SingulariTee

Kickstart My Heart

2011-08-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

We at Singularitee have long believed that Kickstarter is a potentially amazing tool. At its best, it allows the "long tail" theory of business to prove itself... if you have enough "true fans," you can support your business without needing to adulterate it to roll in the dough. The majority of Kickstarter projects suggest this very thing: people who believe in your work may just be willing to spend a little extra to support you directly. That might be the most important thing we can learn as artists and art lovers, of any medium... if we foster the right kind of fans, we can create on our own rules without having to give in to the masses. Or we can sell our soul for every last penny and then cry about how we "have to". If only more of us would realize the power of avoiding the latter.

But I digress. This is a story of heroism, and while inspiration must come in part from the knowledge that we are not yet heroes, it should be dosed most liberally through realizing that we can be. And that is where Seibei comes in. Seibei is a brand known not for its name so much as its trademarks, specifically the classic Sandwich Dinosaur. The content is often weird, usually geeky, but always feels like an honest exposure of a fun loving artist's psyche. Most important, it's original. You can get Sandwich Dino knockoffs, if you really hate America that much, and sure, you can question the humor in the slogans, but you can't really say you saw it first elsewhere, unless you didn't know of Seibei when you saw it first. Seibei is far from being the first indie line out there, but along with Fullbleed, it's among the first I think of when it comes to successful, artist-run, non-brand-reliant brands. People doing something that is about the work that comes from them first and the title second. So you know that I have to give props and support where due to that sort of site.

Well, here's our chance to do so. Not too long ago, the line's founder had his van stolen at a trade show (along with all his stock), which sucks, to put it mildly. The van was recovered, but the stock was gone. For an indie line, a van full of product is a devastating, possibly company destroying loss. Unless you've got a Kickstarter and some loyal fans. With under $1000 to reach his goal, and only 2 days into the funding project, Seibei has almost hit its goal. We highly recommend heading over to the Kickstarter page and helping out. Even if they hit the goal early, you can keep pledging, so get in there and make this even more of a success. $25 gets you a t-shirt. A measely $650 gets you more cloth than your crane wife can weave. Any donation gives you the satisfaction of helping out the guys who truly deserve it.

Of course, maybe you only want one shirt, but also want to help out some other amazing projects. I scanned the site, and to help you avoid the hundreds of shoddy films begging desperately for your dollars, here are some of my favorite projects being supported right now.

The big deal for the big spenders is this: A Desktop Jellyfish Tank. Now, you can certainly put in $50 for what appears to be a decent Jellyfish tee, but for almost 100 of the backers, there's no substitute for the $350 tank package, which comes with a $50 voucher toward your eventual brood of awesome jellyfish. It's not a project for the faint of funds to fund, but with over 11 times as many pledges as their original goal, you definitely know you're going to get your rewards, and be able to wow your friends at this year's Christmas party.

If you've been looking for a unique addition to your home that serves a bit more of a purpose, consider supporting the Endangered Alphabets project. Your money will go toward preserving culture (yknow, the stuff people do away from their technology), keeping a record of the alphabets used in dying languages before those languages go kaput. It's like an artful Rosetta stone, making sure our increasingly homogenized culture doesn't completely kill the traditions and history of those enclaves of people who still respect the past. And hey, you can get the word "Words" carved in Balinese script for less than the price of a jellyfish tank! Education is priceless, and the only way we can be educated at all, especially in a culture of misinformation, is to have the facts preserved.

Of course, for others of us, we want something more practical, but also a safe investment. If so, I suggest you learn chiptune with the Rockit 8 bit Synth Kit. It is a kit to turn a specially crafted circuit board into the most 80s instrument since the Keytar. Kits range from the ultimate DIY (a circuit board, a list of what you'll need to turn it into a synth, and how to to it) to the fully assembled (for a measly $200). Best of all, it's already fully funded. If you've ever wanted to compose video game music, but felt analog instruments were too passe, your calling is here.

What Kickstarter is really all about, though, is supporting the fringes. Fringes like the Penguin Hat. There's not much I can say about the penguin hat that isn't immediately said in the picture, really. It is a warm-looking hat with a penguin atop it. Sure to be a staple for hipster ski trips and yankee swaps for years to come, the concept appeals to my sense of the absurd in a big way. I am not yet so jaded to try to suggest I would not laugh heartily to see one of these in the wild. If the idea finds its backers, it most certainly deserves to come to fruition.

The idea that I'm most intrigued by, however, quite surprised me by being a video game. In the Dark is probably not something I'd be intrigued by at first glance, with it's darkly-cute lead character reminding me a little too much of the worst trends of modern cartooning, but what sucked me in was the gameplay. In the Dark relies quite strongly on Light. It is the duality of how light is used which makes the puzzles look truly unique... while every day objects treat light as the nebulous entity it is to us, blocking beams which cannot penetrate them, the shadowy world of the main character treats the light as solid. Beams can be walked up, and can block passages. They can drive off other shadow creatures. They can be blocked by objects, turned on and off as needed, and generally interacted with as a huge part of the landscape. Maybe I've just been out of the gaming loop for a while, but I can't help but be intrigued to explore this world. Like all innovations, though, it's not remotely as popular as its ideas dictate it should be. I highly recommend giving your support to Seibei, but if you can spare an extra $20, toss it these guys' way. Innovation is never simply about new product. Sometimes you need to redefine what that product stands for.

Up on the Sun

2011-08-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, but if there's anything you loyal watchers know about your good friend Adder, it should be that he cannot keep his mouth shut about things he believes in.

I've been wanting to tell you a little bit about Acorn Factory for a while. They just never had new tees to speak of, and while their logo tee was fairly wearable, I just couldn't get behind hyping a new brand with nothing to go on. So why was I excited at all? Well, there's that pesky belief thing again. Acorn Factory immediately touched on two of them: the power of art, and the importance of education. As a tee site (regardless of what some other start-ups seem to believe), its primary function is the sale of artistry, anyway, but what makes them special is that Acorn factory "donates 100% of its profit toward bringing education and opportunity to underserved students." That's a hell of a commitment to the most important goal we can achieve... the betterment of our minds. At a time where education is demonized, even a small, unknown tee site supporting it is vital.

For an unknown, they brought in some heavy hitters, too. Rob Dobi, of Fullbleed, is responsible for two, but the third is from Robot Tiger, and it's a tee we've featured here for years but never got to see for sale. Conveniently, though possibly to the chagrin of Stephin Merritt, it involves another thing I believe in: the sun. Sun Equation is a disarmingly rigid design, and while that clinical simplicity and sterility is something I would decry (and I have) in most designs, it is perfect for this. It feels scientific without being nerdy. It is purely design, but the way it's laid out feels like art. It is something you could wear, and wear fashionably, but it is based on astronomy. I have no idea how this was pulled off, but it was. The black and gold create a simple yet bold palette, and while the original white blank I've seen this suggested on would be even more textbook, the natural blank gives that same feeling that this somehow evolved from a graph to a garment, and somehow, that couldn't be more natural. One has to give kudos to a tee that does that, as well as to a site that not only takes a chance on a deserving design, but exists to support the worthiest of causes.

When Sales Attack.

2011-05-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

If you're like me, you haven't been at my blog since February. A lot has happened since then, but most of it has been pretty disheartening, and since I -try- to use this blog predominantly for things which are great or, at least, unique and worthy of highlighting, it has been really difficult to bring myself to break the silence. Also, busy-ness. The state of the tee art world reflects the state of the real world, but even so, some things are more important.

One thing that becomes vital to note now happened at Threadless. Longtime followers will perhaps recall years ago when Threadless streamlined their tees to all be $18, with Selects sitting at $25, for their outside of the norm content, frequently experimental print processes, and untested popularity. This wasn't ideal, really... prior, threadless tees fluctuated a lot print to print, but for the majority of prints, $18 was more than one would have paid before. Still, $18 was fair, and remains the standard in the tee world. But then we started seeing some full tee prints sell at $20, undermining the original intent, and it wasn't long before the average tee sold at that price point. What I didn't notice until just recently, however, was that the prices slipped up again... the average tee in the last few weeks has been sitting pretty at $22.

This sort of silent inflation makes a sale like the brief Camp Wannatee one Threadless is featuring this week (potentially til Wednesday, but Threadless is known for extensions, so who knows) both more exciting and somewhat insulting. A $12 tee is always a good deal, especially when the base price is higher, but the sale serves mainly to point out just how much a Threadless tee goes for these days. One can't expect the $5 clearances of the days when this blog began, but there is a certain disturbing nature to it, especially when one considers the other changes made throughout the tee world in that time. The vapid lie of "printing this mediocre work helps us afford to print less popular but better work" is clearly exposed when one sees this happening... either that road isn't working, and the site is still scraping by no matter what they print, or the price hike has nothing to do with necessity, which implies that perhaps the print choices have nothing to do with necessity either. Whichever way the truth tilts, it's a worrisome omen for artists and other sites alike.

That said, there are still regularly Threadless tees to be excited about, and sometimes they come from the least expected places. Above, we see sketchboy01's brand new print "Arabian Crescent," clearly an incredibly weak pun, but illustrated beyond its title. The magic of the Arabian Nights is present in the illustration... there's the twinkle of the stars, the exotic shapes of buildings... and that sliver of moon which came from the equally slim punchline creates its own otherworldly imagery, not only for the outer-space textures and craters, but the idea of this beautiful city springing out from the rock, hidden in a cave or carved from a mountain. The overall effect is one that creates a haunting new world out of a very old one. Our Western eyes still often see the Arab world as a large question mark... framing it against space makes it literally otherworldly, and anyone who has ever used their imagination is fascinated by the unfamiliar. Taking two images which we can easily identify, yet in most cases do not fully understand, lets the viewer walk the line between comfort and curiosity, and the lovely execution sells a piece that quite likely was conceived as a cheap joke, elevating it to stunning illustration.

By contrast, Design By Humans, once the white truffle of these sorts of tee sites with its regular $24 offerings, has become a comparatively affordable option. This is no small feat, since DBH is a far more "exclusive" tee site. Its designs tend to seek out a specific audience, and a far less populist one than most. Its inventory is without a doubt smaller than its closest competition. Its prints, while no longer as regularly experimental as in the past, still tend to be far bigger and often more complex than any site I can think of. It seems odd that they'd be able to maintain what is now a reasonable price point while other places are ever rising.

Once again, it is the current sale which highlights my concerns. DBH has, in the last year, been incredibly sale-happy, and while most people would likely be ecstatic to have the chance to pick up cheaper designs, a sale week at DBH is also not a print week. The concern, therefore, is that they're no better off... having to drop prices even further so frequently, at the expense of paying out to new designs, doesn't imply the sort of success the site should be enjoying. Long story short, for a paranoid sort like myself, the two top dogs in the tee world giving signs of weakness does not bode well for the scene as a whole.

That being said, the trouble with conjecture is that it's only conjecture without knowing something deeper about selections, sales, and the like. The evidence is worrying, but the truth could just be that DBH wants you to buy awesome shirts like ecsu's "Decay (We're All Made of Stars)" and save some extra green while doing it. Not that it's not worth full price: the progression of the images makes for one of my favorite designs in a long while. The pink and the black provide a great contrast, and helps link the worlds of the self and the outside. The decomposition is shown in reverse... as the arm becomes built up, it is fleshed out, but it also becomes less corporeal. The idea is that the decay of one thing can create the growth of another. The stark colors also make the whole thing feel a bit more synthetic, though, as well. There seems to be another layer of commentary beneath the obvious themes, as though we are both built from and destroyed by the extraneous and the unreal. Whatever the case, though, it's a striking and original design, and something that makes me quite happy to see exist. Take advantage of the sales to show your support for this, or Arabian Crescent, or any truly worthy piece on either site. At the end of the day, this blog is about great tees. Find them, wear them, and support the continued spread of new ones. Because no matter what else might be happening under the surface, supporting great work is the best way to get more of it out there, and that should be the vast majority of what we're seeing. After all, I can't praise great art if it's not there.

Get Out the Vote

2011-02-25T10:34:00.000-08:00

In American politics, there is one thing you can be assured of above all else: someone will be running that has no right to the office, and that person will probably make a scarily tight race of it. The debates will show them getting their proverbial ass handed to them. Their sound bites will be full of blatant lack of understanding for how society works. And they will not see their poll numbers drop a percentage. In the interest of combating the inevitable in the most broken democracy on the internet, then, please consider voting for the following designs in woot's latest double-take derby.

Title: Hay is for Horses
Artist: Theinfinityloop

Perhaps you really like dogs licking cats. If so, I guess there's really not much I can do for you. However, since it is apparent you don't mind if your shirts have no concept, shall I suggest taking that a step further and voting for a shirt that DOES have art? This piece is pretty much all about style, which makes sense, being created for the sake of a style derby. The design's colors sing, creating a wonderfully wearable piece,and the shapes swell across the tee like an uneven (yet delicious) cake. The use of negative space is pleasing, also, with the stylized horses prancing proudly across one's hypothetical chest. More of this sort of thing, please.

Title: Little Red Riding Bug
Artist: bsweber

Linework does not automatically make for a great shirt. Those of you who slink around Threadless regularly have likely seen about 1000 passable sketches slapped on shirts they should never have been slapped on. However, when great linework is combined with great shirt design, it becomes its own reason for a must-print tee. This is that. The illustration fills the shirt expertly... canvas coverage is so important on any canvas... and the flecks of bright red draw the eye strongly, despite the tiny amount. When one considers the quality of illustration and line work, and the sheer effort and skill put forth, there is no reason this shouldn't deserve a grand.

Title: Muahahahaha!
Artist: Bootsboots

As we all know, anyone who promotes progress is evil. You can tell because we all have neckbeards and hate God. For those of us who are not so obvious, however, we need a good evil looking shirt. This one-color wonder fits the bill as far as I'm concerned. It's a good solid graphic tee. It's not too over the top in artistry, for those people who are scared of too much art on their clothing, but it's still well-done. It's iconic and accessible without being tired. It has humor in it without trying too hard or being too exclusionary. This would be a perfect inclusion in the catalog of the lovely folks at fuzzy ink, but I see zero reason a fun tee like this shouldn't work at woot.

Title: Happiness
Artist: EdgarRMcHerly

Sometimes, you stumble across something that simply illustrates everything you've ever believed perfectly. This tee printing at woot would pretty much be the epitome of snarky retort for that reason. Ignorance, they say, is bliss, and the characters here look incredibly ignorant and blissful all at once, while the dude with the brain looks appropriately concerned and morose. It's easy to argue that a t-shirt is just a t-shirt if your head is unable to soak up the reality of the situation. Regardless of what most people seem to think, art is at its best when it makes a statement. Perpetuating that lost art of obtaining meaning through art is reason enough to promote and print this piece.

Title: Sticking Out
Artist: Jewelwing

The odd-man-out idea is incredibly tired. If it went to sleep, it would put Rip Van Winkle to shame. That's how tired it is. So it was incredibly nice to see, among a million horrible panda tees, one piece that truly tried to be original. The Urchin/Hedgehog match-up is one I'd never have expected, even though it is so perfect for the theme. The style is what really hits this out of the park, though... to me it almost looks painted, giving the scene more of a watery clarity. Everything looks as crisp and refreshing as the Amalfi Coast. Not only that, it's undeniably cute. Y'all like cute, right? Prove it by voting for something that the term actually applies to.

Title: Socially Networked
Artist: Ninthwheel

Finally, something a bit abstract. I think this is a winner for its colors (the palette works perfectly against itself as well as the creme blank). I also like the concept, vague is it might be. The idea of interconnection based on knowledge is an appealing one, if not one that would sell very well to people who don't agree that knowledge is what connects us. That the head here is made up of books, the probable transmitters of knowledge, is a great connection, better than even the subtle networking web laid under the main image. Without knowledge, we have nothing to give socially, and intentional or not, this design speaks to this truth. A vote for this would be a vote for a message that needs to be spread.

There are other solid pieces in the derby, to be sure, as there always are. However, with recent outcomes and an absolutely unforgivable set of HM's on the last go 'round, I feel it is vital to take this doubletake seriously. No one else is going to, so we need to take the bull by the horns. You know what to do.

Bearing With Me

2010-12-06T16:09:00.000-08:00

One of the worst bits of being so absent blogwise is that I am left in the dust with Contest Watch predictions. Not that all that many pieces have printed lately that I would have predicted, mind you, but this Monday comes with a pleasant surprise at Threadless, and not just the $9 tee sale that y'all should be checking out if you read this in time.

No, Threadless has added a new alum to their roster, and unlike normal, it is with a design that has both a timelessness as well as the trademark humor Threadless was known for (that is to say, original, clever, and not based off the presumption that no one will sue if their characters are used illicitly). Welcome, then, MJ. As one of the most consistently original shirt designers out there, not to mention a literal apparel maven (have you guys honestly not been checking out Compete-Tee-Tion or Teemagnet yet?) it is well deserved.

"The Eating Habits of Bears" is really a two-punch joke, told with the first and third bear, but it's funny, the rule of three really works, because even though the "herbivore" joke is a throwaway, it winds the punch back for the final blow. Even so, it's a wisely chosen throwaway... "herbivore" is the obvious choice, and also has humor potential knowing that bears are anything but, and with the other bears consuming their fair share of animal-shaped snacks, a "candy vegetable" makes plenty of sense. Smart designing, made smarter by the simple but attractive graphics. A good humor shirt should indeed be simple to get, smart, creative, and hypothetically relatable, like a good joke is. Comics who play to an audience and give them what they expect are certainly popular, but the ones who really become legendary are more than a gimmick, more than their race or gender or beliefs, but truly a humorist that transcends all that. This is that sort of humor... perhaps not so lofty as some, but of the tried and true stock of the greats, using imagery familiar to all of us, not just one hardcore group of fans. I wouldn't be surprised if this tee finds itself reprinted regularly for that reason... it simply hits all the right notes of Threadlessness.

Winter Whimsy

2010-12-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

This is a good winter if you're an Edgar McHerly fan.

For starters, as we all know, Edgar fans are preternaturally wiser than most, so that's always a positive, but furthermore, there is simply such a surplus of great Edgar magic to snatch up. His comic, The Invisible Hairsuit, has slowed to a temporary stop lately, but it comes with the trade-off of five Edgar-tastic shirts in the store (my favorite is Family Problems, which printed stunningly). This is great news, as Edgar is clinically under-appreciated on the tee circuit, so having him strike out on his own ensures a source for at least occasional spurts of Edgar genius to make it to fabric where they belong (ERMcH, if you're listening, might I suggest gems like "Grrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrr....," "Lon and Mr. C visit God," or "Notes from the Underground," not to mention long-lost classics like "I Like Books").

But for the next few days, you're even more in luck, because Tilteed is featuring one of Edgar's greatest hits, Old Man Winter. It's just in time for the holidays (and would hopefully make a great gift), but it's also perfectly timed for the season. Wear it on snow days with a sweet hoodie (perhaps a Dead Head one, wink wink nudge nudge). Sport it in the middle of summer to help people think cool thoughts, or on that first-or-last ski trip to remember how fun the winter can be. Stretch it over a frame and hang it over future holidays. It's a versatile, whimsical masterpiece that really captures the magic of a holiday gathering, the smell of burnt firewood on a crisp day, or just how great it is to enjoy yourself. But you can't enjoy the tee unless you snag one. It's only available until Tuesday afternoon, so don't be left out in the cold. Seriously, you'll either freeze, or old man winter will get you. I think it's safe to say you don't want to toy with fate like that.

First Time Long Time

2010-11-22T18:37:00.000-08:00

A wise man once said, "fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice... you can't get fooled again." My good friends, I feel I have fooled you tenfold with my long absences, and fooled many of my good constituents as well. You may, perhaps, give thanks, however. 'Tis nearly the holidays, and what sort of promoter of all things awesome and t-shirt would I be if I was not around to guide you through this tumultuous time? Remember, an educated consumer is a consumer which doesn't buy unlicensed, non-parody work. I have a tee review and a couple missed site review opportunities in the works, so good things will, hopefully, be coming your way, if I can get some steam back in the last days of the year.

Today is a good day to come back, because it also marks the return of one of the more intriguing of seasonal lines, the Ropeadope Collective. Ropeadope seems to focus most on music on their downtime, but this is the second tee series they will be releasing, with such names as Bootsboots, Qetza and Wotto in their new lineup, so you know they're serious about the tee game too, despite the waggish name. For me, it's a little bittersweet, as more of their designs seem to be focusing on the brand (even if the fine folks at Seibei have contributed a swell one), but it also has incredibly sick designs such as Mike Friedrich's Discowl, which is as funky as they come. I have a bit of a weakness for purple, but that pink and lime-ish, muted neon color scheme knocks it out of the park. It's "hip," for what that's worth, in a retro way: it's a color scheme 20, 25 years old, but coming back in vogue, coupled with timeless, slick illustration. If these guys are going to keep taking directions like this, I am going to keep waiting for awesome new lines. Check 'em out now before the cyber-monday rush... they seem to even have stray sizes from a few of last season's designs.

F.U.

2010-09-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

The secret to all design is the element of surprise. Surprise is tricky, though. The only surprising thing about shoving a reference into an irrelevant punchline, for example, is that so many people do it. Something has to jump out that makes you look twice. Something has to grab you in a more subtle and unexpected way. And today, we shall see how a lesser meme can accomplish this.

For starters, the word "lesser" goes a long way. It turns that reference into something easy to not get, which is a huge benefit for a design. A.mar.illo's (M)anteater has always benefit from this. "Fuck you, I'm an Anteater" is, for the most part, a relatively isolated phenomenon built purely from a completely understandable source: An anteater on his hind legs, front legs outstretched, looks like he's saying "come at me, punk!" Take a society obsessed with captioning animals, and the result is, well, the interweb'll happily show you. Still, it is the relative obscurity of the meme itself which does a lot of saving. If I can look at a piece and not immediately hone in on the reference, it means my evaluation of the piece is far more unbiased, and an unbiased view is what we should all strive for. It'd save us from hundreds of poorly made pac-man tees, at least.

