Sporty New Tees

There are lots of things you probably won't see us talk about here. Places like Snorg are simply begging for us to pass them over. We probably won't ever be praising new threads at the Gaia Online shop. And no matter how cute your grandmother's cat sweaters may be, you can't convince me to chat up her etsy site.

Up til now, I would have been CERTAIN a site devoted to the sporting life would be among those things, but I have so far been more intrigued than I would ever have expected by newcomers Inkblitz, a site that is walking the fine line between athletics and art. Far from the "sports art" I see in my area (sorry, guys, but "A-Rod Takes it up the..." is not a slogan which endears your intellect to anyone), Inkblitz is here to celebrate the hard work and determination that may not be found immediately in common between art and sport, but still exists in both.

It is perhaps not shocking to see Wotto pop up at the site's launch. Those of us familiar with the t-shirt world know that Wotto is a huge name and always ready and willing to help a start-up... but what is exciting to me is that they were able to get one of my favorites of his. Nature's Playground was once-upon-a-time branded out for DBH's Quiksilver contest, but the whimsical charm of the piece was enough to make me want to talk about it in Contest Watch. I'd have bought this even WITH Quiksilver branding all over it, but as it stands now, nothing is lost without the heavily integrated logos, and everything, for me at least, is gained. It's got all the action and joy of the original, with a simple, effective palette. It really does illustrate the fun of staying active without hammering home some tired "in it to win it" maxim, and if they continue on a trend of printing sporty designs instead of Designs For Sports, that is what is going to make Inkblitz a site worth watching, even if you're a lazy blogger like me.