FM365: Week the Second

If you were to ask me (and technically, you did, by coming to the blog) I would say that this second week of the Flying Mouse 365 project is better than the first. The pieces seem to be far smarter, and even the (in my eyes) questionable Pac Man piece intrigues me simply for the bold use of the full shirt (and makes me wonder what the finished piece will look like). But in fairness, if last week we gave you pigs, we should follow up with cows. Milking Out is certainly a sweet tee to focus on anyway... again, we have the glorious "things are not what they appear" juxtaposition that is such a Flying Mouse hallmark... a simple scene with a clean illustration, but a strong, creative payoff. The cow is little more than a milk-tank in this image, the white of its pelt decreasing as the milk is drawn from it. I think the outline of the cow would be far more noticeable on the green it was originally presented on when I first saw it at Threadless, but the dark grey certainly lets the white of the cow and the milk-draining concept pop. A worthy selection in a week that could easily lead to a volume discount.

Boiling it Down

As Shirt.woot continues its inevitable slide into obsolescence with a derby that has no discernible standards or rules, we here at SingulariTee continue to wish for a mighty turn-around. As horrible as the derbies are, and as wishy-washy as the staff seems to be about making meaningful change at the expense of their broken system, they do occasionally prove where they stand, even if they won't say it. Printing Spaghetti during their recent spate of Editor's Choice picks is proof of this, to us. A shirt that twice was unable to garner very significant votes, on a hard-sell color, put up for purchase. It almost screams everything I see as so vital for woot to embrace. It has real charm and style, as opposed to the hacky facsimiles that usually get that praise. The colors are rich and perfect. The flow is inviting and enjoyable. The overall content is unique. It's a shirt I cannot stop praising, because it's a shirt deserving of non-stop praise for simply doing everything right. That it was chosen by the site itself is telling of what the site itself values, and in lieu of any change actually being taken by them (or less likely, by the voters), all we can do is support great work from solid designers. Like all woot-based posts here, I don't overly expect this piece to last longer than it's guaranteed week, but give this the love it deserves anyway. Prints like this simply don't happen often enough.

Contest Watch: Week of November 12

Good evening, folks. We'll be getting to the contest watching in just a second, but first, we'd like to note that Chris Risse's awesome "Icecream From Spaaaaace!" is currently up for votes at Teextile. Those are some super colors on a solid concept, and we'd love to finally see it come to life.

While we're at Teextile, we can always chat about Cibasnide, who has garnered most of the recent Contest Watch praise from over there with his weird little characters and his often twisty linework. His latest, Me and My Friends, seems to refine some of this. The piece is less ornamental than some of his others... there's actually action, and the characters exist in a bit of a vignette. The style is sharper, and the detail seems a lot slicker... instead of the more tube-like linework in other pieces, this feels more like a gust, given the delicate wisps of lines inside the chunky ink swatch running diagonally up to the sleeve. It looks great, even if that description isn't the most articulate. The placement here is the real winner (hopefully Teextile will be printing it as shown if they select it), and the colors all work fine, but one of the nicest touches is how the "friends" in the piece all help break up that ink swatch, making it way more breathable and, in turn, wearable. They're fun characters that also serve a functional purpose.

We travel next to Threadless, and their "Threadless Loves Travel 2" contest. It's admittedly had a lot of very solid pieces so far, and among the most charming is The Suitcase Stories, by Ben Chen. The storytelling here is just lovely, with the old suitcase telling the younger ones of all his travels. Each vignette gives its own sense of place, so the overall piece gives a feeling of all the great stories experience can bring you, not of the tedious "when I was your age" clichés. It also has a few other layers... first off, the idea of a suitcase being just as well traveled as its owner is a nice one, but then, the stickers all over it indicating the places it has been are an interesting correlation to how many people view tattoos. This one represents my time in China, that one reminds me of when I visited the Sphinx... it's a personal attachment that Old Man Suitcase has a permanent reminder of. As for final touches, I think the palette is smart for the "old timey" nature of the memory-keeper, and the scenery in his mental photos loses none of its charm or recognizable bits, but the choice of suitcase styles really is a subtle and perfect touch... after all, who really uses those old suitcases these days? It helps set the character in a way most of us would simply pass over, and that makes it a wonderful, wise addition.