But further than that, when you take something more obscure, and use it simply as an Easter egg in a more composed piece, you're left with a piece that almost fully erases that original spark. This isn't a piece about a lol-anteater anymore, but a concept in which a huge, Godzilla style anteater eats humans. That pose, made famous by the meme, fits in naturally, as a bad-ass anteater simply would take that stance. This is so important... good parody needs the reference to have a clever purpose, but great reference use makes it so natural that it stops being about that popular reference, but it creates a world for all possible viewers. Unlike even the best Mario shirt, which relies on knowing much about the character, this reads the same whether you know the reference or not.

Still, for someone like a.mar.illo, the thing that makes any of his work so great is his personal style. That's what snagged this a reference in a long-ago contest watch segment, and that's why I still love it. The anteater is distinctively him, but the buildings are some of my favorite things with his work. The perspective goes askew all over the place. It almost feels like the buildings are making way for the anteater, and that bent perspective makes the whole image feel all the more dramatic and otherworldly at once. It lends a sense of discomfort but also a sense of whimsy. There's a fine line at times between style and wrong, and a.mar.illo always falls on the style side. He knows how to work that quirky perspective so it jars the eyes in the best possible way. And those style choices make one focus on the design itself. It's all about putting yourself into your work, and this piece has plenty of personality to it.

This is one of those odd "curated" but not "limited" prints at Tilteed, which means that while the $12 pre-sale is fast approaching the end, you can still pick it up for eternity and such in the catalog. Still, I think we all like $12 more than $18, so hurry if you're on a budget.

Dead Buried Hart

2010-09-23T19:31:00.000-07:00

Design by Humans: I love you guys, I really do. Sometimes you lapse into a sort of self-parody with the designs you select, but even as you've softened your edge over time, you're still one of the riskiest sites. You've got an amazing blank for your product and a strong print reputation. In the list of sites I'd love to see thrive for years to come, your best work keeps you in the running.

But I don't get this "sale" thing.

Sure, I love that I can get any shirt in your entire catalog for $12 until Monday, especially with all the super strong pieces you've released in the last month or two. Yes, I know that it provides a nice build-up (and a sales cushion) for the 10K finalists and winner to be announced this coming week. Certainly I know that sales bring sales, and a slightly higher-end shop can use them to tempt more frugal customers. But sales also mean no new tees at DBH land. Which is either worrisome in that great talent and tees don't get printed, or frightening in thinking that maybe you guys really need the sales. So while I am all for saving money, I worry 'bout you guys, guys. We cool? Good.

Because seriously, I've gotta say, this is probably THE BEST time to buy some DBH swag. Over the summer some bolt of inspiration came up out of nowhere, and especially in the last month or two we've seen winner after winner print. Winners like After Death, by TobiasFonseca. It's an incredibly classy one-color print, one of the more powerful takes on the "life from death" concept with a great style...it looks almost pieced together, but not in a clip-art way but in a way that gives the idea of being given a whole bunch of little white stones and arranging them into this art. The flow and arrangement really honors the idea without making it tacky, clunky, heavy-handed, etc. It actually takes a tired concept (life in death), and a tired juxtaposition (antlers as trees) and makes it look like you'd never seen it before. And that's what great art and great design does.

Oh, and did I mention it was $12 til Monday? Because if not, I should probably mention you can also save an additional 10% with code K4XZYZ. That's good until October 7, so even if you're holding out for the 10K winners, don't be afraid to use it.

Just Enough Support

2010-09-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

Why create art?

Well, for starters, it is cathartic. Pure art, regardless of form or canvas, is a bit of a release. It's like a discussion where you get that weight off your chest... it just feels right to let it out.

There's a joyfulness about it too. Some people get absorbed in the self-importance that can come with the minor fame art can bring, but others are simply in it to make themselves happy and hopefully do the same for others.

But what I love to see, especially in terms of the shirt world, is art which exists to evoke emotion, and I think we see this in Fleck's new Threadless print, Zenobia. It speaks to a fragility and a reality that even the mightiest things may be held up by mere twigs. Like a tragic hero, the city herein looks regal and well-built, but below the surface that could not be less true. At any moment the city's construction may be its undoing, and that carries an emotional heft just in the lines and buildings. The image has a tension of being temporal, by looking ancient and by looking frail. Still, if you're not into the search for deeper meanings, I can't think of many pieces that use the shirt canvas more perfectly, anchoring the design to the chest area, but filling the area artfully... I love how it flows from the chest to shoulder, with the bottom seam anchor sparse enough not to distract. The linework itself could be an illustration from an old history book. And the pops of red in the flags are perfect highlights. This is the sort of thing which, at any given time, is always on the cusp of being ignored and not printing. It's art because it can be. It's understated despite all the detail and size. And that seems to get lost in the shuffle. It's heartening to see an example of the opposite.

Print Review: S2S Nation

2010-09-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

A little bit ago, I received a request from Canadian brand S2S Nation to review their product. They're a new-ish contest site with a couple differences from the rest of the pack. For starters, you vote on three criteria, perhaps the most important three: Quality, Creativity, and Likelihood of Purchase. This eliminates the questions most people have to ask when voting on a design: does my vote mean I want to buy this, or just that I think it's a creative piece? This is well done, but boring... or else a great concept with a poor execution... how do I score this? Of course, we all know the average voter will simply score all 5s for their favs and get grumpy they had to put in so much effort, but the fact remains, it's an interesting idea to quantify all three separately rather than forcing a user to average on his own. Still, while this is a potentially groundbreaking idea, what S2S is really banking on is simpler: a bamboo/organic cotton blend tee for their blanks. Bamboo, as they say, is super-soft, incredibly sustainable, simple to grow plenty of pesticide free, naturally better for soil than other crops... yeah, these are some o' them hippie folks who want to promote improving the environment. A shirt from S2S, ideally, causes less environmental impact than your average clothing production. It's an idea I can get behind, and an idea that doesn't really have any cons. S2S is hoping that it is something we'll find to have plenty of pros.

All the good intentions, however, won't save you if the product sucks, so where do they stand on that? From a logistical standpoint, S2S Nation is indeed a starter company. They have a number of pieces that show definite promise, but they also would probably be ecstatic if you decided to head over and sub something amazing, because that would almost assuredly help their catalog. At the moment, for my money, their strongest tee is The Creator, currently on pre-order. I ended up being sent another strong one, Broken Melody. Besides coming from Canada, which is fun to start with, my tee was slipped inside this tote bag, which is a fairly useful extra. Apparently these totes are made from recycled bottles. See? I feel greener already!

You can see for yourself... even with my crappy camera, the tee still looks stunning printed. The mesh-work came out clean, the print feel is fine... whoever's screening these is doing a solid job. As for the tee itself? I'm going to say the folks at the bamboo clothing plant are over-selling their product a little... so far I have not purified my body, learned to caber-toss, or spoken with woodland creatures (which I think are all claims I've seen bamboo make before). Still, this is definitely a comfortable shirt. It doesn't break my top-3 blanks, but if it's not as soft as the pitchmen would like you to think, it doesn't change the fact that it is noticeably softer than your average tee. It's also a bit of a heavier shirt, but it doesn't feel it on your body. This could be an excellent thing for those who find American Apparel to be too thin. Finally, can I just say that I -love- the cut? I asked for a large, based on the sizing charts, though I normally wear XL in most blanks. This delivers. To me, I'd say it fits like a large-and-a-half, comfortably between L and XL, but as always, checking the sizing charts will suit you better. And best of all, these things are preshrunk, which seems like such a freaking obvious step to me. Solid print + solid shirt goes a long way toward equaling a solid company.

The big question, though, is this: is a bamboo tee worth the $35 base price? I'm going to go with a resounding "maybe." I would say it's the sort of thing you should make a splurge on once, see how you feel about it, and then choose from there. I can see certain people loving bamboo, especially if you're willing to spend a little extra to support the environment, and while it's a bit spendy for my blood, the right design could certainly twist my arm to go full price. It's like spending more for a "green" lightbulb: between the environmentally friendly (and therefore more expensive) construction and the knowledge your product will last longer than the average product, the price stops seeming quite so high. Right now, however, that's not a concern we need to worry about. If you're interested in trying out S2S Nation, they're currently offering all their tees at $25 as an "End of Summer" sale, from now until an unspecified future date. If there's a tee in their catalog that you're loving, I certainly cannot think of a reason why you shouldn't try them out. S2S seems pretty dedicated to quality product, and those are the sorts of tee sites we need to see more of out there.

But if even $25 doesn't tempt you, I do have one last comment on bamboo to share. I've often heard bamboo described as self-cooling. You're shaking your head in astonishment, because it sounds like absolute crap. But let it be known, I've been wearing my tee the whole time I've been writing this review, and I'll be damned if there's not an odd yet not unpleasant draft in my tee. Art and comfort are two important factors in tees for me, but it is not too late to add "mysteriousness" to that list.

Breath of Fresh Air

2010-09-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

In a world of shameless ripoffs, the thing I am most excited about when it comes to this whole curating gig I've got going is getting to show off the stuff that isn't. There's a lot of lip-service toward original and attractive, creative and skillful, but very few people willing to stand up and make a difference. So even if it is often a much smaller contribution than I'd ideally prefer, I love being able to do a little something for people who are breathing new life into art, instead of walking tired ground.

The most recent Tilteed Limited speaks to this pretty literally. It's a piece by fan favorite at Tilteed and friend-of-the-blog theinfinityloop, called Breath of Life. The whole of the piece is artful... the whole idea of creation is easily paralleled. Really, though, the piece is ripe for metaphoric parallels... the moon and the tides correlate, but water makes life possible (and indeed makes up the better part of most life forms), and music can indeed be said to enrich our life as well, as the moon blows powerfully on his horn. There's a haunting beauty to this for that reason... it can resonate with anyone who values life or the arts, but is vague enough that any person could find their own meaning. But the stark white-on-black makes it all the stronger. The horn seems to shimmer, and the details are all the more impressive given the single color scheme. I've always gotten the feeling of a crisp fall or winter evening when I look at this design. It's peaceful, with a little chill, a little darkness, and a little beauty. I hope you all will get your own magic out of it as well.

As with the moon, and all Tilteed limiteds, Breath of Life will eventually phase out to the next cycle (approximately 67 hours or so from now, by my count), so picking up a copy ASAP is in your best interest. $12 is a small price to pay for something that evokes a mood other than "I'm in the mood to watch old cartoons and play videogames."

Dogs Bark + Hoot

2010-09-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

Design by Humans, as I'm sure is not remotely a shock to you guys (even as rarely as I update lately), is in the midst of its 10K contest. Top 8 was announced on Monday, and while I had the best of intentions to get you a Top 24 post last week, it's appropriate to discuss now anyway, because Monday's shirt was, to me, fully worthy of that $10,000. So we'll get to the contestants later. First, it's time to gush.

Sanguine Parliament by thunderpeel is the sort of tee that makes a cynic like me excited for graphic arts again at a site which is struggling with its identity as one of the last bastions of true design, creativity, and boldness. DBH doesn't want to fully enter that realm, and some weeks that shows more obviously than others, but there just aren't many places willing to take these sorts of risks. This just isn't "marketable," or "familiar," but it is amazing. It takes full advantage of what vector art does best, with slick, smooth design that doesn't feel cloying and cloned, but also an absolutely delicious palette. The white and pink and yellow on feels like some sort of futuristic Neapolitan ice cream, and this might sound odd, but with the drips and such up above, it even evokes cool and creamy. It looks like ice cream tastes. Put that in your weird description pipe and smoke it. The layout, too, is choice. I love how the owls morph into the wolf, giving their ominous glares more power, and making their chubby, cute bodies more vicious for the more powerful predator they are framed by. The echo of the wolf-head, the similar but distinct owls, the flow of the drips... all motifs that are incredibly pleasing to me and cohesive with this slightly odd idea. And who can forget use of blank? This is a big, bold print, but it is totally breathable with all that black being used. And most important, it is simply unlike anything else. People so regularly laud the familiar, and sometimes even use uncreative as a positive, or a quality which evokes no response. There are constantly examples of people pushing forward in all art. There's no excuse to recycle. And it's a boon when any site takes the bull by the horns and is willing to print something of that nature.

Sadly, even at 24 level there weren't any pieces AS exciting as Sanguine Parliament, but most of my favorites were, as ever, leveled. However, I would definitely suggest you vote for a few of the top 8, and help then get printed next week: I am a big fan of the execution and concept of buko's Unleashed Imagination and the stellar illustration put forth in alvarejo's The Perfect Murder, and I encourage you to give them your support. However, to me, $10,000 is about something totally worthy. Something skillfully created. Something dramatic and striking. Something unique and daring. Something that I've never seen before. There simply isn't a single design in the top-8 (nor were there really any in the top-24, despite having high-hopes for a few to go further) that embodies this more than Yonil's "We Did This To Ourselves." It's currently in distant third against some promotional giants. Votes allegedly count less this year, but let's not kid ourselves, we need to fight to prove it's the right choice. I simply cannot see another tee that would deserve the honor more. Any prize this large should truly favor innovation over certain other factors, or else why would anyone bother putting in their A-game for such a huge prize?

Playing Koi

2010-09-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

When I started college, I took an Italian literature in translation course that simply opened my mind. I'd seen a handful of Italian films throughout my study of the language in high school, but it all clicked with the literature course. Other cultures have these beautiful, unique expressions of art, compared to our American, Super-bombastic, Summer-Blockbuster, Mega Seller mindset. There's a certain understatement to the Italian work. Comedy is more fun, drama is less heavy-handed, literature tends to have a certain magic to it... surely the translator's hand must be recognized, as well, but it's too pervasive and too different to be all their fault.

I will be the first to admit that these days, I don't read or view films near as much as I'd like to, but I still love the different perspective that especially European arts seem to bring to the table. I've noticed it's the French who seem to excel at this in the tee world... using sketchbook flair and handmade sensibilities, it's so different from what is, once again, the often over-produced stateside counterpart. And that's why I'm so happy to be able to showcase Billy, by babatai. It shows off how a personal piece of art can inhabit any canvas if you really consider it. I simply love the medium being used, and love the mood and realism created with those simple tools. This isn't any 3D rendering nonsense. It's not slick vectors. It's something which was likely created almost entirely in a sketchbook. It's neutral and natural, and it really elevates the tee to something more. One other thing our friends across the pond are great at is fashion, after all.

As ever, Tilteed Limited designs are available for 3 days only. Spread the word, and don't forget to grab your own!

Tee Otters

2010-09-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

If I could sum up the graphic tee experience, I wouldn't. When I use a summation, it is always a matter of what shouldn't be. It is a treatise on those few things which debilitate the art into being one more disposable product. It's like a college essay. There's no limit to right answers, but there sure as hell are wrong ones too.

One thing that I am pretty sure of, though, is that all art requires a sense of the imaginative, and the current Tilteed limited design truly understands this. I'm a bit biased, of course... it was one of my first Contest Watch features in the long long ago... but I don't think that bias changes anything. See Otters, by Ninety, is just magical. It's the crux of what imagination is... one observer, one dreamer, seeing something spectacular, and the rest of the world ignores it as folly. The design is drawn with a sense of whimsy but a strong execution as well. The concept is just adorable. The colors? The blue used for the water is perfect. That blue has had me addicted ever since seeing this two years ago. In short, however, the design simply speaks volumes about how things should be. Most people don't see anything but where they're headed. They want things to be simple, straightforward, and easy to ignore. They want to walk their path, and forget anything else. And those people miss a building full of otters. There are truly special things out there in the world. Look for them, because once you find one, you'll be 100 times happier with it than all the populist mediocrity you thought meant something.

If you're in love with the sheer charm of this piece, you've only got a limited time, as with every Tilteed limited you might fall in love with. Don't miss out, and tell your friends. Great art should be celebrated. No matter what the canvas.

Tee-vel Knievel.

2010-08-31T01:55:00.000-07:00

Monday! Monday! Monday! saw the release of the latest Tilteed limited design, and it's pretty stellar, if I do biasedly say so myself. For myself, of course, there's an added bonus because I love the backstory, if there is any. Gimetzco, the designer, is known for his yeticorn character, and I'd have to say, ...Vs Komodo Canyon is probably my favorite of his adventures so far. What I love about it is how it takes this comic/promo poster style and smashes all the normal flaws of bringing it to a tee. The borders are gone, for starters... you can see the basic shape of the "poster" this would have been, but the shape is nevertheless organic, so it doesn't look constrained even while reveling in the assumed canvas. The text looks gorgeous. It's not a case of inappropriate, unnatural fonts slapped together. Every letter makes sense stylistically. Nothing looks too heavy-handedly synthetic. The placements of the text (and even the images) feel natural, like you'd want them to be on a flier. Even the colors fit. They go well together (red + blue = green, even if the blue is really just a bluer green) while being bold enough to capture the eye, but the way they're set up, and the three-color usage really help, again, sing praise to classic concert posters and such. It looks like something you should screenprint. But in the end, it's all about being a ridiculously fun design. This does, of course, tie back to the style concept. These sorts of daredevil events always ratchet up the drama and excitement to get you to come in. Even without that, though, it's such a fun idea as to be irresistible. The thrill of fast engines and big cars, the danger of huge dinosaur-esque lizards, and the mystique of a one-horned furry protagonist combine into a story you can't help but want to learn more about. Admit it, you'd buy this comic. I know I would.

Like all Tilteed limiteds, and like all special events, this tee WILL disappear 72 hours from its debut (we're looking at the under-60 hour mark as of this posting), so I cannot recommend enough that you check it out and pick one up before it's gone. $12 will get you the whole shirt. But as is customary in these situations, you may find you only need the edge.

Contest Watch Extra: Week of August 19

2010-08-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, lords and ladies. Yknow what's happened in those days? Most importantly, Cameesa's closed and the DBH10K opened. There's probably not a lot we can do about the former (I'd recommend flooding their inbox about any balance you might have sunk there), but the latter comes with a decided action: VOTE. With a huge prize, there's lots of great work, and just as much absolutely awful work. Thankfully votes aren't the final deciding factor, but showing your support can't hurt. We've got a number of past Contest Watch pieces fighting it out at DBH lately because of it, so definitely give some love to:

Kakolak's "The House Smoker"
Sweetnsour's "pandahorsetank"
Thechild's "Nature's Embrace"
Jameses' "Nobody Wants to be a Lonely Gingerbread"

And for those of you who want to branch out a bit Euro, check out LaFraise, where theinfinityloop has subbed "I'm, Alas, a Salami."

Speaking of both theinfinityloop and the Design By Humans 10K, I feel I should direct you all to a piece that deserves the attention, yet is not doing that well on the charts. Her "Sailor's Warning" is probably one of the best tees I've seen in a long time. It's incredibly intricate... it feels like a paper cutting, a big swatch of red paper carved with an x-acto knife. The flow is stunning... it fills the tee brilliantly, and the mythic creatures swell and swirl in the sky. But the color is what makes this pop so brilliantly. The red is a bit tamed, which makes it less in your face than it could be, but still allows for serious contrast and a beautiful combo. It's odd, with all the rage of the colors and the fury of the sea monsters and such inhabiting the air, the bottom still feels peaceful and beautiful. I find it rather hard to understand what could be unappealing about this design, but seeing some of what has over 200 votes, it's probably because people just don't have a remote idea of taste.

Threadless has big things going on too, of course. In case you didn't notice, they've been in the midst of a big ol' $10 sale. It's been extended 'til the new batch of tees goes up on Monday, so it's not too late to grab a favorite or three. But really, I'm sure I'm not the only one among y'all who is finding fewer and fewer new Threadless tees to fall in love with, so let's focus on the purpose of these blogs: the new stuff. I am kinda loving this piece from aman, for starters. It's called shadows, and it's definitely shadowy, but also a bit mummified. What I love about character pieces like this is that they are creepy with charm.There is little question that there's something bizarre and unsettling about these characters, their skin opening up to an oozing blackness, but then there are those faces, the spindly limbs, that give them a sort of innocence which keeps one looking and intrigued. It's almost like a trainwreck, except much more attractive... still, you can't help but feel like you cannot look away, even despite that unsettling nature. I'm a big fan of the lines. I like lines, and these give a fingerprint mystique, looking at all the wrappings, following them... lines can be hypnotic like that. But I'm also a fan of smart geometrics, like the dual diamond behind the characters. Not only does it give one more element of greyscale, but the way it's kinda painted-on gives it a cryptic symbolic nature. It feels like a masonic seal or some other mystical gem, calling these shrouded half-dead creatures up to rise again. And that simply drives the whole shebang homeward to me. It's an element that not only ties the design, but adds a bit more story.

Back to DBH and the 10K, it shouldn't be overly surprising for me to state that Wotto, one of the most prolific tee designers on the web, has entered the fray. But what I'm really intrigued by is what he's entered with, namely this last piece. Wotto is the sort of guy you can't help but respect and root for, but for me he's also the sort I don't always love everything he puts out, especially since his iconic doodle collages can require one to be picky, just in the interest of not buying every single one. What I love about this design, entitled Image176, is that it takes everything we know about wotto's work and makes it different. This is still collage, but the style being taken on here is certainly different, edgier, more "collage" than a bunch of charming doodles are. It's far more serious, the colors are killer, and the text hits that sweet spot where it works in aid of a mood instead of becoming too clunky and self-aware to be wearable. It's a definite contender, as far as I see.

Now, you might be seeing a bit of a theme, and unintentionally, there is. DBH10K gives way to spooky and charming gives way to DBH10K, etc etc. So taking up the spook side at Threadless is Monster? by Jublin. Again, there's that subtle, dark, basic palette, again we should be scared, but there's a charm and a wonder that leads us to look deeper. That charm is potentially printable just at first blush... it's a smiley monster coming in from your closet (or so it seems). Kinda creepy, but with that smile, kinda inviting too. Maybe you want the monster to come in. The imperfect doors and old fashioned wallpaper put a lot of charm into the otherwise barren room he's entering. But the thing that truly sells this for me is the excellent use of negative space. Yes, the monster himself is negative space, but the framework is simply swarming with beady-eyed monstrosities. And this is, again, where that balance of creep and charm takes place. You want to love the monster in the middle, with his simple grin and furry nature. But then you have all the others staring at you, blank eyed and serious. They're invading the room, and honest, we the viewer get a little uncomfortable. It's an ominous counterpoint to the blissful new entry. And it's some excellent use of negative space, and some smart framing. It's choices like that which make a shirt truly wearable, and while I worry about taking a really bold stance on color similarities (even though light-on-dark normally succeeds), the overall piece just works. And working is something far too many tees don't seem to care to do.

