Requiem for a Jim

When I first "met" Jimiyo, I was unimpressed. In retrospect, I can't pin it down. I'd imagine part of it was the lolcat tees. Maybe it was partly because the other people I respected all seemed to know him immediately, but I didn't get it immediately. Hell, now I'm that person... yknow, the one who laughs to himself when a wooter tells a Threadless artist "have you ever thought of taking this to Threadless?" Yeah, him.

But the truth of the matter is it takes very little time to like Jimiyo. He's the sort of artist who, even when you don't love his work, you can't honestly find fault in the execution. He's equally well-versed in marketing his work as he is in making work worth marketing, and he uses that skill to the benefit of other artists, not just himself. And really, you spend enough time reading his posts or chatting where he's chatting and you can't help but be drawn in by his personality. He's an all around good guy. When he's not London Beat rolling you. Jokes jokes.

So when the new Design By Humans art director becomes the new DBH shirt of the day, no one is ever going to begrudge that. It'd be a loss to the shirt world if he wasn't! As far as I'm concerned, today's tee, Rhanga (a collab with Chris Parks), is among the best he's had printed. It's the colors more than anything, but that linework is exquisite and 100% pro. The mood is perfect, really capturing the Balinese flair the two designers were going for. It straddles the line between grotesquerie and beauty. And while I can see how well designed a shirt Revelations is, and can trip over myself praising the linework and flow of Create, this is the one I feel I'd have to buy.

Code WG2XAE will still get you 10% off until May 8th, so if you're feeling the same way, pick one up, and keep an eye out for a new code in our sidebar this weekend. Also, I get the feeling Jimi might want you to follow his twitter. It's full of WIPs, cats, insights, and even free shirts. Totally worth the feed.