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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Contest Watch: Week of February 19

Before we go too deep into this week's contest watch, I'd like to remind you all about our Contest Watch Contest, in which you can win a free shirt. All you need to do is guess which shirt will be printed as our 25th update. Click the link for all the exciting details, and read on for more exciting shirts-to-be.

We begin this week with Sonmi's BurgBot, an almost-ran for this segment when it was up for voting at Threadless, now trying its luck at Design By Humans. It's an easy sell for me because it combines burgers and robots, two great things that presumably would go great together. The layers of the burger part are well incorporated into the robot's design, and the ketchup/mustard lasers are a charming and amusing touch. Still, what sells this even more than the awesome concept is the awesome style... it's totally vintage, as if some old-time McDonalds rival created the guy as a mascot, and that vintage, familiar feel makes it doubly wearable. And for me, the size doesn't hurt either.

Gumbolimbo starts off the Threadless train this week with the epically lengthily titled "It's just my imagination (running away with me)." The piece is all about style... it has a vintage feel to it as well, to me. It feels like something that could fit on an old urn or some sort of pottery, especially with its upward flowing motion. That flow is part of what makes the concept here work... the creature running away with the character just keeps building off itself. It's very representative of how the imagination does the same thing, taking one concept and running with it until something simple becomes something complex and unique. Of course, the style itself doesn't hurt this, being imaginative in and of itself, and even the knight, hanging on for dear life, fits the concept... how many fantasies are more common when we're young than the days of knighthood? And while things like the skilled use of a single color help sell the piece even more and speak to the designer's chops, the aspects that do the piece the most justice are those bits of imagination.

More whimsical is "Hello Human" by TangYauHoong. It's a simple piece, no frills, just a cute concept. It could be a message of wanting to fit in, or of an intergalactic friendship, or just a quick "hello" sort of concept, a charming little greeting. What I love here, though, is the flow of the hand (hands are damn hard, lemme tell ya), but also the great transparency feel. The piece speaks for itself otherwise, so I don't feel I need to prattle on, but still a solid piece.

Hermes by BadBasilisk was one of the early favorites for me this week, and it kept that position all the way through. For starters, it is one of the most tasteful uses of gold foil that I've ever seen, adding a definite sheen to the piece, but as paired with the colors and shirt, it wouldn't overpower and make gaudy. As the colors go, the earthy palette was the right choice, for sure, on this piece... the monochrome option still looks good, but pales in comparison. The detail, also, is magnificent, from the texture breaking up that foil to the scarf and the subtle background clouds. You can see the care the designer put in to every bit. It's also a unique take on the titular concept... Hermes the messenger, swift on his winged heels, seems to have updated for modern times, with an ornate winged shoe to pilot. Or perhaps another, less fleet-of-foot god had to fill in for a bit. Hell, maybe a mortal stole the young god's footwear (it only makes sense a winged foot would require a winged shoe). Whatever one imagines, it adds even more fantasy to an already mythological concept, and being able to interpret something further than the literal always lends a little something extra to a piece. Definitely a worthy print... one can only hope it makes it through.

Finally, we finish back at DBH for something purely artsy. Cornerstone was another former Threadless attempt, this time by beecombs. It's interesting to me, because it's executed pretty simply: strips of textures (the designer cites very old books as the main source of the swatches) stacked upon each other. What is interesting to me about this is that it is deceptive in its simplicity. The stack is by no means a perfect one, with the strips out of line and skewed in just the right way to turn this from a boxy eyesore to an interesting visual experience. The strips themselves may be scans, but it hammers home the difference between lifting imagery and being inspired by them. Every strip seems to have been perfectly selected, eyecatching while being undefineable, different from all the others yet perfect in the flow of colors. It all simply works as its own piece, as if it was supposed to be this way all along. And that is how you use stock art, people... you alter it until it is clearly your own.

More next week, of course. Don't forget about the contest, and don't forget to get on the vote train if there's anything you like.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Let Them Eat Fish

So it's Lent. The Christian season of not eating meat for God. It's a tradition I've never understood, because in today's culture it is fish that is the luxury, at least in America. Still, growing up under that belief system, I figure I may toss in a couple "seasonal" bits and bobs over the next 40 days. Art and religion have always lived in harmony, after all. Personally, I'm just excited for the resurgence of fast food fish sandwiches.

Perhaps your wardrobe is a bit too meaty? Try out Endangered Species. As a joke tee, you simply can't go wrong... the art is skilled but simple enough to let the punchline shine. The concept is a winner, pairing the ever-growing popularity of sushi with the convenience we strive for. The composition is well thought out, with a successful color palette, and a layout that helps add visual interest that wouldn't be there with the fish alone. When it comes right down to it, it's exactly what you'd expect from Glennz Tees.