At Tilteed this week, we get even more endearing with a freaking bunny. Yeah, I went there. But Thunderpeel's Stormy Nightmares is far more than the sum of its elements. It is exceedingly clean, legitimately cute, and well composed... descriptors which most designs with similar endearment potential rarely seem to care about. The shape is attractive... every bit of the piece is composed with respect to the shape, and it creates a wonderful finished product. The colors are perfect... the simply black and white is offset brilliantly by the orange of the foxes. I have to presume that when people find some shirt graphics too cumbersome for a shirt, they're thinking of something like this as what belongs there instead. This really does fit the bill for a classic style graphic tee.

Less classic, but just as classy, is Threadless Travel piece Flight of the Elephants, by Igo2Cairo. For me, the style is the pure winner here. Sure, there's some humor in watching the ponderous animals float nonchalantly across the plains, but too much time in the trenches has made flightless-things-in-balloons less magical through constant repetition. Still, the elephants are charming due to style... everything here feels hand drawn and then colored... this could be canvas work, not digital, and that roughness that is so often lost these days is part of what gives art the ability to intrigue. The colors are just as smart as the technique, conveying a circus-y feel to the pachyderm procession, and a rural landscape familiar to anyone who has flown over the heartland. I actually far prefer the "dijon" colorway shown in the sub itself (if you're not getting it's inclusion here, for some reason, definitely check that out and I think all will be obvious), but any way you slice it, the work here is top-notch and worthy of praise.

If you've made it this far and are wanting something that isn't charming or sweet, we'll end with a reward: Metal on Metal by aziritt, up for voting at Design by Humans. What I love about this is that it is exactly what it promises, while still being extremely wearable. It's not over the top. It's not gaudy or generic. It's not so brutal as to be laughable. But it's undeniably evoking the musical genre it attempts to pay homage to. The colors here are pure win, with the contrast of the magenta against the black linework and eventually fading into the inky cloud about the guitarist's head, and that very cloud makes the placement on this killer as well. This would be perfect printed, and would easily become a favorite concert tee of mine, even un-metal as I am. If we gave starred reviews, this would be one. It's simply that sweet.

And Your Bird Can Sing

The other day, blogger was being a temperamental little jerk, so I was unable to tell y'all of the wonderful event which occurred at Tilteed. Namely, Song Bird by Lunchboxbrain, a contest watch favorite, is now available for purchase. It's an exceptional collage-style piece... all the elements flow masterfully in both layout and style, and the color choices are earthy and perfect for the olive blank. When I see it, it also gives a certain Imaginary Foundation feel, for a far discounted price from some of their work. Overall, though, an excellent piece for anyone into music. Grab it now while it's $12!

Gotta Catch 'Em All

Excitement comes from the other side of the pond this week, from German site A Better Tomorrow. ABT has some great tees, and were I able to read German, or afford Euros, you would be seeing lots of their stuff up here. As it is, I tend to only mosey over there when I see a tee that is worth the extra effort.

Today, they bring us a tee that is certainly that tee: a contest watch favorite from a while back, Againstbound's "Kleptonaut." I don't know if there can be a negative to this shirt: the palette drew me in before I realized my biases toward it. The concept is both spacy and humorous... what I like most about the joke is that each jar of space has its own punchline, from videogame ephemera to oddities you would not expect to see in space (from goldfish to that lost sock of yours). This guy has even captured infinity. It's like the Pokemon of the universe. Except good. Still, his collection is subtle enough and individual enough that each joke is easily integrated into a whole which is far more about skillful and charming cartooning and the imaginative aspects of the vastness of space than reliant on punchlines. That's a big part of what makes this so successful as a shirt, and a big part of why it's going on ye olde holiday list for me this year. Consider treating yourself and hit up Babelfish. It'll be worth it.