Finally, let's finish at DBH. There's been a lot of darkness this week, so let's finish off with exuberance. Should be simple. Enter Reilly's High 4. Starring one of the most happy of cartoon hands ever to be seen, this is one of those gems I love bringing in to show the world just how perfect simple can be done. Simple isn't about boring or stupid or poorly made. It's about just what it says: simplicity. This piece takes on two really simple concepts: the lack of fingers on a cartoon hand, and the awesomeness of a high-five. Well, ok, the title is really the main hint to the former part, but using the cartoon style helps highlight the latter. High fives can be pretty cheesy, but the honest among us know that a good one never FEELS cheesy. Even with a jump, skip, squeal, or any such flamboyant addition. This is a total ode to that feeling of epic camaraderie. Anyone who has truly needed the high-five for their own purposes knows what this glove feels. A tee that can capture a feeling like this is something worth supporting, especially if it takes such a great executional route to get there.

And to finish off, we have one more creepy thing we can't look away from: the shirt.woot double-take derby. As always, the actual prints are all but guaranteed to be yet another slap in the face from absolute mediocrity, but there is always a certain hope: Editor's Choice, when a week of dailies become a week of prints that should have printed. Of course, the woot overlords are just as fallible as their "esteemed" constituency, but even so, it can rarely get -worse-. If woot wanted to put me out a good $40, this would be a great way to do so: ilovedoodle's beautiful Solar System, thatrobert's minimalist The Poet's Weapons, tgentry's one color marvel Flight, and capedcrusader514's modern and bold Bird in Space.

Crazy 'Bout Elvis

2010-08-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

There's something about classic graphics that makes them just perfect for a tee, and that is what the latest Tilteed Limited is all about to me. Be a Good Boy, by keuj, just has that classic feel. Possibly it's the halftones, which make the design look a bit more like the heyday of comics. Used properly, halftones can either create a skillful blending of colors, making your palette far wider than it would seem otherwise, or else add a vintage effect to the piece. There is definitely some modern to it, of course. The oddness of the elements, from the cyclopean protagonist to the big-eyed bird, is something that wouldn't go over so well in older art, and I doubt this palette would have been so popular back in the day, but still, this style is the sort of thing that belongs on fabric. Not every graphic is at home on a tee, but most of keuj's work seems to be ideal for printing on pretty much anything, from concert posters to totebags to awesome shirts like this.

If you want more info, I've prattled on about the design on the product page itself. Please enjoy. As ever, however, you will only have 3 days to enjoy both this tee and my repartee before both are relegated to the annals of time.

Quite the Trend

2010-08-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

I don't quite expect anything I say to make a difference in a world that has made art into pure commodity, especially as time has made the blog itself more and more sporadic and sparse. I fight to prove there's someone out there that cares, and simply hope that someday, the right people will get it. So I don't really think anything I said last week has changed anything this quickly at Design by Humans. Even so, it's a pretty nice turn of events.

The fact is there's been a run of 6-for-7 solid tees at DBH, starting with last week's rant tee and coming full circle now with yet another great one from Againstbound: "Leader of the Pack." It's great to see a designer like him getting recognition. His style has always been one of the most distinctive out there, and this piece, created to evoke Mr. B7, another underappreciated designer, really takes it to another level. The art definitely takes the best of both designers into one piece, and the purple shirt is just sweet as hell. It's bold in coloration, yet the statement remains attractive and wearable. And the fill and flow of the shirt is perfect.

The fact is that at this point, there are probably millions of shirts out there. I've scored nearly 50K at Threadless alone, and I haven't scratched the surface considering all the older entries and handfuls I've missed, not to mention those at DBH, past woot entries, emptees shirts that have never been entered elsewhere. If even 1/100th of those tees are printworthy, and we look at that minimum that I myself have scored, it's still way more than any single site can print. So it is SO important that we keep promoting and building up these designs that really matter. The ones that make you see something you aren't as familiar with. The ones that create fashion and push envelopes, and the ones that put wearable creativity at the forefront, not familiarity. It's great to see this sort of thing find its way into printing over the course of the last few weeks, and so consistently, but tomorrow is a new day, and who knows what prints then. Let's keep doing our best to make sure it's something truly worth the prize. And here's hoping "Dark Matter" shows up on schedule on Wednesday!

Make it Rain

2010-08-09T16:55:00.000-07:00

It is nearly too muggy to write this evening, so the new Tilteed Limited tee comes as a bit of a horrible omen. I feel as if I jinxed myself by bringing it in. Overall, though, it'll be worth it, for any number of reasons. Drowning Out the Sun, by D-Roy, is a stellar summer tee for those of us who can't abide by the oppressive heat, but a sweet tee all around for its faded colors, chunky vector lines, and smart art. The colors are an obvious perk, to me... they're not overly saturated, which makes the tee feel a bit weathered and classic from the start (which I think increases wearability with many of us). The use of the tee blank, however, is incredibly smart, especially for a guy who I believe is getting his first tee print through us. With the big, full-chest print, having so much white breathing through is so important. Yet it comes off effortlessly, much like the clouds seem to be effortless with their raining. It's so commonplace that they seem nonchalant. I'm super excited to see this tee get a chance with us. We love getting a chance to bring you something new and different. We hope you'll give it some love, too.

The Waiting Game

2010-08-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

Look here, shirt sites, and listen the hell up.

We all want to see awesome, deserving tees print. It's human nature. I would rather wait years to get a chance to own a totally worthwhile tee than never see it happen. But this is getting out of hand.

Just last week, we thrilled to a totally deserving Threadless design getting what it deserved a year after submission. This week it's Design By Humans' turn. The irony, to me, is that both designs went up for voting at the other site before finally being printed by the original one. And this is where my issue lies.

Againstbound's Ominous and Ghastly Mont Noir was a top 20 contender from last year's DBH10K (going on now for 2010). Almost every top 20 was printed within the month or so after the winners were announced. This was one of approximately four not to. The layers of elements are no less awesome now, the art is no less original to the designer, the design is not somehow more printable than it always was. It's a surefire buy when I get to it. But I just don't get what took so long. Even in the worst-case scenario, by a month or two after the 10K, Againstbound should easily have had mail expressing intent to print this later. Yet it made its way to another site. In the interim, DBH printed things like Guntree and Dogfight, among the worst prints I've ever seen. So why couldn't this one be fit in until now?

The business of selling art is getting cowardly, it seems. They're afraid to print work they clearly like. And seeing pieces like this and the other from last week finally print proves that fear. These are tees they liked, as evidenced by the late printing. But waiting a year is just wrong. Waiting so long to even tell an artist you want to print their piece that they have taken it elsewhere is wrong. You need to suck it up and make the plunge. And when I see some sites printing work that is absolutely uninspired after a month or two at most, this really should be unacceptable. There have been well over 300 days to find a spot for this design to print. So while I am excited by it, and excited to wear it, it really proves just how married the design world is to the business aspect, and how scared they are about the art side. I don't want to live in a world so close-minded that this would never print, but in some ways, knowing this would take so long to do so is just as scary a commentary about both our cultural and capitalistic tendencies.

If your business ostensibly sells art, it is your obligation to sell art. Otherwise, you are only damaging the art world. And art is more important to society than your corporate savings being full.

Contest Watch: Week of July 22

2010-07-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

This has been a pretty super week for Contest Watch... you should definitely check the last few posts for some supertown updates. And while you're at it, go check Threadless, where "The Serenade of Pangolin's Mandolin" is up for votes. This bad boy was a long-time-ago feature here, back in the days of Shirtfight, so definitely give it some long overdue love.

Threadless mostly dominates this week, but there were a few winners that won't win over at shirt.woot, also. I'm pretty averse to featuring the fog, because even though I can predict winners and losers, it seems unfair to promote the obvious potential winners. However, there was one definite standout, and it sat outside the fog: Bird in Space, by CapedCrusader514. The theme this week was Art Titles Reinterpreted. You'd think this would be simple, given other woot derbies, but apparently people don't know what "title" means. We got a lot of pieces that simply parodied the work without looking at the title: this is one of those rare instances where someone was both able to pay homage to the piece while doing what the theme requested, reinterpreting the title. The shape and position and color of the bird recall the piece it is inspired by, but it is made literal instead of abstract. But all this aside, it's just a stunning piece to begin with. The linework is lovely, and the shading is certainly part of that. The golden hues pop against the black. There's something I love about those sorts of color schemes, with big bright colors on black spacey expanses, so this is totally my sort of tee. I hope we'll get to see it again in the future. On a tee, this time.

Now, however, we can get to all the Threadless goodies for the week, and there really have been some goodies. Let's start with tolagunestro, which is always a superb place to start. His "Fast Spin" is the sort of glorious oddity we love to see here, with the execution to back it up. There's an obvious juxtaposition of the slowness of the snail with the idea of a speedy carnival ride, but I'm much more intrigued by the gorgeous texture (if anything about a snail can be gorgeous without first covering it in butter and garlic), and the rickety yet delicate framework of the spiraling ferris wheel sort of structure. It's an original take, to be sure, and eye candy without a doubt. Not only that, but an orange blank? Sign me up. If there are two things that I would say all successful shirts have (and by "successful," I mean this in an art and not a business sense), it would definitely be original concept and skilled execution. Obviously, just about every tee shop on the planet doesn't back me up on this given many of their selections, but their foolishness doesn't take away from the truth of the matter. If someone wants something bold, unique, and attractively done, this should be the sort of tee they're voting for. Convenient, then, that such a tee would indeed be up for voting!

Of course, execution can be all about simplicity as well. Which is what I love about Mammoths Were Hippies, by Tawan. Simple, smart concept needs simple, smart design, and this goes just far enough to illustrate with charm, without overkill. The "hippie" idea is so simple and so perfect for the mammoth that it seems incredible it had never been thought of before. I'm just glad it was thought of by someone who would put it together correctly. The meeting of the minds shown here, with just enough surprise readable in the elephant's eyes, and just enough passive nonchalance behind the mammoth's shades, charms without rotting the teeth. There is much to be said for pure intellect in designing. Would that more people would just do it. There are plenty of great, future classic ideas out there. Relying too heavily on other people's work is flat out lazy when there are smaller-name designers out there who can hit home runs like this.

Even so, sometimes reference can be wonderful if done smartly, as well. Which has almost nothing to do with Fleck's "Zenobia," except that there's a part of me that desperately wants to somehow relate this to Ethan Frome. It's not wintry. The city doesn't seem to be a hypochondriac lusting over a pickle dish. I guess you could say that it's standing up on pretty flimsy legs, but that's more of a stretch than I'm willing to go. So despite the piece being inspired by Calvino (one of my faves), I've yet to read Invisible Cities, so no classic literature for me this time. But classic illustration, that we have in spades, and really, that's what we should want. This is what complexity should look like. It's structured, ordered, but not fully. There's still something fragile about it. I love the idea of the complex infrastructure being supported on such flimsy braces... it seems to want to make a statement and yet keeps quiet about it. But all that aside, the ramshackle nature of the city's support system makes the underlying story all the more interesting. I like how those lower bits are sparse and a bit scattered compared to the dense, repetitive patterns above. I love the way the illustration fills up the tee, with the bulk of the design at the chest and the dregs hanging down at the stomach. It flatters the canvas by filling it well, and flatters the body by not calling so much attention to the parts people tend to be more self-conscious about. Even the swatches of dull red, the only real pop of color here, arcs over the top of the chest. It's really quite well conceived in positioning, and visually, this is a sure-fire buy if and when it prints. It's subtle but not bland, it's detailed but not cluttered, and it's familiar without being generic. Stunning work on what should indeed be a stunning tee.

Finally, let's check out the current Loves competition: this one's about comics, and I'm not going to lie, I'm quite scared about it. I will probably be somewhere between crying and mauling if/when some HILARIOUS shirt that shows batman as a bat for the umpteenth time prints. But then, on the other hand, when designers really embrace a style, and utilize their own mind to flesh it out... now that's where the big payoffs come, and comics are a perfect venue for that. That's why I dig the Incredible 5 Senses by Gums. There's obviously a Fantastic 4 element to the team, and a definite classic comic vibe to the style, but the characters are just wonderful. What works so well is how comics have always had their own internal logic. Superman is an alien who looks like us. His only weakness is a rare alien rock, that somehow is easily obtained by earth-baddies. Wolverine had his entire skeleton replaced by super hard metal, but it's OK because he can heal himself. Galactus is THE SIZE OF A DAMN PLANET BUT SUPERHEROES CAN KICK HIS ASS SOMETIMES. So the idea that we might get exposed to all these beautiful, bizarre worlds in this contest is ever so appealing. In this comic, our heroes are our senses. With human bodies. I'm not sure what's not to love about this. The characters really are alien to us for that reason, but in the comic style, all is forgiven visually. You just want to see if Tongue can escape from The Capsicum Crusader (Milk Man to the rescue?) before time is up. It's a great interpretation because the team is readymade, but also ideal for the stylized, mutant ideal that especially Marvel heroes are known for. The execution feels natural, the colors feel wearable and authentic, and the whole package is exactly what this contest should be about. Please guys, no shirts with Spiderman as a spider. Isn't that overdone yet? The answer, btw, is yes.

Wet T-Shirt Contest

2010-07-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

On the exact opposite end of the design spectrum, it would seem, as our last tee (posted what, a couple hours ago?) there's TheInfinityLoop's "Painted With Water." There's really nothing abstract about this at all... it's a pretty simple sea scene, and all the elements are pretty clear. However, the style makes the piece, and makes the concept shine through. The style is a take on the old "Paint With Water" books that were big in the 80s, allowing the art-free kids to feel like they've created something by applying water to the dried smears of color on each page. I remember how lurid the greens became against the water... it might well have been that color that kept me so interested in the creative process, ironically. Anyway, having the simple aquatic scene featured on this design totally makes sense with the style of the books, but it also heightens the concept... of course there would be water in this scene, and it brings out the life in all this life.

Long time readers know that our former Contest Watch featured designs have never fared well at shirt.woot (and long time readers probably also know exactly why they wouldn't), but I am ever hopeful this will be the time that things change. However, if not, you only have until August 9th to grab this. Today, of course, it's only $10 until it sells out or tomorrow dawns. Here's hoping the former happens.

Twilight With Talent

2010-07-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

I imagine I am not alone in the world of art critics who feels that there's a certain "T" word that has proven the uselessness of trying to get through to the masses on issues of quality. It sort of hearkens back to being in high school, and being almost offended at the absolutely wonderful phrase "in sync" being debased into, well, a pretty useless phenomenon. So it's pretty much refreshing to be able to use the word in the context of true art.

So let's reflect a bit on ZackOlantern's "The Twilight Rider," which is a vision in Eggplant. I have been in love with this piece for a while, with it's amazing, challenging abstractions and colors. It's like Bennie and the Jets: weird and wonderful. What I love about this sort of art is that it can really be interpreted any way you want... it's about the gorgeous visual, the totally foreign world created in the piece... it's a design that has an artistic payoff if you take the time to study it and contemplate it and just appreciate it. That's way more worthwhile than having things spelled out.

As always, this is a Tilteed Limited tee, and therefore, you've only got 3 days to snag it, so don't slack off. Tees like this just aren't common enough these days, so grab one and help slowly reverse the movement against our minds.

Intense in Tents

2010-07-26T22:11:00.000-07:00

They say good things come to those who wait. I'm not a believer. Patience is a virtue because the virtueless want a monopoly on getting what they want. But every now and then, something good does finally pan out. And this week, after waiting a year, it is one of those times.

Blog favorite GinetteGinette gets a long overdue second print over at Threadless this week, and it is everything I could hope it to be and more. Please marvel at the wonder which is Tipi Man. They did the piece proud: the big, simple main graphic is appropriately huge, and given Threadless' printing quality, the likelihood is that even at this size, it'll still be soft instead of stiff. There's a charm in the odd little tipi character, and a shiftiness in its eyes that is intriguing. The real payoff, though, is how the simple graphic plays with the ornate background. It's like salty and sweet... the big graphic makes the belt printed flora seem far less overpowering, while all that detail allows the simplicity of the tipi to sit attractively without seeming one note or clunky. It's really smart design, and totally worth the wait... if Threadless' recent propensity for over-reprinted reprints and sell-out panderprints has finally opened the door for them to take risks on truly deserving oddities (and the overall quality this week coupled with yet another huge scoring "oh look pop culture things as real animals" print implies it might), I -might- start getting behind this whole generification of graphic art. There are lots of tees that have been overlooked out there, and while it's great to see one of my favorites finally get what it deserves, there's a long long way to go. A year is a damn long time to wait.

We Ain't Lion.

2010-07-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

Today marks the last day of the grand Tilteed Flip giveaway, which means the Flip cam WILL be given away soon soon soon. As such, that also means y'all should consider hurrying up the promotion on our Facebook page contest. I'm giving away tees for every hundred of you, and I don't want to be saved money. The contest will be running just a titch longer, through the end of the latest Tilteed Limited curation, so you still have time to help make it happen.

As for that latest curation? It's JimmyTan's classic unprinted tee "Grandpa". I've wanted this tee to be part of the limited catalog for a long time, and I'm superstoked to see it up finally. It's all about the facial expression here, wise and happy. The title really makes sense of it all. I think many of us can see something of our gramps in this, even if he didn't smoke a stogie, wear a monocle, or eat our dad. There's so much character that I simply can't imagine how no one picked this up yet, but we hope their loss will be your gain. I also dig the use of color... the blue accent really stands out here, while the main linework is detailed enough that there's no need for more color. If you agree, you've got under 72 hours to make it happen. And that goes for the contest as well.

Give 'em the Boots

2010-07-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

We've seen Kindred Market before in the long long ago, and thought hey, that's a pretty cool concept, but wanted to wait to see more. What concept, you ask? Well, Kindred runs a shirt contest of a different sort. Instead of printing the hottest tees, they give birth to a brand, which hopefully will then create hot tees. It leads to a decidedly mixed-bag feel to the site: you have stunning art mixed with vectormash and even slogans, but the potential is what makes the site so interesting. Instead of waiting every week for a single shirt to either be awesome or horrible, like some sites, there is a whole new brand under their umbrella to judge on quality. Which is kind of exciting.

This week, however, Kindred has brought us a line that should excite a number of you out there in tee land. Welcome friend-of-the-blog BootsBoots to their market! Boots is known for an oddball sense of humor and a quirky sense of cuteness, and the pieces up from her line's first release highlight this for sure (as well as her admitted penchant for text-text-text). Honestly, it's nice to see how completely the pieces selected for the launch speak to the designer's overall style.

Unsurprisingly, my favorite of the group is her long-unprinted Intergalactic Hitchhikers. It's an example of how cuteness can still be unique and personal in style, and it's also the most original and artful of the crop. If I had to break down the success of this to one element, I'd say "arrows". The arrows give a nice flow for the eyes to follow, and facilitate the composition of the overall design. They also bring in the color contrast that really makes this pop... the orange highlights against the blues really make this lovely and eyecatching, and unlike some halftone experiments, the glow here works as a matter of those contrasts. It adds to the otherworldly feel. I'm also a pretty big fan of the mediocrity-snarking "Lulz 101," which takes a well-deserved swipe at, well, something like 75% of the tee world, but this one always seemed to sum Boots up in an image.

I understand Kindred works in DTG printing, which isn't my ideal method to buy, but also has a screenprinter they use for store orders, which is all the more promising. I have no clue where they wholesale to, so if you're on the hunt for a solid screened design, I don't know what to tell ya, but it's definitely worth checking out if you're a Boots fan... her pieces are currently pretty damn reasonably priced, too, so it's a chance worth taking. Either way, we'd love to congratulate her on the new shop, and we hope the concept is something that not only takes off for her, but for kindred... who knows what they can offer if they start getting some serious exposure.

Don't Keep this Quiet!

2010-07-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Ok. We can do this a couple ways. So listen up.

Option 1 is I just talk about Reticent, the latest limited tee on Tilteed. That's easy enough to do with it's lovely colors, abstract shapes and lines, and futuristic vibe. I could certainly tell you all about how it was a former contest watch tee, and how I love designer NinthWheel's work, and yadda yadda yadda. And it would all be true. If you'd prefer that, I can do that all damn year.

Option 2, however, switches it up a bit. See, yesterday I introduced you all to the blog's new Facebook page. It's still new, fresh, and growing. But I'd like to see it grow more. So in honor of Tilteed's birthday contest, and to make up for some under-represented contrasts in the past, I'd like to offer you all an incentive for your loyal reading. I'd love to see the fan page grow, so I'm gonna give away some tees. For every 100 fans I gain between now and the end of Tilteed's flip giveaway, I will randomly choose a fan to win a Tilteed tee of their choice. That's any catalog Tilteed tee, or any current limited (I obviously can't do much of anything for past tees). And that means if I get 100 fans, I give one away, and if I get 512, I give 5 away, and if I get 10,000 fans, well, let's be honest, I'm kind of hoping that doesn't happen by the end of the month. I'm not made of money.

All YOU need to do is FAN UP ON FACEBOOK. It's easy, it's free, and sometimes you'll even get extra content. Hell, sometimes the blog ITSELF doesn't get new content! And spread the word, because every new fan we get, the more chances there are to win. So if you prefer to just hear about how awesome this limited tee is, and how you should grab it now before you miss out in 72 hours, please re-read the first paragraph over and over again. But for the rest of you, I totally think the second option sounds more fun, don't you think? You know what to do.

Contest Watch: Week of July 8

2010-07-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

Weeks later, we have a couple things worth noting this week on Contest Watch. First off, if you love SingulariTee, and you obviously do, you can check out our Facebook page for our hopefully more frequent updates and even occasional bonuses (sales watches, bonus contest watch pieces, whatever else I can milk for extras). We'd love to see you fan us. We'd also love to see you give some love to DaleEdwinMurray's "If Thine Eye Offends Thee." It's one of the best I've seen around the circuit this year, and it's a crime that it didn't print with Threadless. We really needed another Mario shirt instead!

