liang walked in with a smile. "Mr. Chen, are you satisfied with the design Designer Zhang made?"

"Satisfied! He truly lives up to being the Chief," Chen Sheng praised Zhang Tao.

"Haha! As long as you're satisfied. Now that the design is ready, shall we discuss what comes next?" Boss Liang asked tentatively.

"No problem! Please lead the way, Boss Liang."

The two returned to the boss's office. Boss Liang poured another cup of tea for Chen Sheng before asking, "I wonder if Mr. Chen has his own T-shirts prepared, or..."

"I heard you mention earlier that the studio has blank T-shirts for sale. Could I see some samples?"

"No problem! Mr. Chen, please wait a moment. I'll go get the samples for you right now."

Boss Liang pushed the door open and left. About five minutes later, he walked back in carrying six T-shirts.

He arranged the six T-shirts into three categories and introduced them, "Currently, the studio only has stock for these three types. Anything higher-end would need to be custom-ordered."

He then pointed to the two on the far left. "These two are commonly used for airport pick-ups, street support, and other fan activities. They are disposable items, priced at 3 yuan and 5 yuan per piece, respectively. Including uniform printing, we can do it for under 10 yuan for large batches."

He paused for a moment to ensure Chen Sheng had processed the information, then pointed to the middle two. "These two are often used for large support activities like concerts. Considering extreme weather like rain and large crowds, the material is solid, not easy to pill, and can be worn multiple times. The prices are 18 yuan and 28 yuan per piece."

While Boss Liang was introducing them, Chen Sheng touched the four T-shirts. The first two gave him the feeling of cheap chemical products the moment he touched them, even giving him the illusion... no, the intuition that even a dog would reject wearing them.

No wonder Boss Liang called them disposable; you really couldn't wear them more than once. Fortunately, they were white, so he didn't have to worry about color fading.

The middle two were much better. The 18-yuan one was likely polyester. Although it wasn't very breathable, it was strong, so he wouldn't have to worry about it being torn in a crowd during large events.

The 28-yuan one felt a bit like cotton, but Chen Sheng guessed it was likely a polyester-cotton blend.

After all, from the factory to his hands, there was at least the studio acting as a middleman to take a cut.

In the room, Boss Liang paused again after finishing the introduction of the middle two T-shirts before starting to introduce the final two.

"These two are often used as collectibles. The prices are 80 yuan and 120 yuan per piece. They are all made of high-quality long-staple cotton and woven using special techniques, making them better for preservation and collection."

"The difference is that the 120-yuan one uses first-pick cotton."

As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Chen Sheng felt the difference in these two T-shirts as soon as he touched them. The fabric was delicate and smooth; this alone was incomparable to those gaudy products from before.

"Not bad!" Chen Sheng couldn't help but touch them a few more times before reluctantly withdrawing his hand.

Seeing Chen Sheng's attention focused on the last two T-shirts, Boss Liang boasted with a slightly regretful tone, "Originally, the studio also had ice silk fabric and breathable molecular fabric, but the market is too small, so they can only be custom-ordered."

"I wonder what the price for T-shirts made of those two fabrics is?" Chen Sheng asked curiously.

"The cost for ice silk is around three hundred, and molecular fabric depends on the process and materials, usually over five hundred."

"That is indeed a bit expensive," Chen Sheng agreed with a nod.

This was entirely a high-end market. However, high-end individuals never lacked channels, so the market was very small.

Seeing that Chen Sheng had no intention of continuing that topic, Boss Liang chose to skip it and asked, "I wonder which T-shirt Mr. Chen has taken a fancy to?"

Chen Sheng pointed to the last T-shirt and said, "I'll use this 120-yuan one."

Boss Liang's eyes lit up slightly, and his voice became a bit more enthusiastic. He asked, "I wonder how many you need? I'll have someone check the inventory. If it's not enough, I can immediately arrange for someone to bring in more stock."

Chen Sheng calculated in his head and gave a number at the limit of his capability, "Let's start with twenty-five pieces this time."

"Twenty-five pieces should be in stock. I'll have someone bring the goods over right away and then immediately arrange for the heat press printing."

The two left the manager's office and went to the office area. Under Boss Liang's arrangement, the heat press machine was started. After preheating, an employee first flattened a lowest-grade T-shirt and sent it into the heat press. When the T-shirt came out of the machine, the pattern had been printed on the back.

The employee handed the printed T-shirt to Boss Liang, who checked it carefully before handing it to Chen Sheng. "Mr. Chen, see if there are any problems. If not, once the stock is brought over, we'll start the official printing."

...