What's that? You don't know what to expect from Glennz Tees? Glennz (that's Glen-N-Z officially, but I sure as hell don't pronounce it like that) is only one of the people who made Threadless what it is today! He's known for knowing just the right line between art and concept, making simple yet skillful designs with some of the strongest visual jokes in the business. When you're done browsing his personal shop, check his goods over there... he's got a lot, and many are sold out, just waiting on a reprint. Definitely a designer to be familiar with, and vicariously, definitely a shop to keep tabs on.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Contest Watch: Updates #1 - 25

A quick list of the first 25 updates from our Contest Watch:

PPP

Ekadanta
Death and Colors
The Mouse Tamer
Music Industry
Take a Picture
Seven Swans
Timberland
...Excuse Me
Clockwork Orange (also @ spreadshirt)
Fiction vs. Nonfiction
Found Anything Yet?
Just Can't Kill the Beast
Capistrano Spring Break
Not Safe for Work
Thrifty Fill-Up
Roundup
Spirit of the Stag
I Want To Dance Too (Teextile, no archive)
The Infinite Struggle
The Fantastic Voyage
Cronikas (inkhound, no archive)
Choose Your Own Adventure
Self Serve/Surf
Extraterrestrial

Non-Contest Updates:
The Thrift Monster
Workshop

FOLLOWING IS FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY:

CONTEST WINNERS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED
We're fast approaching the 6-month anniversary of Singularitee, and it has been quite a fruitful first half a year. I'm excited that this little blog has been getting the traffic and general good vibes that it has generated, and I hope to round out the first year with even more awesome. If you're new to the blog, now's as good a time as any to become acquainted with the old stuff, and we're excited to see you around for the new stuff as well.

With this in mind, I thought we'd have a party to celebrate, and there's only one way to throw a party. Unfortunately, most of you can't make it to the kegger (and such a shame too, I was getting Newcastle), so to you, faithful fashion fans, I'll make the party global and announce the very first Singularitee Contest!

The concept is simple. Every week around here, I run a Contest Watch, where I chat up the best of the best in the yet-to-be-printed world. So far, 18 such shirts have been printed, an average of 3 selections a month. Which I find to be awesome. But with such a rate of success, and the updates coming fast and furious as late, it is likely we'll hit #25 sooner than later.


This is where the contest comes in. I want you to guess the 25th contest watch print. Anything I've chatted up in a contest watch segment is eligible, so long as a picture is featured (ie: if I linked a shirt without showing it, it is not valid). To enter, simply browse my contest watch entries, pick the shirt you believe is most likely to print as the 25th update, and either post in these comments, or send your guess to me privately at 5songsinc@gmail.com. One entry per person, please... I will only count your first guess. To be eligible, I will NEED a way to contact you, so if your blogger profile doesn't include an email, it might be best to go the email route.

So why do you want to enter? Because just for entering, you will be entered into a drawing for a FREE SHIRT!!! That's correct, one lucky entrant will win their pick of any printed Contest Watch shirt. Unsure what's made it? The eligible list is at the bottom of this post... it will be continually updated as new shirts win, and I might even throw in a couple extra choices for funsies.

Don't just guess anything, though... make it count. Because if anyone guesses correctly, they will have their own personal drawing to get a FREE SHIRT, plus a mystery prize to be named later when I figure out what's awesome/ridiculous enough. This will increase your odds immensely, so it's worth coming up with that perfect choice.

Some legal stuff: first, while anyone can enter the first drawing, I fear that any employee of a shirt purveyor is disqualified from entry in the "correct guess" portion of the pie. This is to prevent any possible rigging of which shirt ultimately scores that spot. Similarly, the designer of the 25th shirt cannot be entered into said drawing. The shirt must be printed at a real site, not a personal print-on-demand, to qualify as an update. I cannot know EVERYTHING that's out there, so updates are determined by when it comes to my attention, not an actual release date. Prizes based on availability. If your size or chosen print is sold out, I will make reasonable overtures to obtain the shirt you request, but at the end of the day, I can't bring a shirt back into print if it's gone. Please understand if this is the case for the shirt you desire. Contest is open to everyone the world over: however, Singularitee is not liable for any possible postal issues for international shipping. Etcetera etcetera. Contest ends when the 24th update prints.

Currently eligible prize shirts, in no particular order:

PPP

Ekadanta
Death and Colors
The Mouse Tamer
Music Industry
Take a Picture
Seven Swans
Timberland
...Excuse Me
Clockwork Orange
Fiction vs. Nonfiction
Found Anything Yet?
Just Can't Kill the Beast
Capistrano Spring Break
Not Safe for Work
Thrifty Fill-Up
Roundup
Spirit of the Stag
I Want To Dance Too (Teextile, no archive)
The Infinite Struggle
The Fantastic Voyage
Cronikas (inkhound, no archive)
Choose Your Own Adventure
Self Serve/Surf

Non-Contest Updates:
The Thrift Monster
Workshop

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Contest Watch: Week of February 12

