Henry Goes Golfing—and I’m Still Looking at His Binoculars

Yesterday, I sent Henry golfing.

Henry is one of the characters (created with Kre8or’s cast feature) I’m using for my Bella Vista Outdoors Shop (I use Printify for Print On Demand), which is linked to my blog site. With golf being such a big interest among homeowners and visitors here, I wanted to try a golf-themed image with a short quote on some products

I had read a Printify seller's blog suggesting that simple designs can sell well. That sent me looking for short golf and hiking sayings. I chose several that had unknown origins.(thinking I would be legal to use them). For Henry’s golf outing, I started with:

“You’re Only a Putt Away!”

Short enough. Or so I thought.

A Hat Got in the Way

I created the image in Kre8or first, then modified it to add the quote and my Bella Vista Outdoors Text. Henry looked ready for his round, but his hat partially blocked “Putt.”

That word really needed to be readable. And Kre8or or I had the word Outdoors duplicated. But without being able to read “Putt” correctly, the quote wasn’t doing its job!

After trying to get it right, I brought the image into ChatGPT for help. The revised lettering was simpler, looked better to me, and fit where it could easily be read.

How did I Feel?

Mostly, I was relieved. I uploaded that version back into Kre8or and finished working on it.

Then I decided to try another quote: “You’re Only as Good as Your Last Putt!”

That one turned out okay too. A longer quote, but this time the words had room.

A Little More Bella Vista

I added mountains in the distance and a golf cart. Those details felt right for golfing here in Bella Vista, in the Ozark Mountains.

So, although I started out thinking about simple designs, I still wanted some of our local surroundings in the picture. I liked seeing Henry in a scene that connected with the place my shop represents.

I don’t know yet how either design will sell (I think I’ll put it on a mug or water bottle, maybe a golf towel). For this experiment, I was happy to have a quote I could read and an image I wanted to keep working with.

But?

Then I noticed the binoculars.

Henry was standing there with his golf club, ready to putt, and still wearing his binoculars. I hadn’t thought about removing them while I was concentrating on the words.

Now I’m wondering whether they belong on this particular outing.

Would you keep Henry’s binoculars as part of his outdoors character, or take them off when he goes golfing?

—Shirley

PS: Fleeky, I tried a different approach on this post after reading your Editorial article.