We've been happy to get the chance to chat up Design By Humans a lot this week in various arenas... they've got a killer sale going on, and we still have a 10% code to get you even more savings (check our banner). But there have been scads of great potential DBH tees just itching to be talked about for a while now, one of which being a favorite we missed talking about once upon a time at Threadless. Since it's new to you, let me present ecsu's A Timeless Murder. Again, like Dale's, I'm not sure why we're even getting this chance to bring it into today's contest watch: it really -should- be printed already. It's got it all... amazing colors (the primary-colored rainbow makes for a bold accent against the dark clock housing), wonderful textures on the wood, engaging flow with the rainbow and the strangling arms, and even the concept is nice and intriguing. It could go a lot of directions, but I like thinking, given the murder in the title, that it's a commentary of the impossibility of infinity, and the way time keeps marching on, but all things end. The great thing about designs like this, though, is that it's so reliant on symbolism that anyone who cares to take the time can find something to connect with here. Great, ambitious art.

Over at Threadless, we've got some greatness as well. Mostly birds, apparently. Consider the case of Torakamikaze's Let It Out. I'm pretty sure the colors here used to be in popsicles in my childhood (huzzah blue raspberry!) so the design rocks my midsummer world on palette alone. It's got a psychedelic nature to it that makes it quite appealing, but what I love is the highly synthetic looking colors against a pretty nice looking eagle-head. Or is that a hawk? Ornithologists? Anyway, it presents a nice contrast of styles and concepts, and the "lasers from the mouth" thing is pretty super in and of itself. This hawk is intense. Or falcon. It's possible there's a vague patriotism factor making this so workable, as well... the eagle with a spin on a red white and blue palette might subconsciously make the whole piece feel all the more right. It's obviously unintentional, but the subconscious can't hurt when you're looking at art. I imagine this right here is all about the tee, which is to say, the artist created it because it looked rad, not to show off drawing chops (though it's certainly attractive), nor to put forth any deep or amusing concept (though, who knows). But at the end of the day, a hot looking shirt is enough reason for a shirt to exist. Shirt for shirt's sake. It's not trite. It's not boring. It's simple, standalone fashion-graphic. And it's destined to be a tee.

More tweet tees from Threadless are coming from the likes of alvarejo, who brings us Ready for First Class. This is definitely stunning execution, because it's a different sort of tee. It's much more about vintage details than bold graphic. The black-and-"white" illustration style hints to this already, but it's all the more obvious with the ridiculously outdated accouterments this little guy has with him. It's all pretty lovely... the sign of a truly skilled artisan... but really the best parts of this have nothing to do with concept or linework. Sure, the top hat is the first thing we notice, and it's somehow always a smile to see a critter in a top hat, but I think I like the stuffed suitcase more... what is this guy even going to pack? The camera goes even further over the top... it's so large, so gaudy, so old, that it just looks hilarious in any light, especially being worn by a pigeon. But the detail I love most is the shoes. They're so blatantly big on the pigeon that the absurdity of the whole thing is heightened all the more. These are people-clothes, pigeon! That's the best of this piece: so many similar designs fight to make the humanized creature seem totally natural, but this one revels in just how silly the whole idea is. It feels very self-aware, and that, along with stellar execution, is what sets it apart.

Of course, Threadless never has been purely about flawless execution. Indeed, for all the amazing tees I've discussed that have been up at the site, their legacy is much more in tune with such designs as bananaphone's "Dear Sir." This defines Threadless humor, which is no surprise when you consider the iconic tees the designer has brought to the site. Sure, it's easy to think of the scads of pop "humor" dominating the airwaves, but this is what built the site's humor catalog, in a very real way. The graphic is simple, which is what a graphic needs to be in a quick-and-dirty humor tee like this, but it still has its distinct style. More importantly, though, the text is legitimately funny. Or at least, I think so. It's a matter of the refined, polite request for what is undeniably a horrible deal to make. I'm personally OK with not getting my face clawed, Mr. Bear. It doesn't hurt, of course, that this flowery prose comes from that simply-styled graphic... it makes the juxtaposition all the stronger. Nor does it hurt that the tone of the text resonates with me for it's dark almost anti-humor and its sense of snark. Or that I kinda love me some red tees. But in the end, it's just refreshing to see this sort of tee still being created and still thriving. I'm pretty sure, unfortunately, that scoring will be over by the time this post comes up, but if you're into seeing this sort of thing continue to succeed, I urge you to comment anyway. Regards, Adder.

Finally, back to DBH. I tweeted about this earlier this week, but for the rest of you, you need need need to check out the scads of amazing work that went up for voting this week by beecombs. My favorite of the pieces is, without a doubt, Hive, because it looks like nothing I've ever seen before. The complex network of polyhedrons invites both the eyes and the imagination... the tube-like areas feel like transit pathways, which helps bolster the idea of this structure being a hive, but the questions come harder and faster than the answers. It's hard to say if this is a rendering of an insect abode, or some alien space station. The piece straddles the chasm of organic ore formation and wooden carpentry project as well. It keeps you wondering just what you're looking at. And as far as I'm concerned, that's fine. Maybe I don't want to know. I'm happy just looking and imagining, so long as it looks awesome.

Stop Worrying/Love the Tee

2010-07-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

We don't believe that tees need to be political, but we certainly support when someone can put forth a smart and meaningful opinion in their art. That's half of what art is (and it's why you'll find decidedly fewer real artists in certain political spheres than others). I've never understood the idea that politics should be absent from art, music, film, or any other expression of our inner selves, but then, those opinions, again, generally come from those with much to fear from such opinions. But educated opinion is the crux of artistry.

That said, we're not really sure how "The Economics Tee or: How I learned to stop worrying and let the government kick my ass" represents what its title purports to represent, but we can get behind a lot of things. It's no big secret that government has helped screw up the economy for decades, so the overall message implied is easy to support. It's a Paper Root tee, also, which means it's a super high quality product on a blank so soft I want to graft it into my skin. Can't possibly not be for that. But what so many message tees fail at is creating something attractive to go with their message. As I've said, I'm not sure how the art here -does- relate to the presumed concept, but for a tee, it's way better to have obscured concept than unwearable graphics. This thing is definitely wearable. I love the look of the illusion... it draws the eye for that "impossible object" feel, but I really love the (wait for it) rigidity of the whole thing. I know, that's normally a turn-off, but the hard lines and textures make this feel concrete, and it gives off an interesting overall visual. I also like the subtle white and red accents, which add some nice visual pops to the otherwise rocky main image. It gives it an overall more mystical or alchemical vibe to me. I certainly wouldn't put money on that sort of description being the best there is, but that's what I get, for sure. It just feels like something that could, well, find its way into the masonic and otherwise imagery we think of in terms of our currency. So maybe that's where it all fits together. But overall, it's an awesome reminder of what simple, abstract work can do to a tee blank. Namely, make it awesome.

Feline By Humans

2010-07-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

At this point some things have ceased to shock me.

Infuriate? Sure, sometimes. I'm a firm believer that people who can't get angry about something don't actually care about it all that much. There's no passion, no concern. Only a dead resignation. But that's not a matter of shock. Shock is about outright surprise.

Among the things that fail to faze me lately? Design by Humans sales. Last year Uneetee was frequently jabbed at for going in a pseudo-DBH direction with it's print selections. This year, one could argue DBH is paying its own respects by taking Uneetee's habit of infrequently selecting new prizewinners. Don't get me wrong, I love a good sale, and DBH still has some of the best blanks in the biz, but more new prints means more new tees for the fans/customers to buy. You can't put the same set of tees on sale a hundred times and expect hugely different results. The true excitement, for me, is seeing new, quality prints.

Thankfully, though, this is a sale and a half. If you're willing to rummage the eBargain Bin of remaindered sizes, you can find some classics and quality tees for only $7, with others available for $10. At DBH price and quality, this is a hell of a deal, and that makes this sale one worth checking out, even after the glut of recent ones at the site.

Also helpful, in my eyes, is that we've recently gotten some pretty stellar prints out of the ol' DBH gods. One of my favorites comes from yonil: the long-title-is-long "Apparently cats only have one life just like the rest of us." It was inspired by the artist's loss of his fuzzy friend, but the imagery is gloriously weird and acceptable for even non-cat-lovers. The illustration leaves much up to the viewer: the cat is huge and imposing, possibly floating up through the rainclouds, possibly about to hover over and destroy Tokyo. The colors are bright and make the scene seem more alien. And the print, well, it's the size of the cat. Some of y'all with cats will probably have a larger one on your chest than your lap if you pick this up. But it's not just a cat, and that's why it works... the swirls (reminiscent of yarn?) and clouds bring this out of the safe, house-pet confines of a gaudy gramma sweatshirt, and the simple spare style emphasizes that ethereal image of the afterlife, which automatically lends further cred to the concept, making it wearable and lovable even as a full-chest print.

As with most DBH sales, the newer the shirt, or the better the seller, the more chance it'll be discounted less, but with a couple cheaper shirts, you can't go wrong with a piece like this as well. For the still more frugal, try code NS2B8E for 10% off any purchase during the sale and through July 26.

Walk the Wire

2010-07-07T22:20:00.000-07:00

Some days, you just luck out. That was most definitely the case when Mr. Chris Dixon excitedly OK'd Tilteed to do the honors on a popular design of his. Hugely popular, super skilled, right off a popularity high... it's the sort of tee you're excited to bring in because it seems to hit all the best notes, showing some super execution and creativity while also being a potential bestseller. I'm AdderXYU, and this is The Real Shirt Curators of Tilteed County.

What you're interested in, though, is why YOU should care about the tee, not the story of being able to bring Pinkerton to you as the current Tilteed Limited curation. I mean, you're smart people, but you read for the tees! I don't blame you! So let's start at the beginning. What's going on here? No clue. But the mood is undeniable. There is a fear, a palpable tension, permeating this little scene. The tightrope is an obvious metaphor, and the creepy creatures coming out from the borders are obviously meant to be ominous. There's some pure dystopia going on, and I personally love it, even if the full meaning is obscured. Still more subtle, however, is the robot itself. Sure, it looks like it's about to blow, but the elongated limbs make it seem no less otherworldly and unsettling, so you both feel for its predicament as well as being distanced just enough to make the story unfolding here more compelling. If the story works so well for being vague, the art itself is a home run for blatant reasons. The artist is well known for some incredibly fine halftone and blending work... the melange of pinks to purples to blues creates a powerful contrast of bright ink to dark blank (and concept), but it also adds to the hazy cavern feel. Everything somehow feels more dark because it's illuminated in such bold hues. The use of negative space is also stunning: the scene is framed in these haunting images, and it all feels organic due to it. Really, the only drawback to this tee is that it is not remotely a summer color (especially in this heatwave), but that just means you'll be all the more excited to wear your copy when autumn comes.

As with every Tilteed Limited, Pinkerton's balancing act will only last for 72 hours total (we're just about at hour 61 as of this posting). $12 for this much art is almost like stealing, but if your thieving tendencies are even more heightened, be sure to check out the Tilteed Blog, where you'll find all manner of contests this month. It's Tilteed's birthday, and they'll give out free shirts if they want to! And they do, pretty much all month. Check regularly to see what the new contest is all about! Just don't miss out on greatness trying to score a freebie. There will be all manner of sweet tees all month long as well.

sea and sand

2010-06-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

I've already written about AtomicChild's Seven Seas. I'm sure at the time I noted it's wonderful style and flow, channeling a bit of Hokusai with a bit of modern street. If I didn't notice before, I'd certainly suggest the simple and tasteful colors, and the way the splattering of textures makes everything feel all the more wet. Heck, I know for a fact I told you to buy it. So what has changed since then that makes it require a second rehash? More than you'd expect.

Seven Seas was one of the features in my top-10 review of the T-shirt Vault. Yknow, the major contest site where hundreds of designs went up for sale competing for one mega prize and a couple quite solid smaller ones? The place where every tee sold was going to bring in some solid profit for the designers? The place that closed down unceremoniously the day after my feature, with no orders fulfilled, no profits to be paid? Yeah, you can probably see where I'm going with this. Today is second in what I hope will be an eventual ten-part series of these under-respected tee orphans. Tilteed is the lucky home again this time, so you can feel secure in getting a product that will make the wait worthwhile (and yes, you can certainly browse through my blog for my less biased opinions of the site from before I was affiliated with them). Sadly, though, the tee will only be available to you for just about another day and a half (blimey, am I getting slow at this). Don't miss out. $12 is a small price to pay to help these tees find a home.

Who was on my tee last night?

2010-06-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about Edgar McHerly is one of the things I love about certain bands. Yknow, the one everyone forgot about but you love? The one you stumbled over on the web and none of your friends know? The band you slip onto mix CDs all the time in hopes that everyone will love them, but never want to hear on the radio? That's Edgar. Always original, always unique, always changing things up, always evolving. His humor is absurd and striking. His art is challenging and often beautiful. And his newest piece is The Butthole Surfers. Fans of the band from which the design takes its name could probably see the relationship... the Surfers made a name for themselves by being themselves and pushing the limits of "normal" music. The tee itself is epic, trippy, imposing... the creature in the spotlight here is gigantic and otherworldly, glowing and casting beams from his hands to his eyes or vice-versa. It also appears to be in a sort of reverie, which is not less disconcerting, but adds a bit of power to the proceedings. And I really love the floating squares, coming across like static, or the fuzz behind our eyes after squeezing our eyes shut or looking into the sun. Because really, this sort of sweetness SHOULD pseudo-blind us.

This piece is only at Tilteed for the next two days or so... way to be late on your own curation, Adder!... so definitely grab one now and get on the ground floor with an artist I truly believe should be praised as one of the best under-known artists out there.

Sound and Vision

2010-06-20T00:22:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest things about this blogging thing is finding the best of the best out there that are yet to print. In all honesty, while there are many amazing tee sites out there printing amazing tees, the truth of all art is that the most interesting stuff will never rise to prominence. That's why I love that I decided in the long long ago to start a Contest Watch 'round here... even on the weeks I've taken off, I'm always looking, scoring, and browsing the web for new unprinted designs. That's the way to find the really special stuff in any art you choose... keep digging.

Vicariously, the greatest thing about my time at Tilteed has been an ability to have a say in getting those personal gems printed. I can't imagine having that sort of opportunity to support art and just churning out the same exact thing as everyone else. That all being said, I hope my past curated designers don't take offense when I say that Of the Beholder by Torakamikaze is, no lie, the tee I'm most excited to have printed with Tilteed. It's a personal fave, to be sure... a piece I blabbed about in the long long ago as a Threadless submission. I've always loved how this is all about pure creation. The linework is gorgeous, the imagery is bold, the colors straddle a wonderful line of warm colors and cool ones (I'd definitely go for an icee in these shades, though hopefully with less eyes). It's intriguing and a bit haunting. It's wearable and unique. The eye (ours, not the tee's) is drawn through those thick strips of linework, the subtler tangles, the explosive plumes of red. I love how the eyes, even without faces, evoke a sort of wisdom and definite personality. But I really love knowing that something unique is getting a chance to shine that it might not have gotten otherwise. Sadly, though, it's only gonna be around for 72 hours, a good 12 of which are long gone by now, so don't delay, and spread the word.

Contest Watch: Week of June 10

2010-06-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

Title: Twin Brother
Designer: ndikol

We're going layout crazy today, since we're working with purely Threadless designs. For starters, we're gonna cute you into submission with this piece. What I love about it is the simplicity. It's all very childlike, while being soothingly so... simple shapes, like a good kids book. The palette is pleasant as well, subtle but smart. But the concept, while also embracing that same simplicity, is the real wonder. The repetition of the shapes from sun to lion to flower, progressively shrinking in size, just makes an incredibly appealing design. It'll make a great kids tee, but it's not overbearing in any way, which makes it perfect for all future wearers. This is what cute is all about.

Title: GalactiCactus
Designer: Niv Bavarsky

It's no surprise to y'all by now that I love stuff that makes no sense. More than likely such work makes up the vast majority of what I've talked up in my time with this blog. I believe that art is for expression, and there simply isn't much being expressed if you're spelling everything out for everyone (and really, do you WANT to spend time around someone who can't handle some simple thought?) What this tee brings is a wearability of execution with an oddness of content. The colors invite the surreal, the spacey, but doesn't keep anyone out unless they purposefully wish it. Great shirts should wear well, and I believe this would do just that.

Title: The House Smoker
Designer: kako64

Well then: if you tend to crave your oddness way bolder, this is definitely a tee for you. One of the easy highlights is that beautiful yellow-on-black contrast, and that lends worlds of character to the title dude and the focal point of the tee. The big blobby shape is a charmer. Far be it from me to try and glamorize smoking, especially at the expense of a whole house, but there's definitely a calm about the guy, like you'd imagine in an old sitcom, when dad comes home and lights his pipe. You almost pick up that warmth between the warm yellow of the creature, the warm lights shining in the windows and chimneys smoking along throughout the scene, but also in the playful and cozy style. The town looks like a really homey place, with it's buildings drawn roughly so that despite height and presumed population, it still has a rural, rustic feel as well... some old-world Europe stuff, perhaps. And that feeling really adds worlds of depth to this scene.

Title: Drawn to Life
Designer: Anything Goes

Far be it from me to ever go so far as to insist "anything goes" as the designer's moniker does, but this piece is really a brilliant showing of what should be done with source material. The way the photograph interacts with the drawn elements is stunning and uses great perspective. The elements line up perfectly, and pop out three-dimensionally. What I really love here is how the photo implies a dead series of fallen trunks, yet the drawing gives them a rebirth, giving a double layer to the design's title: not only is there a drawing attached to real-life images, but that drawing brings the photo trees back to life, and does a stunning job doing so. One of the best from the current Threadless Loves Shutterstock contest.

Title: Balalaika
Designer: Lesha Ki

We end off in pure shirt. Patterning. Colors. Vector work. If you were to condense the world of tee design down to its basics, this would be it. It's design created for fashion, design created to be worn. The patterning, symmetry and ornamentation sprout off from the title element, an Eastern European instrument somewhere between a guitar and a shovel. I think this would be even more perfect if the feel of it related more to that focal element, but it still makes for a gorgeous design that one can wear and just enjoy the interplay of the elements.

Charitee

2010-06-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard about the massive oil geyser in the Gulf of Mexico yet, you're probably living under a rock. If you're not concerned about it, you probably should remain there, or else allow someone to create such a home for you under a particularly heavy boulder. It's a tragedy which should really strike a chord as to the importance of moving on from our oil reliance, and ceasing being more concerned with owning guns and oppressing minorities than fighting for our environment. But if you're like me, you're nowhere near the Gulf, or don't know who to trust to donate time or money to. For those of you who can, donating directly will be the best option, but for the rest of us, take opportunities as they present themselves. As tee lovers, it is worth considering Threadless' new design "PeliCAN," all proceeds from which will be going toward helping the situation in the Gulf. It is a small step that can tally up to a big difference: this isn't the first tee Threadless has created for a charity effort, and the community is large enough that it can build a huge donation out of many small donations. Of course, 'round here, the biggest thing is creating a wearable, awesome design, but this doesn't skimp on art for the sake of message: the black and white combo is classy and classic, and the image is powerful and simple, while also highlighting some excellent execution on the oil. You get an awesome shirt to make people think a little harder about the world around them, and just buying it donates actual green to the green movement, not just awareness. If all charity was this easy, we'd have way fewer problems. It doesn't hurt, of course, that the Threadless summer sale is still going on for a few more hours, but with great art benefiting a vital cause, this is worth the buy at full price.

Contest Watch: Week of June 3

2010-06-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

This is the summer. Time to wear tees, right? And for many, what better time to get some free time to design, as well? Here at Singularitee, we're all about helping out, so let's discuss some of the things we, as an artistic whole, need more of. Integrity is nice. Honesty is, too. But we can hone it down more specifically. Before we do, though, as is customary, consider tossing votes here: EricatheRed has a longtime Contest Watch favorite (Skyscrapers) at Goodjoe's new special contest, and the good folks at Made With Awesome finally have put up the uber-wonderful Heart Attack up on their "vote" page. That's some old-school shirt for y'all. Now, to the new school.

For starters, the tee world could -always- use more pure skillful execution, and despite recent prints that imply otherwise, Design By Humans is still the place to find a tee like Artifacts by brianluong. It's big and bold, but the flow is beautiful while the composition is visceral. The linework is complex while the colors are simple. It's incredibly wearable: it inhabits the canvas perfectly. When people describe t-shirt art, part of the story is understanding the canvas. Shirts are not like framed art... there needs to be a respect for the form it will eventually come to rest on. This has plenty of that along with gorgeous imagery.

As you probably have heard, this weekend begins the Threadless "Beach Party" sale. $10 tees. All tees. That's something I can always go for in my tees... I'm all for paying a premium for premium content, but getting it for cheaper is always nice. But Threadless, despite what is a growing disrespect for original ideas, is still one of the most diverse places when it comes to subs, and that brings us to the second thing we truly need: truly diverse, different work. An artist like ginetteginette is the definition of this, and a design like her Stix is why. It's something totally different from the norm, with its mix of photographic elements and bright digital stripes. However, it is the total difference which makes it totally irresistible. The diverse shapes and lengths of the sticks add a lot of visual intrigue to the layout, but let's be honest, the kicker is the pastel banding all along the bits of wood. There's not a lot to concept, but it intrigues and excites for being simply so different. That is what great art does: it piques interest, sparks imagination, and quite often pushes envelopes. Yet again, shirt art needs to be wearable, and again, this does that. It's a perfect design especially for an over-shirt... the fun colors, textures, and such make for a perfect accent pop, but the classic white of the tee would make it just as perfect on its own. There is always more room for another totally unique design, especially in a design culture that glorifies that which has already been done a million times.

The tee world, furthermore, needs more true flights of imagination. Friend-of-the-blog Mitohapa has one such piece up at DBH, entitled Antlerfish. It does a lot of similar things as Artifacts does in terms of stellar flow and shirt-inhabitation, but where the former shirt is big on a more "hardcore" stylization, this is much more dreamlike. It's organic, creating a new creature before our eyes, and that makes this more than your average tee of this style... the creation of the new creature captures imagination, especially given the elements which the critter is made of... wings, fish body, and antlers. The sort of imagination to pull these sorts of things out of the blue and put them to paper, pixel, and then cotton is sorely missing in today's tee design. Who needs something familiar when something new looks so good already?