In the world of t-shirts, the contest is king. Without it, there would be a shortage of the quality art we love on shirts. So I want to take a moment to speak with you all on behalf of ShirtFight. They're a new shirt competition run by a husband and wife team, and they're going live on March 5th. As of right now, they're a single homepage with info, but once they go live they will have a weekly shirt competition that will boast a $500 payout and some as-yet undefined surprises. Why I'm interested is simple: I love a good shirt contest, and I love good shirts. Why should you be? If you're a designer, here's an excellent reason to be intrigued: their first contest will come with a $2009 payout. That's actually a shred more than even Threadless offers in cold hard cash. It's highly recommended that y'all keep an eye on these guys. Designers especially should sign up for their mailing list... they're promising the theme will be announced there well before launch, giving you plenty of time to put together something awesome to snag that prize. More info, of course, will come over time, but right now, keep these guys on your radar... all evidence points to a very different kind of weekly contest.

Also new to the game is Teextile, which recently went live to the public, but is biding its time on posting its first shirt for sale. Think of them as a pricier TeeFury... their game plan is much the same (one shirt, 24 hours only, 5 days a week), their rights-retention is the same (you keep yours no matter what), but there are a few major differences. The blanks are American Apparel, not Alstyle (hence the extra cost), designs are voted on, not curated, and the perks are very intriguing. For an artist, it's a very generous commission per shirt sold, but to keep voting strong, they're also offering free shipping for any shirt a user votes on. They've already got a lot of strong work in the running (including a contest watch favorite from RecycledWax), but among my favorites is Tolagunestro's "Extraterrestrial." It's got a wonderful alien/robotic propaganda feel to it... the vintage look of the piece coupled with the otherworldly "text" conveys that wonderfully. This is a style the artist owns, hands down, and the shape and presumed placement make this something that will simply own on a shirt for sheer wearability.

Also totally wearable: patterns. And while the patterns that were most evident during this week's shirt.woot derby were the redundant voting patterns, the theme was all about breaking them, which is why ansharp's "The Paisley Stands Alone" does indeed stand alone as the easy best of the week. It's simplicity itself... not to imply there's anything simple about arranging a precise pattern like houndstooth, but conceptually it seems so obvious, and sometimes hitting that perfect idea is all it takes. Of course, it's also about execution, and not only is the houndstooth pattern very cohesive on its classic black and white, but the stand-alone misfit tooth is in an excellent location to be well noticed without feeling uninspired. The color choice, also, is something I'm all for... the sea-foam is far from the black of the others, and paisley is gaudy as all get-out, serving as a wonderful counterpoint to the starkness of the rest of the piece, while being small and subtle enough that the shirt itself is still classy. A surefire shoulda-won.

Design By Humans is hosting a great "shoulda won" also in WarholBot's "pir-uh-mid," a piece I'm sure I've seen with a number of other titles before. It's one of the designer's most iconic and familiar pieces, yet one that has simply not hit home. Why, I have no clue. It's CMYK without being tired and uninspired, and helps slam home the reason why people love the color scheme so much... the colors are a palette, not a designing in-joke. This mixes with the designer's offbeat style, tempered in this piece by other elements... the distressed beams and the mirror image sketches anchor the piece, and make it more accessable than other pieces by the artist. Don't get me wrong, that charm still shines through from the grinning pyramid-headed alien dude (the top-hat is killer)... it's just something I am shocked has not resonated, and I'd hate to see it happen again without my throwing my hat into the ring in its support.

Threadless this week is a vision in black and white, something Paul Simon might not be enthused about, but the pieces in question enthrall me. First is mr.pimpant's "BASTIEN LOVES GEOGADDI AS I DO," a cavalcade of CapsLock, but a wonderful sketch. I love how the elements straddle the line between completion and just starting to form... it gives the piece a very dreamy feel. I also love the wrap-around, which is tight enough for the entire scene to play out, but helps take the sketch from the presumed page to the shirt canvas effectively. It's a piece that simply doesn't have much else even remotely like it, and if for no other reason, I'd love to see it print for that, but it also captures that hard to pin down indie aesthetic. It's the shirt equivalent of art for its own sake, and it comes out beautifully and subtly.

Finally, finishing off this blog but continuing the black-and-white trend, we have BaronVonMonkey's "A Visitor From the North." The north, I believe, is Scotland or Wales, where apparently everyone is a totally awesome robot. This has made me dramatically re-evaluate future travel plans, because I want in on that. But besides this revelation, the shirt is built off a very skilled landscape sketch, which fills the shirt canvas as naturally as it likely filled the page. Oh, yeah, and ignore the pointing hand... that's part of the flash presentation from Threadless. The only absurdity here is the affable robot, which doesn't even seem like it shouldn't be there. It's waving happily to announce his presence, and it gives the feeling that this is a perfectly normal occurance in the otherwise sleepy riverside village. I can't help but love it, both as illustration and shirt.