FM365: Week the First

This week heralded one of the most exciting happenings in the tee world. No, not a pact to end the proliferation of Live-Traced Photos As Art, but almost as great... the opening of one of the most ambitious single-artist shops out there: Flying Mouse 365.

To me, there is one thing that should come tantamount to all things when designing: a sense of drive, determination, and respect for your artistry. You should be creating because you love creating. You should be pushing yourself because art is in your blood. So early in the year, when I first saw Flying Mouse announce his intentions to create a new design every day for a full year, I was duly impressed. It was a project clearly born of a creative mind that needed to push itself, and as time went on, and I saw the execution and conceptual quality put into the majority of pieces, I saw that this was a project that wasn't going to be skimped on. It was nice to see that kind of work ethic for any reason in a market that often seems to be all about doing just enough simple, generic work to rake in a payday.

Anyway, some of the FM365 pieces have been optioned throughout the web, as well they should have been, and as the year ends, the man behind the art is putting his money where his mouth is and taking the risk of creating his own site. It's a big leap, and that he's willing to put that sort of money and time upfront for the sake of his art is just one more proof of the dedication in his work. I'm not about to say it's all amazing work, but there's some incredibly diverse stuff that should find favor with pretty much any sort of shirt-wearer, and a lot of it is definitely top-notch.

I've decided to take the opportunity to support one of the best out there in this ballsy, huge-scale project by dedicating a post every weekend to his current lineup. This week, I'm featuring Piggy Bank, selected partially for my sister, and also for being on the ballsiest colour out there: pink. Believe me, I've got a pink AA tee, and it is CERTAINLY a ballsy tee to wear, and perfect for such a bold storefront. The piece does hit on one of Flying Mouse's favorite themes... taking simple things and making them not what they seem. I really like the style on the little pigs here, as they emerge from their bank prison, as well as the conceptual layers... a piggy bank, a bank that stores pigs, and even an element of birthing going on, as the real pigs come from their porcelain hold. If you know a pig lover, it'd make a great holiday gift. Actually, given the diversity of these prints, you could probably knock something off the list for any shirt lover you may know by December.

Each week, FM is going to be releasing 7 tees (and from the looks of it, potential hoodies, as well) for the extent of the week, and while it seems like reprints are indeed possible down the road, you're probably gonna want to grab what you want when you see it. There are discounts if you're planning to buy a few tees, also, which is excellent for a project like this (especially if you know some people who might want to go in with you on an order). Just be sure to keep an eye on that countdown clock... there are going to be some awesome tees printing here, and it would be a shame to miss out. There's always going to be more on the site itself, but we'll be sure to steer you to the best of the bunch.

Contest Watch Plus: Week of November 5

We'll get right into it this week, a week that is quite Threadless heavy due to that all-important "plus" in our title. A week that starts with the bizarre and doesn't quit. Take The Watchers in Technicolor, for example. This DontCallMeBlanket joint is simple in both linework and placement, but it's full of arresting characters and a brilliant color scheme that would make me purchase it in half a heartbeat. I love how the characters are framed by the external, octopodian vampire-thing, which lends a gorgeous border, but those creatures are no less full of charm individually. It's all about being a brilliant graphic tee, with no further pretense or purpose, and it succeeds immensely on that front.