But it's not all about sheer beauty, avant-garde concept, flawless, complex lines. Shirts are shirts, and shirt art is incredibly diverse. Indeed, one of the things we truly need in the tee world is killer concept. Note: that's concept, not pointless mash-up. Creative, smart, original concept. And that's where a Threadless heavyweight like fatheed comes in. His Typical is a perfect example of the sort of strong, unique, yet totally relate-able concept work. If I really have to explain this concept to you, you probably have difficulty wearing shirts in the first place. It takes an event we're all familiar with... a common frustration... and puts it in the context of another similar, familiar phenomenon. It's a "why didn't I think of that" moment, and that's what makes it both artful and even marketable without sacrificing that spark of something special. Of course, the execution works wonders as well... the nondescript people are done in a style that contrasts well against the cartoony style of the main characters, and the colors are bright, eye-catching, and attractive. It's classic Threadless, and perfect concept. When people say they want something they understand, yet don't go for this sort of stuff, I can't help but wonder what they really understand. This hits all the right notes of cute, funny, familiar, while also original and cleanly executed. It's what this sort of tee should be all about.

But finally, sometimes it's all about a simple graphic to portray your sense of self, and really, this one right here is a doozy for me: Shut Up by hgoodspeed. It's an elevated slogan tee, elevated by having a personal style, hand lettering (no horrid, generic fonts here... up yours, helvetica!) and a snarky, real humor. It's not a weak, overdone bumper sticker. It's not forced humor. It's straight, to the point, and executed playfully and amusingly. It's also something I can see myself wearing. Once you slap text on a tee, it NEEDS to be interesting, and it needs to be something the wearer can relate to. This is one reason I am not a big fan of branded tees. But c'mon, telling the world to shut up is something I can get behind, and especially if it's done through a charming shirt graphic. I'd pick this up in a heartbeat, tho I don't expect to ever have the chance. But even without summing me up to a "T," it proves just how far even an oft-painful tactic such as text-reliance can be elevated by honesty and individuality. And again, as I've said, that is what it boils down to. Let's make this a summer devoted to that, shall we?

Killing Yourself to Live

2010-06-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

We love the tees we talk up here, and love seeing them print pretty much anywhere, because they deserve it. There are, of course, the rare pieces that we feel deserve more: I always get a little sad when a contest watch alum finds its way to Threadless' 12 club instead of a more widespread circulation, am saddened when a designer gives up and wastes amazing work on a Direct To Garment print site, and then there's that horribly chunky bastardization of a casajordl piece that LaFraise did. We don't like to talk about these things, though. Which is why ThirstyFly's Zombie and the Butterfly (now The Butterfly Defect) printing at woot makes me frustrated. Shirt.woot and I have a love/hate relationship, but decisions like this are almost more frustrating than them perpetuating stale Chuck Norris humor. This illustration is stunning, crisp, detailed... and originally was mocked as a sideprint, starting at the bottom. Woot's rendition loses almost all of the charm of the first. It's hard to say whose fault this is... whether they forced the artist to make changes, or the artist changed it for them... but either way, it makes the piece feel wasted. The tilted image, the smaller image, the cut-off, centered image... it all creates a far less appealing design, and I can't help but be upset that the image will now never have a chance to become what it deserves. Woot owns it, and the design will, like most all woot designs of artistic worth, die instantaneously on the reckoning. The alterations will do it no favors in life or sales numbers. I love seeing something of this quality print at woot, but it really pains me to know it needed to be compromised for them to print it.

In the end, though, our contest watch pieces are our babies. Some of you might well still love this, and if so, you deserve to get your hands on it. It's almost guaranteed to be dead by the 21st, though, so be sure to be speedy about your decision.

Heresy

2010-06-05T15:22:00.000-07:00

As we speak, I am on a train. It is yesterday, and I am taking time to do all the awesome things I've meant to do for weeks now. Foremost among them, giving Mumford Clothing some love. Those of you who are more well-versed in the tee world probably know the name of Dan Mumford from the world of Emptees... he's one of those guys that people fall over themselves to praise. And in this case, they're right.

We've talked about Mr. Mumford in the past, with his Submit and Remix project, but today we're talking about his own personal line. Release #1 is called "The Heretic," which as a name is pretty much guaranteed to not be my style, but the thing about this guy's art is, it is your style anyway. The linework is stunning, and it hits all the right "hardcore" notes while still being totally wearable. There's lots of fire, fierce critters, demons, skulls, etc, but the artwork focuses on the lines, not the "rarr I'm so counterculture" vibe that many other takes on this style seem to prefer. I'm kinda in love with the fiery colors of parts VII and VIII of the series, but "I. Prologue" is really the perfect summation of the whole line. The blues and reds are moody, striking a dark beauty against the black. The bats are wild and ominous, the girl surrounded by them smooth and calm, her hair blowing. It's great artistry, and fills the shirt smartly: I'm a sucker for a big chest print, but the shape itself, and how the bats frame the flow of the image, makes it even better. It doesn't hurt, either, that this site has one important change from the last one: prices in US dollars. Serious art for a reasonable price is reason enough to check any site out, especially when the profits go to one guy who definitely deserves to make a living off his skill.

No One Can Hear I Scream

2010-06-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

Contrary to popular belief, we at Tilteed are not exclusively selling frozen novelty tees this summer, though that would be kinda fun and refreshing. However, we cannot deny the charm of Chris Risse's new limited design "Ice Cream From Space." It's a matter of colors here: the Neapolitan ice cream colors pop, er, creamily off the black? Maybe that's a faulty adjective, but it's all pretty delicious. It doesn't hurt that the design captures the imagination (mmm, delicious imagination)... space is always fascinating, because we don't know what's out there, but once you get something to make that unimaginable world imaginable? That just makes you hunger for more. Astronaut Ice Cream was one of those experiences that made anything feel possible... it's so remote from what we're used to as kids, and it is tied to, let's be honest, one of the coolest jobs ever. That makes it real. And knowing that the unbelievable is real just serves to make it more fascinating.

As always, you've got a little under 72 hours to refresh your summer the space way.

Summertime, and the Living's Icee

2010-06-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

We're ringing in summer with some super-sweet tees at Tilteed. Today we're going the humor route, something we don't do frequently, with theinfintyloop's Slushie. It's a fun concept for dog lovers. Or slushie lovers. Or summer lovers, having a blast.

What I enjoy about this is the subtlety of the concept and the readability even missing that subtlety. There is a sort of humor in a dog eating like a human, even if you miss the connection of dog breeds with bizarrely blue tongues. The execution is solid, capturing the doggyness of the dog. It's sort of the definition of cute... a loyal pet just panting away happily. Again, it's not a card we play often at Tilteed, but we think this is definitely the sort of tee to take that chance on: great work from a great artist, and once again, just in time for summer. The gold blank doesn't hurt either. But remember, just like the gorgeous weather, this'll be gone before you know it.

Contest Watch: Week of May 20

2010-05-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

We're starting this week with a shirt that is not going to print at woot, because it's not even 100 votes from the bottom of the fog. It is my hope that, in highlighting it to start with, it will make my ever present frustration with the-voter-at-large obvious, like a teacher breathing a sigh of relief when Dumb Bobby finally understands contractions. Not that you guys are Bobby... your taste in blogs suggests otherwise... but you never know who might stumble upon this here screed. So here we go: Flight by tgentry. This is skillful art, for starters. The linework is about as realistic as you can hope for from extinct animals never seen by man, yet done in a chunky style that makes it all more fun. The one-color print is amazing, adding so much depth and so much character in the halftones and the outline-free design. This is a piece done by someone who clearly is earning his votes through artistry. However, it's also a piece which takes that artistry and combines it with a wholly appealing concept, and a totally fun concept. The flying dinos have a shred of childlike whimsy mixed with a dollop of "EPIC WINZORZ" and combined into a tee that feels comfortable and familiar without being a sellout or theft. So obviously it came nowhere close to winning. I'd dare you, the fine reader, to look at the potential selections and not be appalled... a good half of the tees that DID make the cut feature in as some of the worst designs I've seen at woot in a long time. It's lack of inclusion in the fog at all should give those of us who care about graphic design pause: what are we doing wrong? Is there any way for a quality design with a shred of originality to make it in this crazy world? Probably not. And so long as we're standing idly by, it'll continue that way.

Of course, there's a part of me that looks at a design like Flight and says "well, sir, congrats on your third Threadless print." Even as the tee megapower begins to devote more and more cloth to nonparody and unoriginal mash-up, it's still the sort of fun romp that would almost assuredly do a bang-up job in scoring. Sadly, however, I tend to find more and more often that I'm being enticed by things that really have little to no chance there. Consider Sleeping Giant, by emory. It's actually doing pretty well in the votes, by all appearances: strong comments from diverse alumni always helps, and the vote numbers themselves seem to be just slightly higher than the norm, meaning there's buzz without manipulation. Still, this is probably just too out there for a print, no matter the hype. For my purposes, however, it's pretty perfect. The style is unique, the concept is intriguing, and the colors are spot on while also being limited. It's not really like anything I've seen before... sure, there have been other concepts of giants, or cities built upon creatures, or such things, but there really is something special about the style of this. I haven't really seen anyone execute things like this before. Also, I like how the giant seems to be a known part of the landscape instead of an unknown... it's as though the villagers, despite the title insisting he's sleeping, slayed the giant and simply rebuilt over him and around him, rerouting the river to flow through his mouth, planting trees on his skull, etc. The landscape overtakes him, and turns him into little more than a mountain or statue. The execution choices for the giant, therefore, add a lot to the story here, and create its own story. It's a unique piece, and that uniqueness is not only its blessing, but I fear could be its curse when print time comes along. Oh, how I'd love to be wrong.

Probably a more surefire bet is ben_chen's Be Careful of the Moth, which is a conceptual powerhouse for starters. It's the sort of concept Threadless made its mark with, with an outlandish scenario that's nevertheless totally relate-able and totally wearable. This appears to me to be another minimal color wonder (I see four, and a lot of texture to be found within), which is always impressive. But back to that concept... moths are big. Pretty simple, pretty obvious (I dare you to say you've never been freaked out by a particularly large moth), but in being simple, the design is able to really become a personalized piece. The exaggeration of the concept is what shines here, but the palette choices are just as perfect... they create a perfect darkness and woodsyness, which helps anchor the scene, while the glow is just right to tie the moth in... after all, moths are known to be attracted to light, and this big guy is no exception. A great example of how an artist can inhabit a concept when they just take the time to think about it.

What is missing so far, though, is pure beauty at work. I love iconic, simple, smart tee graphics... the sort of thing that makes use of the tee canvas in a "classic" manner... but if tee graphics can't be more, the classic tee means nothing, Thankfully, badbasilisk has brought us an absolutely stunning piece this week: Dornroeschen (Sleeping Beauty). It's beautiful and tragic and in and of itself its own sort of "limited palette" like the above (six colors for this sort of detail and perfection is a bargain). The graphic may not convey the sleeping beauty story conventionally (even despite all the prickly roses and the presumed spindle at the bottom) but as always, good shirts rarely show off their titles, and this is one of those times where the title's lack of prominence in the graphic means nothing, because the art is so strong. It's really a powerful image: the freedom of the bird being held down in desperation... the beauty of the flowers setting a trap. The bird is almost in a Jesus Christ pose, which oddly helps the graphic make the all-important transition from "aww roses" to unisex tee. That struggle, that poignancy and desperation evident in the piece, keeps it relevant and universal. I'd hardly be shocked to see this in a second life as a post-hardcore band's tee, the name of the band entwined in the leaves and thorns, though its versatility would be lost in such a situation. As it stands, it could be a graphic for anyone who has ever struggled, or anyone ever hurt in love. It could be a tee of beauty or a tee of pain. It's raw and fragile in the same glance. Graphic tees were meant to evolve to this, not devolve into bad slogans and "that's what she said" jokes. I hope to get to see it happen for this tee. Also, y'all should click through to check it out in black, which also looks incredibly sweet. I'm just a mint fiend.

Finally, over to Tilteed, which has been enjoying a slow influx of nevertheless quality tees over the past month or so. While I am all for, but am also wary of because I know damn well we're looking at a lot of print competition for not a lot of contest spaces. Anywho, the latest must-vote, for me, is rocketpark's Ghostly Town. The execution is lovely, with a charming cartoonyness mixed with some lovely ramshackle buildings, and smart, minimalist colors (a trend this week for sure). I like that the palette allows the buildings to fade into the tee, making them ghostly themselves even surrounding the ghosts. I also totally dig the ghost personalities (one of the things I find the most fun about tees like this is how designers can fit worlds of personality into simple shapes). One smart decision here, as well, is making the town feel like a stereotypical "ghost town". The ruins speak to the images we conjure up of deserted western towns, and even the ghosts themselves are a bit western... one with its silly mustache, another with it's big hat, still another six-shootin' to his heart's content. It's fun, but also just a bit creepy and thought-provoking, as is the wont of the ghost-world. Should make a great tee.

M.C. 86

2010-05-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

Time for another limited edition Tilteed tee, and this one, I feel, is right on time for summer. It's brought to us via talented, trippy artist C86, and it's entitled Escherland. The shapes and steps and arches certainly evoke classic Escher like his Relativity, but what makes the two pieces great are totally different. While the old MC is known for illusion and brilliant sketchwork, C86 is all about pattern and color, and that's really whats at play here. Some truly bold color combos come together like some delicious citrus drink of a tee, which sounds silly but actually makes sense if you look at it. There's a lot going on here, and a lot worth looking at, and with so much brightness on a light blank, now's the time to be doing that looking... this is guaranteed to be an awesome summer tee.

As is the case with all Tilteed Limited tees, this'un will only be available for 72 hours total. Go support an amazing artist with a distinct style: in a year, when this is no longer available, your friends will all wish they'd gotten this instead of their ten Lost tees. Be ahead of the curve.

Contest Watch Extra: Week of May 13

2010-05-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

Howdy, folks. Let's get our shirt on, eh? Seriously, no one wants to see that... cover it up. Before we get to the new blood for the week, our regular updates will be useful: specifically, go check out my favorite "found art" collage piece, Deep Blue, now up for voting at DBH. It really creates an imaginative world, and certainly if other people can create empires on worse source photos, why not allow a sweet piece like this to do the same?

Also this week at Design By Humans, fhigi25 has decided to make a play for one of my favorite new voices in tee design. Frequent readers might recall that this isn't the first design of his which has caught my eye (in fact, the first one was just recently subbed to Tilteed's contest), but it seems in recent weeks he's been making a serious play for a print, and I've been seeing his work en masse. Seeing so much of it, however, has elevated him from an unknown with a sweet tee to a real contender in my eyes. Consider The Viperous Journey. It has some really brilliant rough detail. Which is to say, you can tell the skill of the designer in the art, but it's not flawless... it's not some slick vector, nor impeccable likeness, but in some way that makes it all the more perfect. This is a perfect place for a style like that, too... from venomous beasts like the snake and the scorpion, to rough hides, like the scales of a fish or skin of an elephant, a rugged style is perfect for this piece. I don't understand all the element choices (the fish and bird neither fit the dangerous beauty not the sinewy twists and turns of the other elements), but I do know the piece looks stellar, the style is unlike the average tee designer, and the artist could easily become one to watch.

Also potentially worth watching is new contest site Impact Threads. They boast of a longstanding print pedigree, which is to say they've been printing tees for clients for a while before deciding to also run a contest-based printshop. While this comes with a site that, for lack of a better description, LOOKS like a run-of-the-mill print shop's, it appears they've put the money they've saved into the prizes... if these guys can keep a regular flow of new prints, their $2K payout all but assures they'll be finding some seriously solid work. For starters, though, my fav on first browse was Nought-o-naut, by smokechapel. For all I know, smokey might be a big name on the indie circuit, or a new handle for an already known name, but he's new to me, so props to him for the brilliant marketing move, for starters: by sneaking in during the earliest days of the site, where subs are few and often from opportunists who don't have the luxury of printing at more established places, he's positioned himself as a front-runner easily. For me, of course, this is printworthy in any pack: it's a nautical wonder of old-fashioned diver's helmet and curious cephalopod. The decay here makes it all more ominous (as a helmeted octo should be... that sort of thing knows no fear!) as the apparatus is no less weathered than the octopus itself. Probably one bad-ass critter up in there! The piece is impeccably illustrated, and it's the sort of piece where that's good enough. It's self contained, visually intriguing, and the pen-and-ink style, strong enough to carry a piece by itself, is all the stronger on a basic white tee. Not every drawing is a tee, no matter how attractive or elaborate, but the shape and style here would make it hard not to suit any medium. It's always exciting to see what the new sites start picking for their contests, because there's always that chance of something different taking the crown than would win elsewhere. While this piece would be totally at home shopped around Emptees, I see no reason it shouldn't be one of the early victors here instead.

These days, perhaps even more cliché than the octopus aesthetic (one I'm comfortable admitting I've bought into) is the bunny. Bunnies are cute. Bunnies are adorable. Bunnies are popular because they are cute and adorable. There's not much that needs to be done to one to spark some juvenile "awwwww want" gland in the brain, so most people don't do anything to them, letting their awwfactor substitute for any creativity or artistry. It's sort of like grilling an unseasoned burger, but cuter. Thankfully, haha.sg has taken on the most adorably lazy concept this side of an Ewok and made something special out of it. Simply entitled "Rabbit[s]," it is what it says: a rabbit on a rabbit. What it brings to the table, however, is a definitive artistry. The layers of different rabbitness are wonderful, and contrast on many levels. The smaller rabbit is more defined, for example, than the more shadowy, larger under-rabbit. The rabbits are split into three segments, each of which brings a new style to the piece, but even between the same segment, the rabbits are different. The head contrasts from predominant pink to a nice springy yellow; the body is a meadow scene, where the larger of the two acts as backdrop for the smaller, here represented in a natural way; finally, the tail end brings us into outerspace for some reason... here the smaller is surrounded by a wireframe while the outer reaches are simply spacey. All these differing pieces look attractive together, with each one executed wonderfully. It doesn't skimp on what people love about the critter, but its use of art elevates it to something far more original and attractive.

While we're on the subject of tees that are what they say they are, it should be mentioned that rabbits aside, this has been a trend at Threadless this week in general. With Lilith being a predictable creativity bust (somewhere in the range of 2million tees with an unattractively rendered girl-with-guitar, with somewhere in the range of 3 creative offerings), and one of the most bizarrely specific community contests in the process of scoring, it's not hard to find tees that are pretty much exactly what you'd expect them to be. Enter "Here is a Tall Bird," by Riffmaster18. Here, you will see a tall bird. Shock of shocks! There's no reason why this concept should make a good shirt. Yet somehow, it does. The bird really is absurdly tall, and almost all leg, which lends a bit more humour to the tee besides the to-the-point title. The placement, just off-center enough to not boil down to one narrow strip down the middle, helps the wearability, and while I'm normally less than impressed with the halftone glow, it gives a little extra meat to a design (which, with those thin lines of legs, it could certainly use all the meat it can get). And while it literally is just a tall bird, on a shirt, it's a tall bird with attitude. The nonchalant crossing of the legs at the ankle actually adds more to the character than you'd expect. It's as though he's standing there thinking "yeah. I'm tall. So what?" Very calm, cool and collected. It's somehow even better that his knee is not at all bent in this action. There's something about the piece that simply becomes a perfect storm of oddity, all conspiring to make a simple concept into a wearable one. It's not my concern WHY that happens so long as it does.

We close the regularly scheduled portion of this program with one of the more overtly feminine pieces I've featured here: Tiepetaak, by toonpoot. It also boasts one of the odder title/artist handle combos in recent times, as well. Now generally, it is not for me to suggest that a tee's blank is masculine or feminine: a good tee is a good tee, and can be rocked by anyone. That said, however, I own a pink tee, and even at your most confident, you just are taken aback by just how soft and pink it is. For those of us willing to take the plunge, however, this has a lot to offer. Color really does make this tee, and it probably simply wouldn't work as well on any other blank. Honestly, it almost reminds me of those cell diagrams in old biology books (my teachers would be proud I've remembered -anything- from science classes) with its color scheme, circular arrangement, and general lumpiness of content. The style here counts for a lot too... I love the diversity of weird little dudes in this piece, as well as other things and debris surrounding it all. It's fun and warrants repeated views, and while it may have some people detracting it from a "don't look at my chest that long" point of view, I've always felt that a good tee is something people WANT to look at, not something you long to shy away from viewing, like someone who still thinks Coed Naked is funny.

And now, for Contest Watch Extra, the part of the program where we turn to shirt.woot's quarterly doubletake. In all honesty, this quarter contained some of the most unimpressive designs possible to revisit, but there are definitely a few worth keeping an eye on for the upcoming Editor's Choice picks. From the top, we have littleclyde's Sunsplash, a charming piece perfect for the spring/summer transition; Take a Taco for a Walko, by odysseyroc, which is probably just what I don't need (another shirt with a taco on it); Little Leafy Friends by brockart, which is really a sleeper favorite with its smart placement and size; and ncheremnykh's Birdsong, which for all I go on about natural illustration vs. slick vectors, shows the best of that simple and smooth style. I'm not as confident about my picks this quarter as last (nor do I expect to buy any, let alone the 2/4 from last time), but any one of these could print, and would deserve to.

Alright! Already!

2010-05-14T17:28:00.001-07:00

I've been waiting a long time to get Omnitarian's Float On in my wardrobe, so suffice it to say I'm pretty stoked about being able to bring it in as a Tilteed limited design. While the palette is a bit muted this go-round, there is no less reason to be excited for the tee: the wonderful cartooning is still the highlight of the design, and the sheer variety of personalities imbued into each of these airheads remains no less charming. Any viewer can find a favorite they're totally charmed with (my faves are Gentleman Monocle and Cochise). It's only available for 72 hours, tho, so be sure to grab a copy before Monday Noon.

Contest Watch: Week of Boutdamntime.

2010-05-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, and as such, we'll ease you into the content with some old pieces looking for a new lease on life. Since it's been so long, there are enough "resupport" designs up for votes RIGHT NOW that you really need to jump on it and get to that support. We've got two tees I'm totally jonesing for up in the Tilteed contest: I love fhigi's "Deer Xing," but what I'm really excited to see is iQuitt's "Went Lookin'"... I may be a curator, but loving a tee isn't enough for a contest win, so any support you could toss those two would be grrrrreat. On the other side of the coin, DBH has snagged a couple great ones into their contest, including "Abyss" by Gabrielng. The real winner of the week, however, is Thunderpeel's "Sanguine Parliament," shown above. There is a part of me that would, if I had the money, buy the rights to this tee, whatever the cost, simply to print myself a copy. It's that epic, and its all but MADE to be a DBH print. But really, all four of these deserve some hardcore ink.