And that, as they say, is that. Definitely keep tabs on the new blood, guys... I'm sure it'll be worth it... and watch out for an awesome Contest Watch related announcement this weekend.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

When Words Fail Music Speaks

BadAsHell Clothing have gone for a double header... the small retailer is still very new in the shirt world, but they keep bringing something fresh to the table, and right now they have two excellent shirts available for presale. The first, we spoke of a bit ago. The most recent, however, makes me want to snag both ASAP.

The design is Taper Matter, by Muro. I have no clue what the hell that means, but I have a strong guess that it has to do with cassettes. Possibly being eaten. It has a great indie/punk feel to it, as it has the offbeat nostalgia of the former and the bad-ass aesthetic of the latter. The design creates a lot of motion out of inanimate objects and a disembodied mouth. Some of the cassettes are spelling the title out. Some seem to be running for their lives. A number of them are in a heap of obsolescence. I like the clutter and the different style of cassettes, and I love that the style fits the scene that the theme was born of. I can't wait to see this one off the mock-up and on a real shirt, and I'm very tempted to put the order in quick to find out in person.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The pointless, yet poignant, crisis of a conifer

Tuesday looks to be Edgar McHerly day. And I'm OK with this eventuality. Ol' Edgar is a favorite around here, as regular readers will surely know, and last week we wrote about his recent Cameesa success. This week, we are celebrating a much larger step on his way to shirt world fame.

We find ourselves at Design By Humans, which is a nice place to find oneself when artistry is being discussed. The shirt? Two Trees. In a lot of ways it's not too different from what one might expect from DBH... it depicts what it says it depicts. Two trees stand alone. One is being chopped down. It's a capable silhouette job, and that it fills the whole shirt makes the starkness very nice against the white. But that's not the magic here. A single word balloon takes the piece from simple to sublime. The words are spoken by the second, unchopped tree: "Goodbye, Old Friend." All of a sudden it becomes insanely sad and powerful. They say that brevity is the soul of wit, but it can be equally true of any text... three simple, well chosen words elevate this far above what it is at first glance. It's that very human touch combined with a very popular visual topic that I feel will not only make this a favorite of mine, but a favorite of many.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Deerly Beloved

It has been a long lonely lonely time since we last talked about the fine folks at Uneetee, but they are back with a vengeance and update #18. The lucky winner this week is Infinityloop's "Spirit of the Stag." It's our first update at ol' Uneetee, so it's pretty exciting, especially since we blogged this piece back on Thanksgiving. That's a long time ago, yes, but the wait is well worth it. The print looks to have come out great... as I said before, the art evokes the power of nature and the stags in question, with an almost spiritual side to it, given the way the bigger one blends into the sky. A very attractive shirt, on sale for $12 for the rest of the week. Maximize your profit by checking out their Insanitees daily at $10 a tee... today's offering is yoshi's "Music Plays in My Head," but you've got til Sunday to find one that fits your style if you want to double down.

And as the winners accumulate, do check back soon for exciting Contest Watch related info.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Woot Double-Take Update

So in the long long ago, I insisted I would be updating y'all with the results of the shirt.woot do-over derby. I was pleased overall: here's what unfolded



While first place went to the expected bunk, second and third place were both solid prints. Second place winner methepainter brought us "Night Job," which is peaceful and artful and HOLY CRAP IS THAT DUDE STANDING ON A GIRAFFE??? I think that's the part I most enjoy here, is the idea that this guy, in order to paint the moon, had to find a massive giraffe to stand upon. A sea giraffe no less, it appears. It's the sort of bizarre that I love. And speaking of loving the bizarre, geekfactor12 snagged third with the utterly ridiculous "Dinosaurs Who Are Communist For Some Reason." The title alone should be enough to urge a purchase, but the subtle tones and offbeat humor are also prime reasons to snag one.

My personal pick of the litter during the ECs is artulo's "Thrifty Fill-Up," a piece I predicted would get printed in my preview and one I've loved since its original derby. The blithe look of maniacal glee on the bottle's face is priceless on this one, and while I may be alone on this, I think the red is quite nice against the creme. This is officially update 17 for loyal contest-watchers, so grab it while you can if you're collecting.



Also showing merit: fellow Editor's Choice picks like dirtdirt's "Gluttony: Thy Name is Pete," which has a pretty decent name too, all things considered, but the real charm is in the wholly unrealistic look of the fat cat, as well as the speech bubbles rattling off his list of snacks. It proves that cute can still be done in a unique way. And while Pete circumvents woot's "cute" cliché with personal charm, another cliché is averted in Drakxxx's "Battle Fungale." It revels in the popularity and nostalgia of video game shirts, but it brings a high level of artistic prowess into the mix... the scene looks like a classical sculpture, something one might see as the centerpiece of a fountain in Rome, or in the middle of a Florentine piazza. Elements from the game abound, and are worked in so they fit the scene, but more importantly to the wearer and the appreciator of art, there appears to be a lot of negative space showing through, which should assuage any worries regarding the size of the print.

