Frogs On Ice FAQ

Questions about the Frogs On Ice Store

There's a problem with my order, can you fix it?

For questions about, or problems with, your order, please refer to the CafePress.com Customer FAQ. Please remember that I can't help you with returns or other problems with your order -- I'm only responsible for providing the artwork that CafePress.com prints on the shirts, and for linking to their order server.

Why aren't mugs available for all designs?

Some of the graphics I drew for T-shirt designs are too large and/or the wrong aspect ratio to fit on the mugs. I haven't had good luck with trying to scale the images (aliasing artifacts and "jaggies" are very evident).

Why aren't ash gray T-shirts and sweatshirts available for all designs?

The dye sublimation printing process CafePress.com uses can't print white -- the grey background of the shirt will show through in the white areas. Some of my designs have parts of the artwork that are supposed to be white, and they just won't look right if it's gray instead.

CafePress.com may offer white sweatshirts in the future. Stay tuned.

Why don't you sell mousepads?

I found that the process CafePress.com uses to print mousepads produces colors that look significantly different than on the T-shirts, or on a computer monitor -- the green frog colors, in particular, came out looking faded and sickly. I haven't been able to figure out a reliable way to adjust the colors in my images to match their mousepad printer, and I don't want to sell ugly mousepads.

Why don't you sell anything with the SkateWeb logo?

The existing logo image I have is too small/low resolution for printing purposes. I have been thinking about designing a new logo, and I may also add some other skating-themed, non-frog designs at that time.

Why don't you sell T-shirts with images from the "Gallery" section?

The images in the Frogs On Ice Gallery are too small/low resolution for printing purposes. The images which I drew specifically for printing on the T-shirts are about twice the size of the gallery images.

Can you draw a frog cartoon of my favorite skater to put on a T-shirt?

At this time, I am not selling any merchandise with images that resemble real skaters, because I haven't worked out the legal details of doing so. I don't want to get sued, and I specifically don't want to cost any skaters their eligibility by using their likenesses for commercial purposes without getting proper approval from their national governing bodies.

Can you do other custom T-shirt designs?

I'm willing to consider it for bulk orders or for an up-front fee, but it depends on how much spare time I have available. If you're interested in doing this, please e-mail me directly.

Is it possible to buy T-shirts wholesale?

If you're a retailer who would like to sell Frogs On Ice merchandise in your real-world or online stores, please e-mail me directly.

Can I sell my own T-shirt designs through CafePress.com?

Yes. It's actually pretty easy. The first step is to sign up at CafePress.com. They use a forms-based interface for uploading your images and specifying how you want your "stuff" to look. I suggest that you sign up and browse through the product design forms before you produce your artwork, so that you can make your images are the correct sizes for each product you want to sell.

If you're interested in selling your own designs through CafePress.com, you can support SkateWeb and The Froggy Page by listing the Frogs On Ice store as your referral when you set up your store.

General questions

How did you come up with a silly idea like "Frogs On Ice"?

Back in 1994, in the early days of the web, I started two web sites: SkateWeb and the Froggy Page. A few people noticed my two interests and asked me if I had any pictures of skating frogs.... so I thought about it for a while, and decided to draw some.

Can I put copies of these pictures on my own web site?

The short answer is, no.

Permission is granted to download these images for your personal viewing. You may print out a single copy of each image for your own personal use or to share with your friends.

Other republication of these images, or using them for commercial or promotional purposes, is not permitted without explicit, prior written consent from me. (In the past, I have been uniformly turning down all requests for republication of these images, even for nonprofit use.)

How did you draw the frogs?

I use a variety of standard Unix/X window system graphics tools, including xpaint, the pbmplus utilities, xv, gimp, and the like.

I start by drawing a stick figure to work out the pose and scale, then fill it out by sketching freehand. Then I clean up the drawing and add the details of the skates, hands, face, etc. I do all of the detail work by magnifying small sections of the image and manipulating individual pixels. I make a plain black and white line drawing and don't draw in the costume (skirts or baggy shirts) or add color until I'm satisfied with the basic pose and proportions of the figure.

I referred to photographs for some of the poses, and in other cases I made some sketches on paper while watching videos, drew from memory, or used myself as a model (mostly to check positions of hands and feet). I also used photos or videos as a source for costume details.

How do I contact you for answers to other questions?

My e-mail contact information is listed on this page.