I've been meaning to do this for quite a while now, and so typically me, I've already missed the 2011 season and Christmas rush. Key is, though, is that we're here for the long haul, so I tend to approach things like we're running a marathon rather than a sprint (what kind of BS is that, you buying that? Really? Maybe I've just been lazy lately...).

By "this" I mean stock the Corn Nation store with some custom t-shirts, some of which I hope you consider fun, and some of which you've asked about. I have included some samples on this post. They are not yet available in the store, but I am posting them to generate some feedback on what kinds of designs the community might be interested in.

The goal is, of course, to create a standard set of t-shirts that are a) fun, b) make us look like more of a community, and c) represent current themes which may include insulting our opponents, celebrating a rivalry game, or making fun of an outdated Nebraska meme, such as "When will the fullback get a carry?" or "When you getting a black shirt?"

Truth is, the store opened just before the season started, but there was precious little time during the season to do much with it. Now... we have the time.

I kind of like this one - WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Little different take on it, but doesn't quite convey the anger that should be present.

Honestly, I think this and the black one below are rather awful designs. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to come up with anything better. I had hoped my oldest son the artist would help out here, but the last thing he wants to do is anything for me. KEEP IN MIND - That you CANNOT use a player's name in a t-shirt design without it being a NCAA violation. Hence, the "Sexy #22" - so if you would like to design a t-shirt around it, you're going to need to be creative.

Just... really, not all that good, is it? What I really wanted to do here is use a cat picture with "CAN HAS SEXY #22?" but haven't found the right picture yet. Keep in mind we can't just download a cat from the internet and use it on a t-shirt. Here's the key, though. You can create your own designs. Instructions are at the end.

The standard "Corn Nation" t-shirt. We gave these away a couple years ago for the pool contest, and this should be considered the site's official t-shirt. Unless you disagree, of course.

Instructions for creating your own designs:

Go to the Design Studio.

CHOOSE A SHIRT COLOR.

You have lots of options here. The quickest way to get started is to just select a color of t-shirt from the pallet on the right (hit the arrows for more options) and start designing. You can also click the "Products" button on the top left, which brings up SBN categories and subcategories.

3(A). DESIGN USING A TEMPLATE . . . Once you've selected your color of shirt, you can add any combination of art and text to three locations on the shirt: full front, left front chest, and full back.

One of the coolest features of the designer is the pre-packaged "designs," which provide a really quick way to make custom designs that look great. Click Designs at the top left of the designer to see what I'm talking about. They're professional designs that you can change simply just by switching out the text (easiest) or pictures (easy). It's easiest to navigate if you click the Edit Layers button in the top left of the designer.

3(B). . . . OR DESIGN FROM SCRATCH.

You can also start from scratch if you'd like. To add art, click on Clip Art on the top left of the designer. There are a ton of different categories of high quality vector clip art available for free.

You can also upload your own art using the "Upload Image" button at the top of the designer.

You can create your own designs and go ahead and buy the t-shirts, or you can submit a design to me for consideration on the site. I'll be honest, I'm not 100% sure how that works, but you should be able to email me your design so that I can put it up on the site for feedback.

Rules.

Yes, the rules. No profanity (including barely obscured profanity), no nudity, and, most importantly, no infringement, meaning no using images from the web, no using trademarks or copyrights owned by others, no infringement of publicity rights, etc.

That means no team names, no player names, no coaches' names, no mascot names.

You'll have to get creative. Yes, there are some gray legal areas that could be exploited, but with all of the other designs and work, choosing to go that route will probably take more time to work through than you're willing to wait.