All in all, enough good stuff came of the week that it almost makes up for what has been a rather disappointing year so far over at woot. We can only hope there is more in this vein ahead. As always, though, if there's something here that strikes your fancy, buy it now. The vast majority of these shirts could very well be gone as soon as next Monday, so don't hesitate too long on them. Woot shirts are a short-lived breed, and the good ones doubly so.

Holy Fuck I'm On The Awesomer

The Awesomer. It's purpose speaks for itself: to be a record for all things awesome. I've garnered a hit or two from it before, but had a handful of them just recently that made me a bit confused, so I looked in deeper. And, er, holy fuck.

See, I had this little shirt printed at LoiterInk a while ago. I'm proud of it... happy it printed and excited to see it firsthand when I pick one up for myself... but I didn't feel it was my business to promote so heavily on my own blog. And then the fucking Awesomer decided to do it for me. Show offs. I find this pretty epicly awesome, and I wanted to thank the fine people at Awesomer enterprises for finding me awesome, as well as frequent blog follower Jaden Kale for apparently tipping them off. I'm a bit blown away, and I hope any new readers enjoy their stay and continue coming back... I promise it can only get better. I knew I should have updated earlier this weekend.

More to come shortly.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Contest Watch: Week of February 5

This week was epically difficult to narrow down... Threadless alone could have doubled the length of this post... but in the end, we must be editors always. Here's what would have pained me too much to pare off.

We start at Design By Humans this week, who have unveiled a new layout. I am ever resistant to change, but at least they have added some very useful features... a forum, for starters, as well as a ton of reprints and, best of all for me, a more user-friendly vote interface. It's therefore only fitting that they should be our headliner... and what a bang they do start off with. Above, you see Rhanga, a collaborative effort between design powerhouse Jimiyo and Chris Parks. I see pure Jimi, though, with the smooth vector lines and skillful detail one expects of his work. But the killer here is the color. The golds and reds and whites are as mystifying against the black shirt and each other as the Balinese mythology the image is based on. It totally evokes that east-Asian imagery and brings out that exotic beauty... a creepy beauty, but beauty nonetheless.

As I said above, Threadless this week kicked my ass... but one of the ones I could not pass up was RecycledWax's Original Sin. I'm a big proponent of the idea of natural lines... something that looks organic other than digital... but RW is a total pro at using those smooth, rounded vector lines to his advantage. This particular piece is a take-off on the Adam and Eve story, but the touches make it much more devious. Eve is blank-faced, emotionless, offering out the apple as if she knows exactly what happens next. It's not surprising she might seem so hypnotized, as there are eight snakes to the expected one. The best curveball, though, is that the snakes actually make up the tree, giving it a much more ominous feel. The whole piece has a soulless feel to it, which is a compliment for this... it really hammers home the darker aspects of the story. It gives off that brilliant creepyness that the girls in The Shining do. Also, the snake is the incarnation of the devil, and really, the devil should be soulless.

Shirt.woot's heartbreak theme, otherwise known as "Derby 81: Crap," actually had a handful of gems hidden beneath the plaintive cute critters and the, well, scads of literal takes on the topic. The one most worthy of mention, Drakxxx's Hi Ho Heartbreak, isn't even safe... admittedly, it is one of the worst shirt titles ever. Thankfully, though, we do not wear shirt titles, because the art here is, as usual, top notch. The "broken heart" is not shattered, but simply malfunctioning, making the concept already head and shoulders above everything else. Making the heart have a steampunk flair really makes the piece more visually interesting. But besides the literal aspects, the robots themselves are heartbreaking. They're little more than drones, slaves to the upkeep of a constantly breaking heart, and their faces betray... nothing. They're empty. And that makes the design itself heartbreaking.

Despite having a lot of great work to look through, my favorite by a mile was a Threadless piece: Vortices, by josephwilliam. I love everything about it... the bold color contrasts (one of my favorite combos, no less) make it a likely buy alone, but the style of the deer/antelope is equally attractive. I enjoy the grasslike shoots at its feet, and praise the skeletal structure drawn out behind the textures of the creature's hide. The white is more contrast, and the idea itself adds a lot of offbeat flair to the piece. While I'm not normally a fan of huge geometric expanses of ink, the triangle here is positioned in such a way that the animal escaping it fills a good enough portion to evoke jumping out of the void. The fade where the void and beast meet is just one more detail I find praiseworthy. As a whole, it's just one big, bold piece... brazenly and shamelessly artistic, powerful without having any solid objective, and perfect for the medium. I can picture this as a tour shirt for the latest indie band, most likely something akin to Pretty Girls Make Graves. But I don't want a band shirt. I want it as it stands, and God do I hope some shirt company picks it up, because this may well be my favorite shirt in a long damn time.