The resubs of the moment are really strong on the artistry and creativity side, so I'm actually pretty happy to be able to cut that richness with some fun craziness compliments of the ever-diverse world of Threadless. While much of the most fun work there these days seems to be heavy on the "HEY LOOK ITS POP CULTURE" side (and light on the "I understand parody" side), there's always something shining through that not only doesn't take itself seriously, but DOES feel creative. It doesn't hurt that this week I can take up the "holy crap Threadless print amarillo" stump once again with his lovely two color "Prairie Guardians." It's undeniably cute (though the "cute" brigade tends to be against anything that actually looks real. Or wearable), but it takes the adorable posture of the prairie dog and turns it stoic. That pose always does look like a lookout post, so the concept works automatically. It also enlarges it ludicrously, making the tiny critters well larger than a big ol' bison. Any time you have that sort of role reversal, there's a spark that goes off in your imagination that makes one want to know more about this world. Is this why seldom is heard a discouraging word when you're home on the range? Because these guys will definitely lay the smack down. And chew on freakin' everything. But more important for the medium is how attractive it all looks... there's a vintage feel and a realism that are both key to this working. It's all pretty comforting, really, like an old book, despite the unsettling nature of ACTUALLY seeing a massive prairie dog. It also is perfect colorwise, because the lack of colors prevents this from looking like a step above tourist fare ("Visit the prairie! It's boring and homey!") and instead looks classier. It allows the fun of the concept to take on a seriousness without becoming overbearing.

So now, another dose of artistry from Design by Humans... a site for which this was an excellent week for quality work, even despite yet another artist series (as big of a Stone Temple Pilots fan as I am, I'm not really that stoked to see a week of potential awesome, unique winners replaced by band merch. I can get that at STP's store, not DBH's). My favorite of the not-previously-reviewed tees there is without a doubt A Fallen Warrior, by Starman. Another two-color design, an unintentional theme this week, this is all about its sense of movement, even though the subject matter is decidedly immobile. The hair and the blood flow attractively across the tee, odd as that statement may sound, but even the body, slumped and severed, conveys the movement of that crumpling of the body. Is it scientifically realistic? I don't particularly care, but the slump of the body is a wonderful detail. Also wonderful in detail is the armor and the sword, which actually seem to be a matching pair... again, it's the little details that make one go "hmmm"... was this a suicide, or an ambush, using the warrior's sword against him (or possibly her, given the hair and proportions... I see no reason toward either except personal bias). It adds to the intrigue, which in turn adds to the power of the image. Great, iconic, and classic in its own way.

To finish this week, however (and yes, I know we're short, but I'm just happy to have something to say for once... it's been a while), we take another fun spin. This is hardly classic at all artistically, but it is, in many ways, classic as a t-shirt. Unicorn Carnage by Jasper Grinsdale is its own animal (har har, pun unintended), yet is clearly appealing cross-demographic. Unicorns attacking each other is simply the sort of concept you almost immediately know will be successful, or at least should be, and you know the creator, regardless of inspiration, drew this with that fact in mind. Still, it should be a pointed example of how one can find an idea that is almost a surefire success within ones own head and from one's own hand. Part of this works on simplicity... the linework is unfilled, unshaded, and while competent, it is not meant to be the last word on horse anatomy either. This simplicity helps maintain an attractive flow and doesn't overwhelm the viewer in the milieu of violence. It conveys that chaos, and it pays off to really look close and not get lost in the lines, but there's enough clear elements to convey the purpose, while much of the other linework, while being quite nice to look at up close, does more to convey the titular carnage without turning the viewer off. As for the second color? It's probably the single most unique (and one of the most appropriate) gimmick choices possible: a pink glitter ink for the blood. Sometimes gimmicks are painfully pointless, or truly bring the wearability down, but the small pink accents don't overpower the design, and the glitter is a conceptual home-run. The idea of unicorn blood's magical properties, as well as the unicorn itself being a magical creature, makes it less about the specialty ink and more about a smart minor detail that takes the piece to another level. It doesn't hurt that the unicorn has been appropriated into the gaudily girly Lisa Frank empire of the '80s, making that glitter all the more tongue-in-cheek. This is just an incredibly smart piece that should be all the wrong choices, yet ends up highlighting how one can take the reins on seducing the consumer while still being original and creative. It may not be fine art, but it IS a fine example of how there is so much depth to still be explored, even in populist art. Just because it's hugely audience-friendly doesn't mean it has to be devoid of inspiration. May more designers listen to this tee's example.

A Singular Tee at SingulariTee

2010-05-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

Today we have a literally awesome tee at Tilteed: Bellarific's Goateed Goat Tee. It is literally awesome, and also awesomely literal. One of the things I like best is the blue-on-brown... it's a total clash, but it's a combo I've long thought totally popped together, which is enough for me. It's simple graphically, but also just weird enough that there's nothing quite like it out there. Its simplicity, of course, makes it speak for itself. If you dig it (and obviously, you should) you've got til Noon Pacific on Tuesday to grab one.

Gilt-y Pleasures (and Gilt-less Options)

2010-05-04T13:18:00.001-07:00

When you're already Threadless, you don't really need to do anything for people in the tee world to talk about you. You're already the industry leader, already one of the most consistent sites out there, already known for both your quality and your work ethic. So what's left to do? How about turn the graphic tee contest into high fashion?

That's basically the end result of Threadless' current collaboration with the Gilt Group, some high-end salemongers who appear to be dedicated to getting people in ludicrously expensive, high fashion clothing for an only silly-expensive pricetag. I can respect that, even if I'm simply not fashionista enough to implement the site frequently. And the Threadless tees, while definitely on the steep side at $29, considering their normal cost, definitely are decked out to make the blow less painful. The tees are tri-blends, which basically guarantees them to feel like awesomeness, and the graphics seem super soft and "vintaged." I'm personally eying "Such a Great Height," a tee I love but simply don't wear very often because of it's ink-heavy printing, but other remixes are looking killer also ("Lions are Smarter Than I Am" gets a particularly royal treatment). Anyway, you're gonna have to sign up soon, as these limited editions are only on sale until May 6 at midnight. It's invitation only, but you'll be able to find one pretty much anywhere with this sale going on, even peppered throughout this paragraph here.

For the rest of us who don't need no stinkin' elite invitation only club, thankfully Threadless has been printing some really wonderful tees at the main site in the last two weeks. My fav is far and away featured to the left: Adam White's "Mellow Yellow." I have no clue what the title refers to, unless it wishes to revel in the dental hygiene of these disembodied mouths (which is kinda nasty), but as a pretty big fan of the soda, and a fan of, if not mad about, saffron, I'm down anyway. It's hard not to, of course... this is a big, colorful print that makes one really believe in art meaning something still. It's eye-catching and bold in every way... you can't make something this out-there without being bold, and as my regular readers probably have seen in action, the average tee-buyer is about as likely to take a risk on something this creative as they are to eat a grenade sandwich. Still, this is the sort of print that makes reviewing things at all worth it. It's a unique experience, and keeps one's faith up that there is still a market for creativity. Art should be inspiring, and it should seize your imagination. If this doesn't at least do the latter, I shudder to think what you're imagining. Though I guess if you imagine these demonmouths regularly, I'd shudder a bit at that too. Fair is fair.

With Threadless slowly phasing out new Selects (yes, I'm very sad about this too) one can only hope they will be replaced by more chosen contest winners like this. The last two weeks have shown definite promise in that arena, and make me very excited for a continued trend. If we could also see some promise in the "not printing any more star wars or three wolf moon tees" department, the would would be a magical place once again.

Space is the Place

2010-04-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

Ideally, Contest Watch will be back in the ring next week. We (in the royal sense) have been pretty out of it with the reliability of late. Lots of busy and lots of exhaustion, combined with lots of really mediocre and uninspired work. It's been hard to really get stoked for the voting when even the most inspirational designers seem to be unable to do anything worthy of those skills. Repeat after me: "my skills are dramatic enough that I don't need to only draw other people's characters." Feel better? Great. Now to move on.

One great thing is that today comes with NOT A TILTEED TEE. Believe me, I love being able to feature those guys any time I can, and I love being involved with them, but I also love talking up great tees from everywhere. Today, I'm particularly excited at a return to form from Design by Humans. After a couple very questionable releases (Guntree? Dogfight? Srsly?) they've been unloading quite a few sweet ones this week. For me, of course, the creme-de-la-creme has been biotwist, and his "Traveling in my Space Suit," a former contest watch featured design. I love the colors: how they work together, and the economy of them. I love the image itself: it's somewhere between white-collar superhero and formal spaceman, but whatever it is, the juxtaposition of spacesuit and business suit turns something incredibly boring (I am still unconvinced people -aspire- to cubicles) into something incredibly awesome. The thing that's really the best, however, is the outline of the spaceman, or perhaps I should say the lack thereof. he's framed by stars, flames, action and light, but he has no defined outline. I've always loved the effect, though... the way the background creates an outline where there is none, so in those places where there is no background (see the raised arm), your eye draws one anyway. Maybe I'm easily amused as a non-artist, but I think it's hard to deny this tee's awesomeness either way. I'm just glad to see it print: it makes me feel like my design-mojo is back, and along with the Sonmi print earlier (and an interesting one from "DarkChocolat" between then) seems to show a DBH which hopefully is regaining their own mojo. Go pick one up and show them cats that they're on the right path.

Friend Request

2010-04-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Today, Tilteed gets a bit sensitive with Jewelwing's "Absent Friends." It's a concept that I quite love, with the peaceful, otherworldly scene of all our absent friends, out there in a spiritual reunion. There's the living friend, in purple, set apart from the others, yet still with them behind him, being embraced by the world, yet also almost trying to embrace him back. It's really poignant and encouraging, and while I am hardly a poignant or encouraging person, it is something that definitely deserves to print. It's a lovely take on a hard concept.

If you're in love with the design, the concept, or just happy to see a design based off a literary quote (which cmon, we all know I am up for that), snag it now, and be sure to tell the world... I know a lot of people have waited for this tee to exist for a while now. Best not to let them miss out. Especially since it's only available for the next 72 hours.

Bot-ter Days

2010-04-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

Quickie tonight. You might recall this one from elsewhere, and there's a good reason for that: it was on my list of tees to check out at the T-Shirt Vault. Of course, with the TSV folding within a day of that post, there were a lot of tees disenfranchised, unpaid designers, and customers with lost money/no tees. That just didn't seem right, so after checking around, I decided to start trying to give these tees a print opportunity.

Our latest Tilteed Limited, then, comes from one such designer: Matthew Laznicka. His design, Robot King, charmed me from the start. It's great, simple vector character design. Fun, bright colors... whimsical robots... back to basics aesthetic. It makes a great graphic tee. I'm pretty stoked to give this piece the chance it deserves. I can only hope people appreciate getting that second chance. Post this one up, y'all.

Leading the Blind

2010-04-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

I've got another curation up at Tilteed this weekend: Blind Omniscience, by Dan Rule. Dan's got an amazing cartoon style that is totally worth checking out, but ten to one y'all have checked him out before... he's had plentiful prints at woot, Threadless, and the earlier days of Teefury. I love the colors here, which remain simple and perfect for the illo. The character is fun and charming, yet leaves just enough room for commentary: the design could be the play on the all-seeing eye that it seems to be, or it could take on more power with those who might be a bit more disenchanted with the state of our economy. Personally, I'm just stoked to get to own a copy. It makes a great graphic, great colors, and a brighter, fresher design than many we've been putting out... just in time for springtime.

We've been sitting on this one for way too long, and we're stoked to finally get it out there. Hopefully, you'll love it as much as we do. Just remember, it's only available for 72 hours, so be sure to grab one by Tuesday, Noon Pacific, if you're interested.

Regan Smith Clarke birthday sale

2010-04-16T12:52:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, my dear friends, I need to have my hand forced to get you the goods. I'm a busy man these days, and there are times when a blog (like the contest watch I swear I will attempt this evening!) is either one more burden, or a distraction from a night that is just too pleasant to work through. So I was quite excited when Adder-Brand-of-the-Moment Regan Smith Clarke approached me for a retweet of their birthday weekend sale. Why not do one better? These guys are a brand that I've been pretty excited for since stumbling over them, what, a month or two ago? I've been meaning to give them a write-up ever since snagging a two-pack of their tees, and just being unable to make the time. No longer! RSC deserves your recognition.

For starters, the brand is local -Boston represent? - but more than that, they have some of the sheer classiest branded tees available. I'm rocking Use Your Mind right now, a sentiment I certainly agree with, and a clashy yellow-and-blue palette that nevertheless makes the entire proceedings rich with color on a tee (it's perfect for summer, I'd think). Frequent readers might ask why in the name of Hades would I be wearing branded tees at all? It's true, I normally shun the brand tee. However, the style on Regan Smith Clarke's branded offerings makes them a shop that not only am I happy to advertise, but that realizes that shirts are made to be worn. You just don't see brand tees half this wearable very often, nor images that truly work the branding into them to make it a wearable experience. Nothing ruins an amazing graphic more than a brand slapped over the illo.

Even with the praiseworthy nature of their line, though, I'd rather show off Russian Doll (above), their sole non-branded tee. It doesn't tread the newest territory, but the style is stunning and the colors are perfect. It's all about classic graphic style, as the design helps prove, so even without the brand name over it, it's still very cohesive with their overall site mission. Classic styles and gorgeous, simple colors... that's pretty much a recipe for success if you're doing it right, and these guys are. No better time to check it out than the present, too... this weekend, everything's at least 10% off, with free shipping, and awesomeness coming standard. We love the big guns around here, obviously. Our most reliable column is all about what's been up for voting at the sites big enough to allow voted submissions. But while it often gets lost in the shuffle, the newer, smaller, indie-er brands deserve your love too. And there just aren't many that deserve your eye as much as Regan Smith Clarke.

Boogie Oogie Oogie

2010-04-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

A day late and a dollar short, but I just wanted y'all to know you can get MJ's (of Compete-tee-tion, teemagnet, teefury, woot fame, and probably some sort of recognition from every other tee site out there) tee "Electric Eel" for $12 until noon, April 5, at Tilteed.com. I love this one because it is a study in simplicity... this could be a superhero crest, it could be a brand logo, it could be an iconic symbol for a hipster revolution... it just looks like it's supposed to be a shirt. There is no denying. It's the classic graphic tee. It even looks, er, "electrifyingly good," with that big white bolt and the fluid halftones both popping color off the black blank. I cannot wait to rock the hell out of this tee, because it is simply made to be rocked the hell out of. Don't miss that chance.

Contest Watch: Week of March 25

2010-04-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since we've rock and rolled like this, and long enough that we have a couple goodies waiting for your votes. Check this: After the brisk closing-down of The T-Shirt Vault, our once-suggested purchase from the_jcw has now become an awesome piece for your votes at Design By Humans: "Our Urban Environment." Not only that, The Lost Beach by Opifan64 and Forbidden Melody by Fikri are both up for your love and votes at Tilteed. That's like, a faceful of awesome.

Tilteed is also leading off the pack this week in new blood, as well, which I am all for. While a solid crop of new designs makes selecting winners more difficult for the site, it also means people are finding the dichotomy of curation and contest easy to handle. The piece that's struck me most in recent weeks is edgarscratch's "Bird Town." It's got a simple style that is simply enthralling to me, even in the greyness of the piece. It all feels very cultured, maybe a little European, and I really like how the illustration is framed by the bird's silhouette. The moon functions as an eye, while the night sky shades and highlights the head. Also, the focus on the roofs of the little town recalls the bird itself, and its own neighborhood within the town. It's well thought out, attractive, and classy. Sort of like your correspondent. How -can't- I like it? It's been up for a while (notice I haven't been here for a few weeks?) but it still deserves your love.

Threadless, for it's sake, totally brought its A-game this week after a few weeks of really letting me down overall. Sure, it's in the middle of a totally arbitrary contest about making sandals, leading to a whole bunch of designs ABOUT sandals, or which only look interesting ON sandals (is no one thinking of the real fact that the sandal prints are going to be covered by your feet and ergo invisible during normal use?) but even so, we got some totally sweet work, and I've 5'd more pieces this week than in most entire months lately. Let's keep this awesomeness up, y'all! Let's start off the awesomefest with someone who has become a regular 'round these parts: Mr. Randyotter3000. This week brings us RAD, which sums up the design 100-fold. This thing is indeed rad-tastic. The character is some sort of bodyless hippie shaman dog or something. That's fine by me, because it totally fits in the overall feel of this piece. I kinda feel like I'd feel like a bodyless hippie shaman dog in it, and I think that's an experience worth striving for if you can get it without the drugs. The image definitely delivers there... it looks like the party of the century, yet only in dog-man's mind. The colors are far and away the selling point here... they're absolutely wonderfully saturated and yet well-vintaged. The shades pop brilliantly and yet sink naturally into the black blank, like worn neon, if such a thing could exist. I can't imagine this not making an amazing, fun, colorful-without-being-annoying tee. I'd buy it, and I'd throw a party the next day just to have an excuse to wear it.

Playing the role of "Threadless Gold Standard" tee of the week is Wishful Thinking by WanderingBert. Here's what I mean by that: Threadless has a certain style that they are really known for. Simplicity is part of it. Solid concept is another. Smart humor is a third. And this combines all three. The style is spare and simple, letting the concept's humor shine through. It doesn't try too hard to make a joke. It doesn't overload the senses. It's subtle and intelligent. And what's really nice is that it is a CREATIVE concept. The genie here, while certainly borrowing imagery from the Disney representation, nevertheless does not rely on that. This isn't about -that- genie. It's about -a- genie. These days that's a huge, important distinction. This shirt is about the interaction here, not about selling to rabid Aladdin fans. It's a direction I'd love to see Threadless' humor catalog turn back to. This is familiar because the concept is understandable. I think we can still go back to that and be creative. I certainly hope so at least.

Finishing the Threadless portion of tonight's blog, we have something epic and out of the ordinary from DaleEdwin. If Thine Eye Offend Thee... is one of the most exciting potential Threadless tees I've seen in a long time. It's all about departure: in some ways it's even a departure for the designer. There's a lot of his trademark style, and I don't think anyone familiar would not be able to tell it was his work, but it feels a lot darker, a lot more industrial, a lot creepier than his often lighthearted work. Then again, it's also a lot darker than a lot of what Threadless itself prints, but it's simply too awesome to go unnoticed. It's incredibly striking, especially since it's limited color palette nevertheless is made up of two perfect colors. The green adds to the toxic, industrialized feel of the piece, creating its own layer of creepiness for the proceedings, and the off-white smoke and drip complements the black and green while also making the "gore" of the image less realistic and more acceptable. The other elements of the design are no less striking, though. The motion in the central act of eye-poking looks as lovely as such an action can look, the pipes and wires and tubes flow wonderfully, but I'm most enthralled by the empty heads. They're haunting, both unsettling and irresistible to look at. They frame the entire scene and scenario in their vacant stares. This is serious awesome, and it simply must see ink.

Equally epic comes from shirt.woot this week, which is exactly why it didn't print and is in my blog for you to rage rage against the dying of its light. Simply titled Sentience, this has the luck of having two brilliant tablets handle it. The collaboration between Robbie Lee's classic textures and robots and Edgar R. McHerly's crazed, joyful dreamscapes really brings in the best of both epic worlds. The contrast of styles is perfect given the world-of-imagination concept at work. Robbie handles a detailed central scene of creation, while Edgar frames it all with whimsical images of what might go on inside that newborn cybernetic imagination. As we can see, this sort of android dreams of electric androids. It's all perfect. I defy one to say otherwise. The colors? Perfect. The purple is vibrant and exciting, and offsets the grays of the "real" world with a boldness in the dream one, and lets be honest, I've been a fiend for white tees lately. The layout? Perfect. Massive swaths of white make it incredibly breathable despite its shape, and the solidness of the frame is highly appropriate for the concept, as well as being edged to give even its solidity some intrigue. The only negative to this design is how it is not in existence yet, because when it is, it will be mine.

Speaking of shirts being mine, some sweet ass Tilteed tees can be yours if you take part in our contest outlined in our last post. Just send ol' Adder a pic of you in your favorite Tilteed Limited, and get entered to win one of two Tilteed tees of your choice. More on that in my last blog. But you shoulda been looking at that anyway, eh?

Tweet tee, Daddy-O

2010-03-30T13:12:00.000-07:00

This post will be about a contest. But first it'll be about a shirt: another Tilteed Limited, to be exact.

The shirt is an igo2cairo joint, but not your standard piece from him. Instead of the dreamy, detailed animals and dragons that come with the territory with the designer, Beaknik is far simpler, more iconic, and just hip. The graphic style is still executed slickly in its simplicity, the colors look amazing together, and the whole thing feels as classic as the mod stylings of Allen Gins-bird here. Wear it under your black turtleneck for a secret burst of sunnyness, or prove you're not some square and be bold in gold. Just be sure to pick it up before it disappears on April 2nd, Noon Pacific.

But you stuck around for contests, didn't you? Greedy bastards. I hope you won't be disappointed, because I've got two for you. So pay attention to the rules. That is how you win things 'round these parts: you follow the rules.

Firstly, let's get you guys suited up with one of these gold beauties. Singularitee is going beatnik itself, and what could be more appropriate than a poetry slam? We'll make it easy on you tho... give us your best haiku, post it in the comment thread below, and win a copy of Beaknik. I'll be picking a winner on Thursday, Midnight Central (that would be between Weds and Thurs, if you're not up on your clocks).

Secondly, though, I've been doing the Tilteed thing for a little while now, and I want to know what you guys think of the curated pieces, and reward y'all for being loyal customers. Send me a photo of yourself sporting your favorite Tilteed Limited design, and you'll be in the running for a free Tilteed tee. That's any catalog tee or currently running Limited. Entries should be emailed to me: 5songsinc (at) gmail (dot) com (put "Tilteed contest" in the subject line), or else tweet a twitpic at me, with the tag #LimitedContest. This contest will be a far longer one, extending until mid-May (I'll post an exact date later), so if you haven't picked up a limited yet, you have at least all April to fall in love with a tee for your personal entry into the contest. Censor bars are accepted if you don't want to show your face, but the tee must be clear.

