Stop copying.
http://cloverhunter.com/2014/07/30/doing-wrong-tillys-positive-message-looks-awfully-familiar/
from Kati: "This piece has a lot of meaning for me. I provide it to charities like A Home for Greys that ask for auction donations. I donate part of the proceeds to Girls Rock Philly while I am also participating as a summer volunteer in the program. It is not a font, it is hand painted. Every time. Over and over again. I do not think the irony of having a motivational message of moral virtue reincarnated as a plagiarized crop tee is lost on anyone here."
Once again, I'm posting about a friend this happened to. Just like tons and tons and tons of other artists do. Because this happens SO much now. Because the idea of a creator for art has become so detached from the images people see. And I post it on tumblr partly because of the reposting capabilities of the site but also because I think it's particularly embedded in the atmosphere here, where credit is removed, posters assume "credit" simply for grabbing and posting an image , artists get cut out of the conversations (positive or critical!) and the potential following that surrounds the popularity of that work, and the whole thing creates this fertile hunting ground for companies cool hunting, and lazy designers making just a few tweaks to try and get away with copying someone else's popular work for profit. A profit that on the designer's end doesn't nearly compare to the profit made by a big shitty fast fashion company that will churn out the design in mass quantities and throw it on a bargain rack when the fad has passed quicker than you can say cease and desist. Designers stop doing this to other artists! Stop seeing work that means something to the person that made it as something you can just have, just borrow to make your cash and leave. Make your fucking own!
ESPECIALLY if you're one of those people whose first response is "oh that's so simple, anyone could make it who cares" If that's the case why aren't these designers and the companies that employ them making their own? It's because 80% is the idea, knowing what words, what images, what ideas people like, and here on tumblr it's REALLY easy to see what people like, it's absolutely quantified in the notes attached to something. It's a clear sign to a lazy designer or piece of shit company that something is a sure win, were it to become a tshirt.
SO I'm not just saying you should credit artists, you should understand WHY crediting artists matter. You should wonder who made something if you like it. They might have more work that you love! They might have something really interesting to say about why they made it. You can probably buy it from them instead of some garbage company trying to sell existing youth culture back to youth. You should prefer that! And the original artists and designers would probably appreciate it a whole fucking lot because a lot of them struggle to make any kind of living at the thing they are most likely best at.
Oh and of course tell Tilly's where to stick it.