DBH has the daunting task of trying to outdo that kind of praise, and it simply is not going to measure up. Still, there is something undeniably magical about Aquarush, by AlexBeltechi. The soft colors in soft-focus meld together fluidly and work together skillfully against the intricately illustrated oceanic oddities crawling throughout the shirt. I'm a big believer in execution taking simple concepts into the stratosphere, and much like his recent DBH print took the tired tree and did something big with it, this does the same for the oft-utilized sea life it portrays. This will be a perfect summer shirt, and I have to hope DBH takes the reins and makes it so.

So that's that. I wish the pieces I had to pass up all the luck in the world... I still love ya, guys! Check back here next week, when hopefully such difficult decisions won't need to be made.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Why I Otter...

With a week of unexpected bigness, such as this one, I'm glad to be able to squeeze in some smaller peeps as well. To me, it makes a big week even bigger... biggerer? Biggerest? Regardless, for those unfamiliar, I'd love to introduce you to Rethink Clothing.

Rethink is a site I quite respect the concept of. The main point of intrigue that sets it apart: it's dedicated to college artists. I can see nothing wrong with that... what demographic is more likely to need the extra funds? They've got a fair payout (with potential for growth) , and a fresh outlook... even if you're not sold on the "Rethink" part of the brand, keeping prints college-based means plenty of potential for pieces that bring a youthful mindset into the game, along with the boundary-pushing aesthetics that the new blood tends to bring to its art movements.

Problem was, while I really liked their promise, both in ideology and in their catalog, I wanted something to really hit me before I brought them to you guys. It perhaps says something about me that I found that in their latest print, Otter-tude. The design is brought to us by Sam Larson, who clearly knows how to make the otherwise adorable bad-ass. This otter will headbutt you without thinking twice, and has the helmet to prove it. He smokes cigars in front of the Surgeon General, BECAUSE HE CAN! This simply wriggles into that niche of complete offbeat work that is difficult for me to say no to. The colors are a bit trippy, which is actually a positive given the image, and while I'm usually tepid on photo-collage work, I enjoy this because of what the final product creates. It's well-arranged, and brings the man-about-town by day/tough guy by night otter to life. This could be the print that puts the spurs to Rethink's success, and from what I've seen since they first came on my radar, they're only getting better. Grab one of these, confuse your friends, and be able to say "I bought from those guys when they were tiny."

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Teefurious Updates

MJ is a bastard.

I say this because I've already got two update posts this week, with another I'm sitting on for Friday, and she goes and curates "Roundup," by Travis Gentry (tgentry to you wooters, TGWA if you recall it from Threadless) for tonight's teefury. I feel like I blogged on this eons ago, so I'm not gonna waste time finding it, but it's simply one of my favorite humor concept pieces... the art is well rendered, and the concept makes me laugh every time. But I already had a blog planned for today, and now I have to do two. Even if this one is a quickie. Bastard. But hey, update 16. Can't complain too much there!

As with all teefury shirts, we may see this one again somewhere else, but not at this price. We'll keep you updated if it finds another home, either at another print shop (hopefully) or elsewhere. For now, though, scoop this up in the next 23.5 hours... you may never get the chance again.

War of the Words

It was last November when shirt.woot's last Editor's Choice prints occurred. At the time, I had selected four pieces that I felt should print that week, as I did Thursday for the Editor's Choices going on there now. These were the shirts I felt had to print, whether I had talked them up before or not. Half have printed since then. Today, we see the third.

It is, in many ways, very appropriate to see EdgarRMcHerly's Fiction vs. Nonfiction finally available for purchase this week, while woot provides us a fourth installment of the Editor's choices that passed it up last time. Cameesa is the lucky purveyor... having been fully supported a while back, they are now ready to sell the piece to the world. At the time of its first mention, I'd given it only a cursory review, but it's definitely worth praising the shirt further now. The designer captured the peaceful fantasy fiction can provide, as well as the matter-of-fact seriousness of much non-fiction. The details and linework have as much character as the books' content, but my favorite part is the very subtle, possibly unintentional commentary. I see a war on imagination here, despite both factions being books. Perhaps the artist wants our minds to expand, instead of staying so serious. Perhaps we shouldn't let the very real worries of the non-fiction life overpower our ability to escape and create and utilize our mind. Whatever the case, I think this is a shirt that will make its wearers very happy when they get it in their mailbox. Now, to get that slacker Damiendone printed, and all four of that derby's picks will have found homes.

Since Cameesa is not really a "contest," I don't talk up my favorite contenders in my normal contest watch. While most contests ask for only a vote, Cameesa prints all shirts which get "fully supported." This means that you need to plunk down $20 to "vote," but it also means that if 24 other people are willing to do the same, the shirt is guaranteed to print, and you get a copy before anyone else. There's no risk... if you really want the $20 back and the shirt you want isn't printing, you can get it back. You can even vote on multiple shirts on the same $20... you'll get the first one that is fully supported, but the others will then lose your original support. I've got a couple shirts I particularly would like to see succeed, so while you're checking out Edgar's shirt, throwing a little love behind Coq Music, Color Bleeding, or Momento (by monsieur-pimpant, againstbound and kooky-love respectively) would make me a very happy shirt supporter.