"Watchers" is wonderful for the way its craziness solidifies into a definite charm and a solid, tasteful graphic. On the other hand, though, there's sweet n sour's Pandatankhorse, which totally eschews any sort of solidification or tastefulness and instead revels in pure, unadulterated ridiculousness. It's a pick that I hardly feel needs justifying, because it's a pick I've made purely due to how intensely weird the entire thing is. It's brilliance is in that absurdity, starting with the title, which speaks exactly to what the tee's subject is, a zany mutated mess of ridiculousness. The colors perpetuate the mood, with the pinks and greens straddling a hazy, almost sickly feeling that makes the entire piece feel like a hallucination. The style rounds it out... the panda element is blissfully out of its gourd, the tank is pink and friendly and also has eyes for some reason, and the horse, tattooed, hardcore, yet still with a shred of my little pony, seems to have a mouth in its chest. I'm not sure what part of that isn't pure win, even if every part of it is pure odd.

As a music fan, I'm really loving Walmazan's "Seeing Music Everywhere." It takes a pretty simple punny concept and elevates it quite a bit. It's nothing new, not even to Threadless, for a shirt to exist representing musical genres in a cartoony, literal way, but it is the style here that makes this so great... the designer's trademark work truly brings the characters he creates here to life. Some of them ooze charm, like the little Soul ghost... others are wonderful for the dramatic contrast between the genre itself, like the happy gift praising Rap music, or the baby bottle resting by New Age. All of them, however, are brought to life in a stellar color palette that makes this utterly wearable and a must for any audiophile.

Finally from the wild wild world of Threadless, we have a vision in purple. I'm not going to lie, that gorgeous purple in the mock is a big part of my choice of biotwist's "...well I'm just as confused as you are,"but conceptually, it is a powerhouse as well. For starters, the placement is perfect, setting it apart immediately. The diagonal flow is unique, as is the dual edge print, allowing one character to come from the top and one from the bottom, emerging from off-canvas. The juxtaposition of the characters is great, too... the diver and the spaceman have similar getups, but couldn't be more wrong for each other's setting. As the diver plunges down, the astronaut floats ever upward, and both meet in some undefined void. You can get that feeling that neither character is quite sure what is going on, but the meeting is as enjoyable for us as it is baffling for them. The design echoes between the two really help tie the piece together, from the bulky suits and heavy helmets right down to the lengthy, snaking air-tubes (and you guys know how I feel about pretty much anything snaking and the visual interest it lends). I'd be seriously surprised if Threadless didn't give this one a nod.

Finally, we abandon Threadless in favor of Tilteed for our endpoint. Omnitarian's Deep Blue Destroyer is the subject of our study there. Much as we started, this piece is strongest on palette. It's just brilliantly moody, with colors that evoke shadows even despite the decided "lightness" of some of them. The sharks here are almost invisible for it, which really helps the concept of them hiding within the huge, bomb-like shelters. Also strong is the designer's distinct cartoon style, which imbues his work with so much personality. It's a common theme this week, and an important thing to seek out when looking for deserving work. This is certainly deserving.

Of course, a Contest Watch Plus means Double Plus Awesome. Or at least it means a shirt.woot Doubletake Derby has just ended. While the actual winners are probably meaningless to you unless you REALLY like fake national parks, we here at Singularitee have made it a habit to postulate just what woot will print as editor's choices now that the apparently totally A-OK fake accounts and nitwits have gotten it wrong again. As always, I work on a complex scale that combines what I believe SHOULD print with what I believe they WILL print, and seeks out the finest four. And what a four they are! Tgentry and EdgarRMcHerly's "Here, Friend" is one of the sweetest little tees I ever did see, and a print here would appease loyal fans of two of woot's most creative minds. Yeohgh's "Two, Be Friends" is not only a rare appearance from a Threadless great, but a rare instance where a shirt on woot is legitimately cute instead of being trashy and mediocre and trying to hold the same title. Cashland's "Spaghetti" is simply one of my favorite derby pieces in a long time, and I can only hope I can be so lucky as to own it. And Omnitarian rounds this round out as well with "It's A Cactus With A Fez," self explanatory goofiness from a designer who is undeniably woot's most deserving unprinted one.

