All is Not Lost

A couple months ago, I had an idea all geared up for a weekend blog, and when I went to retrieve my info, everything was missing. The link was gone, the shirt seemed lost to the ether. It was a shame, too, because the site showed huge promise, and all for pretty cheap, too. Perhaps it was not meant to be.

Ah, but then I stumbled over it again, and this time, dear readers, I will not let it slip away before telling you. The site is called Scopial. It's an outfit out of India, and I honestly know very little about it past what the site states. For you designer types, it might be a good place to get in on: they offer $400 US for a winning tee, and as it's a newer site, the odds are in your favor. It looks like there are already some solid designers throwing their hat in the ring, as well: there are printed designs from Casajordi and The_JCW, and I found other familiar designs printed and in the running. It could definitely be worth taking a chance.

For the buyers among us, however, they already have what is shaping up to be a solid early life. The prices are cheap (the equivalent of $10 US), and the shirts are by all claims top notch. My main caution with a new site like this is Shipping Time... International Shipping doesn't always take into account how damn long things will take to get to you, so it could be longer than the higher shipping cost would imply. There are definitely designs worth taking the risk on, though. My pick of the bunch is the one I originally found when I first saw the site, Predator. If you liked Charybdis in my last Contest Watch, you'll probably dig this one, too... while it lacks the visceral punch of the other design, it revels even deeper in the predatory, giving us a lion and a pretty vicious looking snake, among other creatures joining some denizens of the deep. There's some amazing vector work here... it's smooth, but it doesn't feel cloying like some vectors can. The colors are skillfully used as shading predominantly, and they look gorgeous against each other and the tee. There's some serious art going on here, and it fills a tee brilliantly. Even the model of the tee has to hold onto her head to keep it from spinning at how cool this piece is!

I'm hoping to pull out some more varied shops now that t-shirt weather is officially here just about everywhere. I obviously can't place a firm recommendation without having an example in my hands, but if Scopial's quality control and customer care are anything like their eye for art, I think they're a great option if you want something a bit different to sport this summer. Definitely worth trying out.