Monday, February 9, 2009

14: The Update of Unlikability

Big things at Threadless this week. For starters, a massive girly tee sale... "Sweet Tees 4 Sweeties," the tag line reads, and the presumption here is that it's therefore a Valentine's Day sale. If you have a "sweetie," or if you ARE a "sweetie," this week is an excellent time to pick up shirts during your own special sale.

Now, us guys could be a bit miffed... I mean, how long is the idea that we get nada for Valentine's Day going to be perpetuated? Thankfully, what we get is a crapload of awesome tees... including former Contest Watch denizen "Not Safe For Work" by WanderingBert. As I said at the time, the humor and characterization are what set this apart from the generic Threadless "list" tee. I can't wait to wear my own Wheely Chair of Woe.

Also of note this week: the first round of monthly Bestees. It's an incredibly hard choice, as there are some definite favorites last month, but objectively, I had to toss my vote to Valorandvellum's Seven Swans, and that's where I'd recommend you place yours if you're undecided. Because it is awesome. And just as awesome, you simply HAVE to check out this week's collection at The Select Series... half push the boundaries, half are simply fun, and all four are unique, as the selects should be. Take a look... I'd be surprised if you were disappointed.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Contest Watch Plus: Week of January 29

Hello again, and welcome to Contest Watch. Emergency exits are at the top right corner and at the bottom. If you're experiencing discomfort, please try a size larger. Button up, buckle in, and enjoy your flight.

We start off this week at Chimpogo, where littleclyde presents "High Tea, High Seas." One of the things I love about the smaller sites is that designs like this can stand out where they might not in a more competitive environment. I am unsure what keeps drawing me to pieces like this... there's clearly some unresolved love of the sea that I'll someday need to come to terms with, and since the waves will be made out of water, not some dude's beard or steam from a teacup, I fear I'll be eternally disappointed. Anyway, once again, the cascading lines of the sea/steam have lured me in, especially with the stark solid contrast of the ships, and the way the whole piece fills the shirt (as well as that rare excitement at the thought of a Kelly shirt I'd actually wear) wins me over as well.

Over at Threadless this week, we see that the sea is far less innocent than a cup of tea (not to mention less relaxing) to Roadkill3d. In a move that may-or-may-not make it past the Threadless print-censors, he offers up a racy design with an equally provocative title: The Kraken Feeds on Virgins. It's definitely a bit more adult than most Threadless fare, but then, if they've printed Dick Firestorm...

To review, however, there is so much elevating this from simply sexy to fully artistic. The colors, for example... the blue used for the virgins and the red of the kraken's arms contrast beautifully with the otherwise dark palette. The flow of all those arms and hair makes everything tie together. The octopus itself is virtually flawless, and the women aren't half bad either. The scene is so otherworldly and gothic that you can't help but take it in for the artistry it is. I understand how it's probably not everyone's cup of tea, and it certainly isn't a shirt you're going to throw on for Casual Friday or Sunday Dinner, but a print at Threadless would be one more indication of their position as on top of the shirt game, and a pass from them would hopefully lead to the designer checking DBH's prude meter as well. A design this courageous and stunning at the same time deserves the recognition somewhere.

Way less potentially controversial is Gentlemen by Jameses.x. It's got more of those wonderful lines, but more importantly it's got a totally charming overall style. These guys are two of the most stylish monsters ever, and they make quite a pair. The impeccably manicured but impossibly hairy baron is masterfully textured, but the other is why I love this so much... he's like an alien W.C. Fields with his multiple eyes and drink (and no discernable mouth, but I digress), and his cluster of eyes is simply wonderful to look at. It's my kind of adorable.

While I've often said that my sea-scape fascination puzzles me, it's nothing compared to my bemusement at two successive weeks of cat-related content. This week is a bit less straightforward and a good deal odder: Eight Legged Cats Have Cool Names, by Fat Pigeon. I'm not sure what sort of cool name they'd be given... the obvious joke here would be Octopussy, but can I put in a vote for Purrybdis? Hopefully that's the angle Mr. Pigeon intended, because Mr. Eight-Arms McFuzzypants is decidedly an uncool name. But while titles can convey so much, you just don't get to flaunt them on a shirt. You certainly can flaunt the lines, though, and this is all about them... the catbeast is made up of little else, to the point where any outline feels unintentional (especially given the total lack thereof in its head and body). More important are the thicker lines, like its legs, flowing out as if in water and inhabiting the shirt's torso. Likely even more vital is the line of the yarn ball, which is well done tangled, but really interweaves with the cat in a way that draws in the eyes, as well as one that any cat owner can recognize. It also, along with the eyes and (to a lesser extent) nose, creates a striking visual draw against an otherwise subtle palette.