We've got a little more unrelated contest info in store for you through April, but you'll just have to wait on that. For now, keep checking us out for the return of actual updates, more awesome curations, and all manner of sweet tees.

Preaching to the Choir

2010-03-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

Today came with a very important revelation, brethren, which I must share with you.

The lord did cometh to me, and he spake "Adder, thou hast curated a tee which doth make me pleased. For Blake B's Outside the Cathedral showeth how one can use but one color to create beauty and depth, ornament and simplicity. This is an artist who doth not ignore my words, to not bury ones talents, but to invest them." And verily, the lord is correct, being the lord and all. I do pretty much love this tee because of the single color starkness, and the contrast between the detail of the cathedral in the background and the amorphous humanoid shape of the spirit outside it. It offers a spiritual conundrum and a haunting presence as an image, but it also is a harmony of opposing aspects.

I'm always a bit worried on pieces like this, though. I've seen Blake's work around for a while now, so I've been Jonesin' for this design all that time, but I also know Blake isn't a huge designer, and so many of you dear readers might be getting your first look now. But that worry is one of my favorite parts of curating at Tilteed. I can't think of many places that would be willing to take the risk of quality vs. quantity. Of course, quantity does help too, but we hope you absolutely love this tee first off. And if you love it enough, hey, it wouldn't hurt if you wanted to tweet it out as well. We want people to see the awesome we're printing.

a tee of note

2010-03-12T13:01:00.000-08:00

Want to see something awesome?

Of course you do. You came to this blog. You're practically ITCHING to see something awesome.

And today's awesome offering comes from, once again, Tilteed. Seriously, I have lots of other things I want to talk about, but funny enough, I just am not finding the time. But I always have time for limited tees, and this weekend we've got a great one.

We're talkin' Drakxxx's "The Last Song," a former contest watch piece, and a totally sweet one at that. I love pretty much everything about this piece. For starters, it's one of Drakxxx's most accessible, wearable pieces. The art doesn't skimp on gorgeous detail and flow (seriously, click to see it larger. It's lovely), but it also doesn't overflow with detail. The placement, also, is absolutely brilliant to me... I love how it sits at the side. And while much of the artists (albeit brilliant) work is all about the creepy, this also has a softer side. I mean, sure, death is totally surrounding this pianist here, but it feels like a comforting embrace... the player seems tired and ready for the inevitable, and death is simply allowing him to finish his final performance before taking him in to eternal rest. It has a sort of beauty to it for that reason, so I'm excited to be a part of bringing it to the world through Tilteed. If you're in agreement that this is greatness, go pick one up for $12 before it's gone on Monday, Noon Pacific. Like the pianist here, it's not long before the tee is ushered into the afterlife.

Rock-it Man

2010-03-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

A little late, but I wanted to make sure you all knew all about Mr. Againstbound's stellar new tee "Vinyl Frontier" at Tilteed. You might remember it from our contest watches, but hopefully soon you'll remember it from your closet. It's a great, oddball, simple-colored, wearable piece, perfect to rock out whether indie or harder-edged. It's something we're excited to have in the catalog.

Yeah, catalog. I know it seems a little weird, since the curation thing is by and large all about limited editions, but a lucky opportunity and timing landed it in our full catalog instead of simply limited as we'd originally intended. I personally find anything catalog to be exciting (and I'll tell you more about why next week), but more than that I'm excited that such opportunities as this are coming up. And while it certainly won't apply to most tees we bring in, we do want to be able to bring you awesome designs in myriad ways.

The easiest way for us to do that? If you're an artist interested in our limited run curations, send me an email, as always, to Adder (at) tilteed (dot) com. For the rest of you, we can't bring you awesome designs unless you're checking us out, so check this one out, and while you're at it, pick it up now. Like all pieces, it's $12 for it's featured run, but while this one will stick around later, it won't at this price. Don't miss out! But then, why would you miss out on an Againstbound piece anyway?

Corn Artists

2010-03-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Today was a gorgeous day. The sort of day my lazy ass actually went out of my way to walk more. The sort of day I regret bringing a winter coat, even with a chilly morning. The sort of day where one starts thinking about summer. And grilling. And corn.

Ok, so maybe not corn, but Goodjoe is certainly ahead of the curve if you are the sort that loves the sweet stuff. Ansharp's The Corn Family is their shirt of the week, and it's absurdist, intelligent humor with a charming illustration style. It's really a bit unexpected, that so much pun can be pulled out of one veggie and/or grain, but the characters are ones I've long found to be pretty damn amusing. Buy it for Dog, if nothing else, and you'll be happy you did. But get it fast. Not because it's limited, but because it's $10 for its debut week.

10 Reasons to Visit The T-Shirt Vault

2010-03-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

This post, in its original form, was meant to highlight some of the cream of the crop at The T-Shirt Vault. Sadly, the site closed not 24 hours after this guide posted. I apologize to anyone who might have lost money on my suggestion to "not waffle" on buying these: as far as I know there have never and will never be refunds. Good luck if you did. I present the rest of the post in hopes that some awesome tee company swings in and picks up the remainder of these tees. They all deserve ink, some doubly so due to the site's failure to make good on any of their promises.

URban DECAY - theJCW: Now THIS is what DTG is best at. This restructured piece, reminiscent of JCW's Flying Contraption of Waste, makes perfect use of the print method's unlimited colors, and really sings out with grungy shades, details, and a print size worthy of all the greatness going on here. Without a doubt my pick for most worthy of the grand prize.

Clip! - Matthew Laznicka: This guy has about half of the 300 designs up for your votes, and while some are really weak, others are simply wonderful character design. This guy is a perfect example. Simple vectors creating a unique character tee... sometimes that's all you need.

The Wooden Boy's Nightmare - Walmazan: Walmazan is the sort of easy-going, positive guy that is incredibly easy to root for. Thankfully, his creativity, unique style, and continual quality of output make it even easier. We all know Pinocchio's dream, but here, we get a glimpse into the absolute worst case scenario.

3.14 - MJ: Once again truly utilizing the full-color capacities of the DTG printers, this piece is probably the most attractive and creative take on an overdone topic I've seen. The photo use and mirror-imagery makes this subtle, wearable, and delicious, and makes for a pi joke actual humans can appreciate the cleverness of.

Apetown - a.mar.illo: At this point, any tee site worth its weight in cotton should presume it to be a foregone conclusion... someday, they will print a.mar.illo. The wacky, angular design, full of trademark textures and colors, looks like as likely a winner as anything, and also looks like it'd be totally sweet on a tee.

The Sun - RobotTiger: A former contest-watch piece, this is definitely deserving of your buys. It's really clinical, almost scientific and textbook, but that makes the style really intriguing to me... it's unlike anything I've bought, or received, and that alone makes it worth checking out. It looks hip and streetwearable for some reason, while also seeming alien and diagram-esque.

Seven Seas - AtomicChild: AtomicChild is a king of brilliant abstracts, yet clinically ignored in prints. This is probably one of his most wearable and lovable pieces. Simple theme, unique style, and great flow. Definitely deserves the support.

Robot King - Matthew Laznicka: When you have enough irons in the fire, at least one is bound to get hot, and again, while Matt's work is hardly all winning material, this is just a killer little character collage, with some great colors, still more simple slick vectors, and a definite unexpected dose of fun from a source I'd never seen before.

Sangria - Recycledwax: RW, of course, is a totally EXPECTED source of fun, and he delivers with his offerings here. This is one of his most charming critter collages ever. Sangria is all about mixing fresh, delicious things together, and that's also what much of Wax's work is about too, so it's a great theme with appropriate colors and infinite charm. And now I am thirsty.

Red Hawk - Griggitee: Finally, while this is not the sort of work I'm the biggest fan of, one cannot deny the sheer awesome of this tee. The colors are, to quote Frost, "lovely, dark, and deep," and the scene is really about as epic as you can get. Skulls and snakes and hawks... if this is your style, you can do little better than this, and even if it isn't, you can't deny the artistry behind it.

Dual Updates - They're "Da Bomb"

2010-03-06T12:50:00.000-08:00

This week has been a bit of a busy one, and I've been unable to make good blogging time except for the most important and time-sensitive of posts. As such, astute and seasoned readers may well have believed me to have forgotten a pair of required updates. Rest assured, I have not, and it was only a matter of time that I would make it to them. Specifically, now.

Our dual-update comes courtesy of Threadless, which is one of my favorite places to update from, since it is not subject to the brief lifespans that so many other sites have. Though in these cases, we may be seeing some artificially created limited-time runs. Boom Box, for example, is already selling quickly. It's not too surprising why: from a pure popularity standpoint, anything with anything Mario on it will sell well. The populace is unable to appreciate anything unfamiliar. But we've already gone over this: the piece is far more than its reference, and is a model for how to work with a reference and still create something original and artful. Alexmdc sells himself here, where most people just sell a popular product and reap the rewards. Not only is the art itself skillful and slick, but everything works together. The bomb with the boom box makes sense. The sheer 80s glory in every element works perfectly (consider the high-tops, the boom box, the Say Anything pose). The colors are brilliant (I'd buy almost anything on this shirt blank). It is a complete concept. A "lesser" character from a popular universe is used here, meaning it was selected for its appropriateness in the concept, not for its saleability, as well as making it far more wearable to the uninitiated viewer. This is more than just a gaming shirt, and that's why it works so well.

In stark contrast, we see joaolauro's
"The Cat Who Mistook His Wife (and the Kids, and the Furniture and Even the Parrot) for a Hat." While the title is its own reference, classic psychology texts don't often reap the same rewards as pop culture. It's further hindered by a lilac blank: I'd argue it looks hot as hell, but I'm sure plenty of people will be tentative anyway. And while cuteness is always a good sales mechanism, the sheer oddness of this piece makes it less apt to be effective: if people love the familiar, the odd is far too difficult for them to even try and appreciate. It seems Threadless knows this, as it seems to be a bit less stocked than the average tee would debut at, but the smaller stock will likely mean a speedy depletion as well. The elements that make this a harder sell for the sheep will almost certainly make it a must own for others, and considering the spring sale looming ahead of us sometime in the coming month or so, it could be a smart investment to grab one now now now anyway. It's certainly worth it: the concept is pretty hilarious and adorable all in one, and the style is no less charming. It's an overall great tee and in many ways very unique among the masses, so if you're interested, I'd definitely keep tabs on it just as closely as the far more populist Boom Box.

Contest Watch: Week of February 25

2010-03-04T20:40:00.000-08:00

We're back again with some contesty goodness. Before we continue on, I'd like to ask for a couple favors. For starters, The Fish Van, by RandyOtter, is up for voting at Tilteed. We love this piece (it was a former CW highlight), this designer (see this entry for more details), and the site it's at (big ol' Duh there), so don't hesitate to give it some love. But I also have a personal request for you in the form of my old piece "You Can Dance If You Want To". I don't have a whole bunch of designs I'm totally happy with, but this is certainly one of them, and I'm trying it over at Inkblitz. If you like it, give it some love. I could use the help. Thank you for letting me beg. You know I don't do it for myself often. As always, you can support current Adder projects in our sidebar. But you don't want my promotion. You want the goods. And goods you shall get.

We start this week at shirt.woot, with a somewhat infuriating piece from geekfactor12. Now, I know what you're thinking: why would I talk about an infuriating piece, and first no less? Well, Impatient Dan, this is why. I love Rock and Roll, as a genre and a shirt. That's not frustrating at all. To be honest, this design in and of itself made me not hate woot's fake vintage derby as soon as I saw it. It really hammered home the theme in all the best ways... the colors feel totally vintage in their soft, faint shades and retro combination. The brief slogan makes it look like you could find it anywhere. But the frustrating thing is that it is a videogame reference, and one I'm not really qualified to wear. Miss MJ has done this to me twice now: I bought her woot classic "The Cake is a Liar" without even knowing Portal, because it was so well done as a joke tee that it was something even a non-gamer could appreciate. I don't know if I could buy a second shirt from a game I've never played. I'm already scared of meeting gamers on the street with my few related tees, though this is likely unfounded since most gamers I know don't go outside. So if this went on sale, I'd be conflicted. But it's a conflict I think I want to have. The tee is too smartly executed for anyone to be able to wear with confidence for it not to exist.

The rest of the week belongs to Threadless, starting with a woot piece from early this year. Breath of Life is just one of many pieces theinfinityloop has been reworking and resubbing from her lengthy back-catalog of unprinted designs, but it's also one of the better ones. She really revamped this one, too, from it's original state. The finished product is far crisper than before, which serves the entire piece well, since the color scheme demands crispness. The one-color aspect really doesn't harm this at all, though. We still have plenty of motion in the waves, shine in the horn, expression in the moon... everything just looks wonderful. The illustration is even a bit magical: the moon is always a bit haunting to me, and seeing it in a life-giving mode is interesting. The piece plays on the tides, and the necessity of water to life, but it also considers that a lunar hand in the process of vitality would make things a bit different. Moonlight is in contrast to the darkness that surrounds us when it reflects back at us, and similarly the moon here blows life into its subjects, but does it juxtaposed with the darkness of its being. The creatures are being re-fleshed from their skeletal structure, giving a creepy feel more suited to the moon itself. I personally love that choice... it adds a lot of visual intrigue, even though for me, it's still the moon and its horn that I focus in on. I also love how this sits on the shirt. It's all around a creative and unique piece, and I hope to get to rock this on my chest sooner than later.

Switching gears to something much more sunny, we have the aforementioned Randyotter3000, bringing us "Rise and Shine". This is a total Threadless tee, to me... simple style and colors, a little out there, but endlessly charming. I love the big lazy mountain (I relate possibly a little too well), slouched over so long trees have grown on him, while the sun warms him and shines morning down, and the cloud blows wind, or snow, or rain. It's almost like they're getting him showered and ready for a long day of sitting around being imposing. The thing I like best here is how damn happy the elements are, eager to help their mountain friend get ready for the day ahead, compared to how completely uninterested, exhausted, lazy, disgusted, etc the mountain seems. He's not having any part of it. Most people shouldn't mess with mountains, but the scene here is all the more amusing and fun with them spewing forth their joy. I'm shocked RO3K doesn't seem to have like 20 prints in the pipeline at T-less, but this one would definitely have a chance of changing that.

One thing that really struck me this week was joaolauro's "Deadly River Sneaking Along." It's certainly not only because it appears inspired by Heart of Darkness (In the description, the artist includes the quote: "And the river was there - fascinating - deadly - like a snake.") though certainly I appreciate that people are still able to gain inspiration like this from literature. While I'm also all for a good snake tee (gotta represent the fellow snakeys, I suppose) that's only a smidge of it also. The real winning element here is the texture. The texture that makes the snake snakey and the water watery. The texture that makes the trees and landscape look weathered and barren. The texture that keeps the scene looking ominous while also feeling vintage and classic, like an old print. The texture that adds impressive depth to very few colors. I also love this blue. It's a perfect shade (I do believe my likelihood of liking a tee increases exponentially when it contains this blue). And really, by now we should all know that I'm into any design with a good degree of oddity in it... the morph of the snake is a lovely feature of this, but the canoeing deer makes it almost impossible to pass over. It hits all the right notes for a great, unique, distinctive shirt, especially if you happen to be me. And if you can't be that lucky, you should be hoping doubly for this shirt to print, because it could be the next best thing.

Finally, amarillo wants a few things. Mainly, I imagine he wants a Threadless shield. The multitude of prints the man has had throughout the tee world stops short at the reason internet graphic tee shops became so popular. Which seems like a travesty. He also wants to tell us "fuck you, I'm an anteater." Which is pretty powerful language from an anteater. (M)Anteater is the logical intersection of these desires. Nothing gives an "up yours" attitude like being taller than a building and eating humans. Take that, guys! All this fits in well with amarillo's normal style, though. The buildings are an easy reference point (and I love how they're sort of bending away from the giant Antzilla going all Cristo Redentor on this city), as is the texturing on the anteater itself. And as is often the case when a piece like this makes it into our round-up, it may be ostensibly linked to a memetic reference, but the level of extra concept and detail and style added make this far more than that. It's far more a tribute to classic monsters, and the odd elements all but force it to feel unique anyway. It could be just the right combo to secure amarillo his rightful shield, but more importantly, it's a fun, crazy piece that lives up to both his style and his reference.

Sole Plane

2010-03-03T20:36:00.000-08:00

Just a brief one on this busy busy week: Today, Hermes, by BadBasilisk, has gone up for sale over at, where else, Tilteed. This piece was originally featured stunning in Gold Foils, but the newer palette is looking sweet, too, casting it almost in a silver. I still love the intricacies of detail, the modernized vision of the god, flying not on winged feet but in a bit of a shoe-plane, yet the retention of a classic, vintage style in the ornamentation of the shoe chosen, something which looks older and more elegant... a shoe of antiquity, to go with a modern Hermes. Definitely a piece worthy of picking up, but as always, this will be a limited time piece. Time, like gods, will fly, and you'll only have until Noon on Saturday the 6th to swoop in and grab this. Don't miss out.

Snails!

2010-02-28T12:21:00.000-08:00

Our current Tilteed Limited is a pretty simple piece with a pretty silly name: When Zombie Snails Attack. It's brought to us by BCHC, who states that this is his first official design not directly linked to the hardcore music scene. We're happy to be bringing it to you.

What I like so much about BCHC's work is how he is able to arrange elements and motifs to create similar but different work. There are themes of shelter (often buildings, though the snail shell itself is certainly its own shelter) as well as nature (the coral/weed/etc framework of this piece, for example, and the snails themselves, again). It creates a peaceful, rustic feel, regardless of the title, and everything arranges beautifully and logically. This is by far one of my favorite renditions of the theme, and we hope you'll love it like we do. Just make sure to love it by March 3rd at Noon Pacific, or there will be no time to get one.

Editor's Choice: The aftermath '10 - 1

2010-02-27T19:16:00.000-08:00

There are lots of reasons why shirt.woot should subscribe to the Editor's Choice philosophy for EVERY derby. From a pure sales perspective, it wouldn't be that different. Every shirt that went up for sale this week outsold the first-day numbers of at least one of the actual voted winners, which means, simply put, that the most popular shirts vote-wise are not necessarily the most popular woot-wide. If woot can get similar sales numbers whether utilizing votes or their own tastes, I see no reason not to go with their own tastes.

That leads into the real reason for more woot control in derby prints, though... simply put, woot selects more awesome pieces than wooters do. Sure, they have the occasional dud, like anyone, but overall the quality is dramatic in its discrepancy. Look at Flying, by ilovedoodle. This is easily one of woot's most charming and well made pieces. The color palette is lovely and subtle. The execution is crisp and striking. The layout is economical while also being complete: that is to say, a lot of canvas space is used, but the fill is tasteful and subtle. Also, there's much to be said for the layers. The coral and waves and cloud all stack like a parfait of whimsy, and the whale, rays, penguins and birds all occupy their positions perfectly. It's a piece that is almost too elegant for woot, which is why it could stand alone as reason enough for woot to always pick editor's choices from every derby instead of the mediocre work the voters choose. This is an undeniably worthy print.

Also undeniable in its own way is Omnitarian's Taco Cat, which is probably one of the most bizarre character tees out there. That's what I love about it, though. The palindrome it's based off of conjures such a perfectly odd image that the resulting construction is wonderfully appealing simply for the oddball image it puts forth. It works without getting the title because it really is a pure nonsense character. This sort of nonsense character, however, is the sort of character which should stand alone on a tee. It's striking in color and style, making it worth looking at, and it's unique enough to be intriguing to the eye and ergo intriguing to the wallet when considering a purchase. Being unique is the best thing a stand-alone character on a t-shirt can have going for it, because it gives the character a power that a trademarked character would have. It's distinctive enough to work. And when that distinction is that you're part taco, it's also delicious enough to be a must buy. It stands out in woot's catalog, and that alone is reason enough to print it. Without editor's choice prints, this would never exist, and almost unarguably, it deserves to more than most prints do.

As always with woot and my choices therein, I don't expect these to last past next Monday, the 8th, so if you dig 'em, snatch 'em up now. There's always a chance that you might luck out and find one available past then, but that simply should not be a risk we take on great shirts.

MOUTHFAAAACE!

2010-02-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

So, what better way to use our 300th post than with one of the first tees we fell in love with here? Mouthface, by Hands_on_Fire, is finally printing, and it's doing so at what would be my favorite little site out there even if I wasn't affiliated: Tilteed.

Sadly, it's a limited tee, which means it's only available for 72 hours (Sunday, 12pacific, for those uncertain), but that doesn't make it less awesome. The characterization on the piece is brilliant, with so much friendly charm in the creepy, crazy characters. There's even a little Rat Fink flair in mouthpet, funking up the seemingly indie-cool, hoodie-rocking mouthface himself. Or herself. The illustration is top-notch as well, allowing this bizarre creature to take shape and come alive. It's totally unique, and pretty damn wearable in its own right. I can't wait to get mine.

As I recall, this is the third tee to print from our first contest watch ever. I feel as though that should be my next goal... find a way to get the last two printed. But for now, let us revel in this one, one of the first tees I truly needed from my blog days. Don't forget to pick one up... you'll regret it if you don't.

Personal Space

2010-02-22T16:13:00.000-08:00

Threadless has done a very wise thing in showing us, the Contest Watching Public, a new coup this week. "...Well, I'm Just as Confused as You Are," a Biotwist piece made of awesomeness, is among the new selections. It's amusing, well executed, and purple. I presume all of you will be on board for at least one of those reasons.

One thing I like here, besides the strong "WTF" moment of the concept, is how otherwise natural everything would be without the other helmet-man. The diver's shrug is more pronounced, but you can get the feeling of his sinking to the ocean floor while its buoyancy is lifting his limbs, and the astronaut may be pointing, but it seems a natural "I'm floating in freakin' outer space" gesture. They're surprised by the meeting, but otherwise nonchalant about it. It's a great little detail that makes a great little tee greater.

Apres Mains Le Deluge

2010-02-19T22:10:00.000-08:00

We're not always entirely happy when we see contest watch pieces go to print. Sometimes the piece has been altered since the original vote period, and sometimes that alteration is for the worse. Sometimes site limitations force a change. So it goes in the fickle world of tees.