We're not expecting to be right (though this lineup would get a $20 out of us), and there are many past CW entries in the running as well that we're hoping for good things from, but these are the horses we're predicting nevertheless. As always, barring another total crapshoot of prints such as last November's ECs (NO MORE SNOWMAN!), we'll be bringing you the report next weekend. If you're hoping to catch 'em at $10, you may wish to be browsing the site M-Th.

Deluge! Boat! Help!

It's always exciting to see Design By Humans come through in the clutch for a contest watch piece. Their schedule allows a turnaround time far longer than most other sites, so when they make a selection we at the blog get all atwitter about, it's usually with the added bonus of total surprise. It's the Christmas effect... it's great to know something awesome is coming up, but when it comes out of nowhere, it can be so much better.

This time around, DBH gives us The Lost Gondolier, by Timizy01. It's an all-over piece that works so well due to that full-print aspect. The waves which cover the shirt do so subtly enough to be simply a backdrop, but swirl and spume up in a quite lovely manner around the gondolier focal point, making them quite worth the notice. The gondolier himself breaks out against all this froth in bold, chunky black lines and fills, helping cement his place alone among a vast world of waves. My only gripe on this is, sadly, one I've had on a number of recent DBH prints of this size... the screen seems to have been made way too large, taking away some of the better aspects of the print. Here, it takes away the prior effect of the moon parting the top of the waters as in the original submission, which I felt added a great void to the piece. Still, the overall product looks great, and will most definitely be a temptation during any sales which may happen over the holiday.

For those of you who want to secure your copy now, and wish DBH was still offering their prior first-day discounts (believe me, you're not alone), try code TNQCQK for 10% off anything in the store 'til Nov. 15.

Apples to Apples

Among the newer sites we're keeping tabs on here is SwishSwosh, from the UK. It has quite the unique contest scheme, which is part of why we're so intrigued... Every cycle (currently it seems monthly, but who knows what will happen as time goes on), the top 10 voted tees go up for pre-sale. These tees fight it out for a grand prize, which will eventually go to the tee which has had the most pre-sale purchases. All ten print, all ten get rewarded, but the most purchased gets the biggest reward.

What intrigues me most about this is that it is such a hybrid. There seems to be an element of your classic, quality-driven site, where ten pieces are selected each week, but there's also an element of the popularity driven contest, with each purchase pushing a piece closer to winning the grand prize. It could be a "best of both worlds" scenario for both artists and the site if implemented correctly, which makes it a site that is firmly on my radar.

Another perk to the site? This cycle, Contest Watch favorite Original Sin (by RecycledWax) is up for that grand prize. That means the shirt IS technically in print... you can buy it and will receive it when it goes to print, unlike a site like Cameesa where you'd possibly need to wait months upon months. Purchasing now, of course, is to your benefit... SwishSwosh is limited edition, for starters, and being a UK shop, saving a couple pounds is highly to a foreigner's benefit (prices are decidedly steep on this side of the pond, especially considering shipping). The biggest reason to snag one now, though, is to help RecycledWax win the well-deserved grand prize for most sold. I am sure he'll thank you if you can swing the expense.

Better Late Than Never

I find myself forgetting about some sites more than others, regardless of my initial excitement, and one such casualty is Ink-Hound. It's a site I haven't even ordered from, despite a few tees I quite wanted early on. So it brings me great joy to be able to speak of them again today.

Their current shirt (available for about another week) is Ghost Ship. It's a little late for prime appreciation, Halloween being a week gone by now, but the style here is something that could easily be a year-round wear. The color scheme is one that I'm ever in love with... the softness of the ink palette looks quite nice against the bold red. The characters are what make it, though. There's a cartoony cuteness that is very appealing, and even with nothing but dead skulls, each crew member has their own personality: the stoic captain, looking dead ahead unflinchingly... the weathered first mate, face drooping as he is long weathered and weary from a life at sea... and my favorite, the bumbling crewman at the back, his big empty skull bobbling aimlessly in the sea air. Personally, that's all fun enough to justify the purchase, wouldn't you say?