Half a century. Pretty hard to imagine that the modest and unassuming t-shirt has come such a long way to become a symbol of expression; expressing just about anything and everything from A-Z, touching the lives of the wearer and the beholder. There are t-shirts that have expressed a particular viewpoint, tickled ones ribs with their jokes or have been downright offensive. Funny t-shirts, cool t-shirts, wet t-shirts and what not. But the most unique one is the "Designer T-Shirt".

Designer t-shirts need not be limited for a specific purpose like the Dewey and Ike ones. They can be designed for almost anything. It could convey a message or may be something nonsensical. One can be designed and worn just for the heck of it. If you like it and you wear it, there cannot be any objection to it. There is no law to say that you may not do so.

In 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower won the Presidency with the message "I Like Ike" blazoned across t-shirts. This was a t-shirt designed for a specific purpose. But it need not always be so. Dog lovers can have a picture of their dog splashed across their bosoms or on their backs. This is just an example. Political or social statements are another. The possibilities are endless. All that is necessary is to have an idea, an inspiration and the internet is there to get the rest of the things necessary to create just that unique t-shirt for the world to view.

For an individual creating a designer t-shirt throws up a lots of ifs and buts. Menacing questions that tends to confuse and discourage. And in these days when practically every other thing requires a good workable knowledge of the use of a computer, even more questions:

These are the some of the few questions that immediately spring into the mind. These questions, though seemingly overwhelming, have some quite simple answers. There are a number of popular computer programs used for artwork, from fairly simple ones to extremely sophisticated ones. A simple one that comes bundled with the Microsoft Windows Operating System is the "Paint" program. "Adobe Photoshop" and "CorelDraw" are a few of the other more refined programs used by professional designers. You can even learn how to draw.

In reality, the response to these queries are quite simple, as there are a number of programs, ranging from the very simple to the extremely sophisticated, that are available for drawing graphics and embedding texts. Books, offline and online guides, giving step-by-step instructions to do just about anything with these programs are easily available.

If you are going to design the t-shirt yourself, a sufficient knowledge of the basic principles of design should be enough to get you started. Help is just around the corner on the Internet. And once you have put your hands to it, it might just turn out that you discover that you have a flair for come creative thought and you might be on your way to become a top flight designer of designer t-shirts.

What you do with the t-shirt that you have designed is your choice. You can keep it for your personal use. If you feel that you have to make a statement for people to know, be warned though - you might be misunderstood, get a number of them made and gift them to your relatives and friends. Designer t-shirts also make good corporate gifts and promotional tools.