Finally for our regularly scheduled programming, we're on to Design By Humans. Besides that big sale that's still going on, they've got a special contest running that teams up with Fleetwood Mac. Given that I'm no fan of their most iconic member, this is a pretty weak team-up to me, especially since I'm unsure whether DBH and Fleetwood Mac even have much of a concurrant fan base. I'm hoping to be able to find a pick worth talking up anyway, but for now I'm glad to have found Year of the Ox by archanN. It does what DBH does best... HUGE colorful prints? Check... the background looks all but hand painted and fills out the shirt beautifully. Wraparound printing? Certainly looks like it, and the "ribbons" around the shoulders unfurl in a way that makes that overlap work great. Art over concept? Most definitely. While the ox of the title is definitely distinct, and done with a festive, ethnic flair, this shirt is all about how the shirt looks. There's nothing to get, nothing to ponder... it's wearable art. I see arguments all the time about "not wanting to wear an art gallery." This is the sort of shirt that simply has no better canvas.

So there we have it for the regular watch, but why the plus? CW regulars may recall this feature the last time shirt.woot held a do-over derby. This time around is no different. Contest Watch has quite a few runners in this race... six to be exact (the other two shown below)... and a good number of other pieces that I'd love to see print as well. Below are my horses for the inevitable Editor's Choice week to follow this weekend's results... the ones I think have the best chance of showing up for sale: Artulo's "Thrifty Fill-Up," BootsBoots' "And His Head Swelled With Pride," Zenne's "Greedy Pirate," and tgentry's "The Beginning of the End." Honestly, though, there's a lot of stuff they could print that I'd be quite happy seeing and inevitably buying. Check back here for results before the new Contest Watch on Thursday, and through the week for potential updates.



Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Dawn & Blue Heavens

Design By Humans decided to have a rather solid sale last weekend, out of the blue. At the time I found out about it, I figured it was a weekend-only deal, and decided it was probably too late to post it here, but all signs state it will continue on throughout the week. It's a pretty arbitrary time to have such a solid sale, which is why I expected a quickie, but I'm certainly not going to object to an extension.

How solid are we talking? Well, if you want any of their new DBH "perfect" tees, it's incredibly weak, as not a single one is on sale. It gives me the feeling that the sale is less about "the humans," and more about "getting rid of old stock so we can reprint on our new shirts." That don't confront me none, because every one of those "imperfect" tees is discounted heavily: Every other tee is $12 or $15. This is akin to 40% off here, and that means it's a great time to finally get some of their specialty tees, which but rarely drop below the $19 mark, especially if you've been holding off because you were uncertain about how some of their specialty print methods will pan out. Shirts like Sonmi's "Daydream" are a perfect choice... an evocative piece that blends the feelings of night and day, perfect for any dreamer, and with subtle embroidered stars to give it an extra kick. It's definitely a sale worth trying to budget in.

Monday, February 2, 2009

13 and other lucky numbers

This week is Bestees week at Threadless, and there is a lot of quali-tay work coming out on it. For my money, Andyg's "Capistrano Spring Break" is the best of them all, and not just because it's the 13th CW entry to get printed. The bright and joyful colors are a home run, and it is a worthy addition to Andy's classic cartoonist style and adorably devious content. For more, check out the original review.

Also worth mentioning from the new crop: smusi's "I Am Shy But You Can Reach Me." Besides exhibiting one of Threadless' artists' lesser praised skills (turning out great titles), it is a beautiful, subtle and evocative piece. Deer and trees are perhaps tired
themes, but to me the execution here is what not only keeps this fresh, but makes it powerful enough that even its decidedly feminine touch doesn't keep me from being tempted to purchase it. A solid piece from a designer who's about as new to the site as one can get.

As for the Bestees themselves, the horse I picked for Design of the Year didn't win, but the winner was nevertheless fully worthy: Roadkill3d's "Red," yet another shirt we've discussed before. Again, it's the impeccable illustration that sells this first and foremost, but the clever noir twist on the classic story is enough to make even a late-in-the-year print like this one good enough to overtake over 300 other pieces. Very well deserved.

In fact, most of the rest of the awards were, if not spot-on, very well-chosen. Designer of the year was no contest, as was Newcomer of the year... both winners had an incredibly deserved lock on the titles. The Slogan and Select awards were given to unarguable quality. The only questionable call, to me, was the "Groundbreaking" design... I'm fairly unsure what prompted its print to begin with, though. The complete results are in the link above, but I'd like to make a specific note of their "Unprinted" winner, Jean_Warhol, elsewhere known as Warholbot. While I probably wouldn't have selected his "Un Deux" as his first Threadless print, the designer's distinct, often colorful and always thrillingly odd work has always struck me as so obviously Threadless that he wasn't even on my radar for the award... I simply kept forgetting he had never printed. Needless to say, a very well deserved "finally" print, and hopefully a stepping stone to seeing some of his best stuff make it to cloth as well.