So too it went for Fat Pigeon, creator of Like Water Through My Hands. While I give props where due to RIPT for picking a decidedly more feminine piece up at all, I really wish the piece had more of the nuances of color that the original showed, especially the pinks in the flowers. That said, of course, this is not a disaster, because the piece still does what it sets out to do, and does it beautifully. The hands still gleam like porcelain, fragile and pure. The water still cascades fluidly. There is still a sense of peace and calm to the design, and while I personally hope that it'll see print as originally intended in the future, if things go as shown here, the newer rendition could be just as successful. Just remember that, like water through your hands, this design will slip away in 24 hours, as all RIPT designs do, so be sure to bottle it up before you lose your chance.

Fast and Speedy Wins the Race

2010-02-19T12:11:00.000-08:00

Today's Tilteed Limited debut is RACE, by childmirror, a piece I loved a long long time ago, and one I bring to you all now in hopes of showing a few things. First, note the concept. It's a long-standing tradition to take on the tortoise and the hare: some things are so familiar that people latch on to them to sell their work. Yet here, it is solely a reference. It's not about lol turtles are slow, but it's re-imagining that race entirely. The tortoise isn't winning on a technicality... he's spanking a whole slew of rabbits on his own abilities. It's like a revenge match, a continuation... there is more artistic input here than your average rendition. Also, however, note the style. It's appropriate, given the artist's handle, that the design is youthful, playful, cartoony, even, dare I say it, cute. But that cuteness comes forth in an organic way, and an actual way. The rabbits are still intent on their futile prize, fighting along in the surf. There is expression, and there is a simple but definite style at play. All this in a simple one-color piece. There's a lot to like about this design (right down to how the cadre of bunnymen are coming from the side of the tee, making it look like an infinite assault, all still destined to lose), but it really showcases how a concept can have life breathed into it simply by approaching it creatively and artistically.

As always, if you're one who approaches things creatively and artistically, I'd love to hear from you, so drop a line at Adder (at) Tilteed (dot) com if you want to pitch me some designing awesomeness. If you're more about wearing something that takes that approach, however, definitely pick one of these up quick. They'll all swim away Monday, Noon PST, to make way for the next long awaited Tilteed contest print (which even I am excited for, since I have no clue what it is myself. Yay surprises!)

Contest Watch Extra! Week of February 11

2010-02-18T19:33:00.000-08:00

It's a bit odd to call this an "extra" week when, in reality, it was fairly slow for true awesomeness. There was lots of great stuff, but most of it was difficult to commit to: pieces I really want to see in person before I can honestly sit down and say "yeah, this is as awesome as it looks," which doesn't stop me some weeks, but this week, it was just enough weirdness to make me have to take a step back.

One of the highlights of the week: seeing Omnitarian's Penguins and Waffles, Together at Last get a shot up at Threadless. It needs some love to have a shot at printing, but it is truly deserving of that print, so try and get out there in the last hours of its run. We'll get back to that stuff later, but we have new work to highlight as well.

For one reason or another, one of the designs that intrigued me this week was from newcomers Inkblitz. It's been hard to find amazing work at smaller companies... some have been inactive for too long, others just can't attract awesome, but something about sjorsvervoorts' aptly named "Monster Climbing a Building" struck me as oddly appealing. It might be the monster itself, built from a helmet or poolball or possibly one of those things that shoots balls of air at people, and given that it is the focal point, the bold splash of color against the tee, that seems probable. I also like the mix of styles, though... there's a simplicity of both concept and execution that just works for a design like this. Finally, while it shouldn't need to be a concern, the positioning alleviates certain, er, "issues" that this could "rise up" with if it were a placed a bit lower. Overall, a simple piece that simply appealed for some reason or other.

Threadless is unsurprisingly taking the bulk of the tinytownean recap this week, but with designs like fikri's Forbidden Melody!!! it shouldn't be too shocking why. This is definitely in the spirit of blog fave and DBH print Metal on Metal, but far less dark if equally gritty. If I haven't said it before, music is my first love, and this Kim-Thayil-esque mountain man axe-wielder recaptures many of the images one conjures up when they think of rock and roll. What makes this different from Metal on Metal is the palette, for starters... the other is dark and bold, while this is brighter, less saturated, almost stonewashed like the player's jeans, yet the music is still powerful, still alluring, still full of awesomeness. I love the additions throughout this design, especially in the streams of guitar: lightning, skulls, hands... The positioning on this one is great too, coming in from the side. Threadless tends to take either a simple route or a nerd route when it comes to music related tees, so something like this would stand out in their catalog, yet fit with the aesthetic I feel their community has musically. It might not be the hippest representation, but it certainly puts forth the passion of a musician or music fan, and certainly has its place in their catalog for that reason.

However, the easy favorite of the week was a wonderful little concoction from ginetteginette. The piece is entitled Lumps Bathing in Their Favourite Pond, and well, it certainly fits. One of the things white shirts can do exceedingly well is both temper and brighten colors this bold: it's like a palate cleanser for those who might find uber-colorful pieces hard to appreciate, while at the same time it's blank slate allows those bold, saturated tones to shine forth purely. Therefore, designing this gumdroppy sunshiney world on a white blank really helps it become all the more wearable and wonderful. Not that it really -needs- that help... this is the sort of candy wonderland we probably don't want to admit we still dream about. There's really nothing ostensibly sugary about it, but the colorscape gives that edible feeling. The flow of the world is engaging, also. The bold colors draw your eye everywhere, but the details keep you there, and the simple shapes of the world and its denizens both make all that darting around easy. All that, and it even fills the blank in a way that a bold piece of charming psychedelia should. I am a huge proponent of pieces like this that create a whole new world of awesome and imagination... it evokes any number of tees that feature magical personal worlds that we the viewer simply would love to inhabit, from Timberland to really any number of Aphte designs, and as with so many of the designer's most visually successful pieces, it combines her more out-of-the-box style with an inarguable appeal. It's wearable and unique at once, and it would be a crying shame if Threadless did not find this in its stocks sooner than later.

And now, to the part our regular viewers expect on weeks like this: our extra hopefuls for shirt.woot's Editor's Choice week, starting Monday. As of posting, it's uncertain what we'll see print via vote, but the choices tell me one thing: we're gonna need to rely on ECs if we want to really save amazing shirts. In an ideal world, I'd love to see these: rglee129's Reboot, a stunning one-color which should have been woot's first print of the new year; Omnitarian's Taco Cat, probably the most charming food-based character ever; Mathiole's Independence, one of the most beautiful designs EVER subbed to woot, and a crying shame if they don't realize it; and ilovedoodle's Flying, which has more charm than marshmallow cereal, and proves that you can do cute, and super-cute, while maintaining personal style and quality control. These are diverse in derby origin, styles, and even shirt blanks, and while there are certainly other worthy pieces that could take these pieces' places, woot could not pick a more flawless round.

Ride 'em Cowbot

2010-02-17T18:34:00.000-08:00

Another longtime, much batted-about design, along the lines of Ninthwheel's Caesium, is a.mar.illo's Troybot. I've seen this make the rounds at about every site there is, always scoring well, always coming up short, so it is with great pride and joy that I get to say it finally has seen print as the latest "Tilteed Limited" tee. This means your time is, well, limited, and being a Lazy McLazy, nearly half that time has expired already (sorry guys), but it also means that if you grab it before Friday, Noon Pacific, you'll get it from probably one of the best sites out there, and that's a bias my loyal readers should know I've had since long before becoming a curator.

a.mar.illo's style is pretty wonderful to begin with, but the glow of the colors here makes it all the more so... It's all about color choice, not gimmicks, that makes this robot gleam, and the details capture the imagination as well. It's a solid shirt for just about any taste, but hey, if you're really into horses, you should consider picking up Mitohapa's excellent (and Contest Watch fave) "Ghost Town Cactus Trio" as well. For the month of February, buying two or more Tilteed tees saves you $4 a pop with code "FEB50," making the combo of awesome horse-some tees all the more appealing.

Caesium: The Day

2010-02-15T10:59:00.000-08:00

Sometimes here at the blog, it's clear when a contest watch tee is destined to print. It's obvious by the comments, the theme, the overall feel of the score's potential. There are indeed also times when I know that even the most flowery blog will not save a design... it won't score well and won't print, and I can only hope my words highlighted it for some other company to fall in love with it and offer it a chance. And then, defying both sides, there is ninthWHEEL.

NinthWHEEL, in any of his many capitalization schemes, has held the dubious distinction of now twice printing against all odds. His Final Approach found a home at Woot after being shopped just about everywhere else (which was ludicrous, as it was a brilliant piece), and now, we can finally celebrate Caesium-137's long-overdue print. Like the other, both tees feature birds of prey, but the more important similarity is how both went through hell and back and any number of modifications before finally becoming a real live print. Unlike some tees, there was no reason for this one NOT to print, even though it was also never sure it would, so after so much rejection, this is like a miracle, and a well deserved one.

Design by Humans does the piece proud... a nice huge graphic with the stoic bird against the modern, angular laser-trail, and on a hunter-green blank that looks like it'll be killer in person. I can't wait to see it. If you're as impatient as I am, don't forget to pick one up. To sweeten the pot, we do still have a DBH coupon code going: 37D0MG (That's with a zero) will get you an additional 10% off your purchase until this Thursday, Feb. 18. It's take long enough to get this shirt to the chests of the world... don't go wasting more of it.

I Want Your Skull

2010-02-13T11:58:00.000-08:00

Shirt cliches: Wolves. Tigers. Dragons. CMYK. Recycled slogans. Before all these, however, came the skull. The skull ruled the roost, and the exposure made the skull trite. In the wake of the damage the Ed Hardy empire has done to the once powerful skull empire, we at Tilteed bring you a shirt that strikes back.

Esskayeesee's "Skull Shirts are Lame" is a lovely meta design that takes that phenomenon to task. The skull considers his past coolness, lamenting what has happened to him, both in the overuse of his image and the debauching of it in the hands of the Hardyites. Yet in calling attention to this ruination, the shirt makes skull tees fresh again: the simple palette is smart and pops off the bold mint blank, and the style is playful, not over-serious and overwrought. That really pushes the concept forward, and makes the shirt stand forth as its own message, both of stopping the overuse of the image, and showing how even a tired image can still be made special. But if you think it's special, too, you best get on it ASAP... it's only gonna be around for 72 hours.

Hair Today

2010-02-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

When you have 365 designs, you're bound to have a bunch of winners, and when you're Flying Mouse, that's at least doubly true. You should really all be watching the Flying Mouse 365 shop weekly for this reason, but in case you haven't been, this week there's another reason to do so.

You may recall Looking for New Hair Style from our contest watch segment in the long long ago. This week, it comes to life on the t-shirt canvas. The punch line is nice and all... the idea of the hideous Medusa seeking beauty advice to tame the nest of snakes which make up her classic coif, but I'm still loving the style here above all else. Harpies themselves are the stuff of Greek myths, and the illustration echoes a Grecian urn. Keats would buy like 15 of these if he wasn't dead. Obviously you should make up for it. But if you dig how classic one color can look, definitely act fast... when the week's over, this'll be archived and who knows when, or if, it'll ever resurrect.

Contest Watch: Week of February 4

2010-02-11T18:45:00.000-08:00

We all know what Sunday is, right? Of course we do! Which is why we're starting off this week with a freakin' spaceman in a business suit. SUPER AWESOME! Biotwist's Travelin' In My Spacesuit can.and.will destroy whatever pathetic lameness is in store for you this weekend. The colors are bright and spacey (and the negative space usage is brilliant), the motion is perfect, along with the powerful pose of powerful power. I like how this spices up the monotony of the average desk job in a way that anyone with said desk job would appreciate. Sadly, most o' them stiffs would never don an awesome tshirt. Suits are professional, and you never know when you need to network! For the rest of us that aren't totally boring, though, this piece, up for votes at Design by Humans, is plenty appealing and incredibly wearable.

Ok, fine. You want something sweeter. Well, Goodjoe is always a great place for something heartwarming. The premiere feel-good tee shop is having a sale throughout the month of February... $15 tees, free shipping on orders over $30, free MP3s, donating to the homeless... they're goin' crazy, so we definitely think now would be as good a time as any to give them some lovin'. And speakin' of lovin', who loves ya more than your family? Besides possibly Telly Savalas. So warm your heart with ansharp's charming tale of a family unlike any other. Because they're made of corn. The Corn Family comes with one simple flaw, to me: it needs less label. The illustration is too charming to really need them, and the strongest jokes here make themselves... the "pop" corn, the "baby" corn, the brilliant corn dog... c'mon, that dog alone makes this shirt worth a vote and probably a buy, right? The tee really owns its stylistic reference point... this definitely is distinguishable as a family portrait, but I love how arbitrary the family is. I mean, seriously, corn? It's definitely a different idea I haven't seen anywhere else. That could be for many reasons, but we all know I love the weird and wonderful, so I'm not going to complain, especially when the design is smartly done too: the small "baby" variety, the fresh cob as the son, the uber-processed, possibly stale chip grandfather, and a pet that isn't even technically the same species (corn dogs are delicious and meaty, despite their batter, after all). With just a little less text, this would be perfect.

Fine, fine, fine, family love is weirding you out in the context? Let's get some real romance on with Threadless, then. Will that make you happy? Fantasize about that perfect first date, finding someone who really seems to be just like you, and sharing a romantic dinner. It's perfect! Except when you find out he is potentially a cannibal. An Awkward Moment is a tee I can relate to all too well (but I don't share those stories with just anyone). Designed by how-is-this-dude-not-printed-yet Nathanwpyle at gmail.com (someone contact this dude and give him money for something or other. His name is his contact info! It's easy, Threadless!) the scene leaves a lot to the imagination. Is this dude a psychopath? Did a makeout session go horribly wrong? Why are people made of spaghetti? My guess is miss pastawoman spent too much time talking about babies, and pastaman got bored. Can't blame him. But yes, romance. Isn't it romantic? Not only that, but the design is illustrated very attractively yet simply, perfect to dampen what could border on gross-out humor into pure ridiculousness. This is Threadless to a T.

God, seriously? You're STILL not satisfied? It's just like a man-or-woman to never be happy with what they get. How about something pink. Pink's relevant, right? How about this shirt. It's got lots of pink. Ecsu is totally forging a path to your fickle little heart with Decay (We are all made of stars). No, no, it's not about decay as such. It's about how you're a star, my dear. And maybe a little about decay too. Consider the cascading repetition of the theme, the rebuilding and refleshing. It's stunning, especially the way every layer is styled differently... the realism of the skeletal arm at the top; the visceral, sinewy musculature, sprouting buildings throughout the arm; the angular, shattered, withered third iteration; and finally, the rigid sheath=, reflecting the universe from it. It's powerful imagery, skilled execution... and really like nothing else I've seen. It feels like a Threadless select, aesthetically. It pushes the envelope of what is accepted on a shirt, and it does so with a total minimalist palette to convey some serious detail and diversity. The textures and executions layer wonderfully and powerfully. It's hard to explain the appreciation of the piece without jumping around and getting disjointed because part of the power is in its own section-by-section layout. I have no clue what I'm saying any more. Suffice it to say this is awesome.

Yeah, I noticed that wasn't good enough for you. I shoulda known it wouldn't work when you weren't impressed by Spaceman in a Suit. But honestly, this is the best I can do. Any more, er, topical, and I'd... well, look at this shirt. It's Mind Effusion by Rameque. I talk about flow a lot in tees, and here's an example of that flow making a tee 100% more wearable in its own shape. The streams of things spewing from the character's hood lead the eye, and make the circular piece feel way less rigid than it could otherwise. The real selling point is the wonderful color scheme, though. There's lots to look at, and lots to follow. There's a striking image, powerful in its nearly haunting nature. Without killer colors, though, it could be lost. There are a lot of elements in this piece that, done differently, could have yielded a far less successful piece, but altogether, we have a unique and attractive and wearable final product. Now, my friends, it is late, and if I continue this ridiculous dialogue any longer, my face will flow out of my own head like this, but less awesome. Go vote.

Superboots Sunday

2010-02-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

I think there's some sort of big event going on today, but as far as I'm concerned, BootsBoots Sunday is more important. Not only is she the winning print at shirt.woot today, but Tilteed is bringing you a forgotten Boots classic. It's Mechanical Island, which we love for its whimsy. It's part Rube Goldberg, part bizarre creation myth, and part brilliant solution to our energy crisis. Yknow, if we hadn't overfished the oceans as well.

The colors are almost jeweled in a dulled, subtle way, but more important is the flow up the shirt, and the imaginative world the scene creates. I'm pretty excited to finally own this piece, personally, and I hope a bunch of you are excited about it also. Just remember, it's only on sale from now until Wednesday Noon. If you like it, then you should put a buy on it. If you're unsure, consider checking back after that other event. I'm sure you'll feel better about it by then.

5tarting Anew

2010-02-06T00:33:00.000-08:00

So, this week is the first week of yet another freakin' daily limited tee site. 5quidink is not about 5-quid ink (which I'm actually happy about, since it means avoiding ludicrous exchange rates and shipping times/costs), but it is about water based inks, which is pretty cool, and they change over at 2am, which fills a gap between the major site changeovers. This is pretty exciting for my nerdy self.

I generally believe daily sites are worth checking, well, daily, for better or worse, simply for the limitedness. 5quidink is no exception. Today, however, is a better-day-than-most to check it out, because there's a sweet randyotter design up for sale. Bull in a China Shop is a charming little piece. It hinges largely on knowing the origin of the saying, but also has plenty of personal illustrative charm. It's my first buy with them, which is a big thing for me on a site's first week, and it should maybe be yours too, but remember, as with anywhere like this, it is limited, so get it fast.

Contest Watch: Week of January 28

2010-02-04T18:05:00.000-08:00

Ahoy-hoy, tee-totallers! Welcome to another week of Contest Watch, Awesome Shirts, and apparently Horrible Puns. Before we kick off the meat of this episode, do check these past CW features: Radiomode has redone his Curiosity Kills design, and while I liked the much rougher, simple original better, fans might want to check it out at Tilteed anyway. Also, just off its Threadless hold, jstumpenhorst's Fawn in Headlights is trying its luck at Design by Humans, where it might just do better: DBH is a stronghold of pieces like this, even despite its everyday operations leaning more toward the watercolor wolf variety.

We'll start the official watch at Design by Humans as well, with a piece I probably shoulda brought in last week, but with Hallmark beating down our doors, I think Forsaking All Others might be a brilliant piece to realize that there is never an excuse for schmaltz, unless you're cooking with chicken fat. Jewelwing takes the multifaceted approach: Love is Like an Anchor. Personally, I would complete the maxim with something about pointless weight drowning us, but the designer judiciously gives a number of interpretations, not all of which are cynical. The style is strong enough to support any of them: clean, almost tattoo-inspired vectors make this look totally at home in the DBH catalog, while the palette works for its stark contrast as well as its simplicity (there's no generic reds to symbolize love, nor blues to take the ocean theme to its tired conclusion). It's all about solid linework creating a design full of motion and power, focusing on the anchor's weighty, steadfast nature, not the oft-cliched images of romance.

Were DBH to select the last piece, it'd fit their site perfectly, but over at Threadless, it's the last week of their search for the brand new trend of 2010. Some people have suggested that simple is coming back. Others think it's about time for pushing themselves to create brilliant, original work. Still others want to see hand-drawing make a comeback. And some people are lazy and greedy and think 5 minutes appropriating someone else's now-public-domain imagery is worthy of 2 grand (and I must say, if this did occur, I'd revel in starting a site that basically printed the same tee. It's not stealing if it was never theirs to begin with, right? FAIR USE!) I fully expect to see one of a few photo-puns take the prize, but it's not keeping me from throwing print-support behind Sanguine Parliament. Thunderpeel, the designer, discusses figure/ground relationships and the like in his explanation, but when it comes right down to it, I'm for it simply for being a trend of awesomeness. The colors here are incredibold, and a little delicious (who isn't honestly thinking of ice cream or taffy right now?) and the size comes up and pecks your eyes out. The owls are composed in a lovely cartoonist style, staring us down fiercely and forming a wolf, which is echoed in the clouds. The motifs and flow are all stunning, and my eyes cannot stop gawking at this. The oddity here seems to make sense due to the design's intensity... it's so well planned that you don't ask why or what, you just marvel and drool. Or I marvel and drool. There isn't another tee like this out there that I've seen, and that is 100x reason enough that it must exist: it informs just how diverse t-shirt art can be (because again, this is legitimately art, not just clothing).

From shirt-as-art to art-on-shirt, The Lost Adventures of Captain Nemo is no less effective a piece. Pakpandir doesn't explain what the new trend is, but it should be freaking awesomeness with limited palettes: the design gives us an epic battle, all in four smartly chosen colors. I'll admit, I can be a sucker for a smartly done sea-critter piece, but even without the obvious pun potential here, the design had me at Giant Nautilus. Under-rated creature of the deep that it is, I'm loving the unique beauty of the shelled cephalopod getting to take center stage in this piece. It's stunningly illustrated and colored, and the waves froth splendidly as the rickety little steampunk sub is pretty much owned by it, creating some lovely motion and filling the tee nicely. A definite buy if Threadless knows the score enough to get this printed.

The last new trend of the year, at least as our blog is concerned, is art for art's sake, or "stuff and that," as sweet n sour asserts. His design Semper Idem certainly makes good on "stuffness" and "thatitude," too... the piece revels in artistry without bothering to have an easily discernible point, unless one wishes to believe the point is "awesome designs must exist." And with flames and cacti or possibly antlers coming out of women lost in huge beefeater helmets, or clouds and rainbows spilling out of chutes and into smaller containers, or the lovely doodle accents around the entire main piece, this certainly is awesome (not to mention an excellent use of purple). When I look through Threadless' back catalog, I see lots of work that revels in this aesthetic of stunning, thought-provoking, unique art, and I see no reason why ten years lateer, the site can't do a bit more than pay lip-service to the most creative, hardest working, most unique designers and pieces in its stable. The piece here represents what I'd love to see most this year at Threadless... a return to printing more of what is special and attractive, and maybe easing off the puns. Weekly alumni picks would be stellar. Another year of awesome April Fools tees would be perfect. Reprints of tees people haven't been able to get for years instead of the same handful of regular sellers would be phenomenal. And all of that is summed up for me looking at this piece. It could herald a new dawn of Threadless... when you're number one, the most dangerous thing to do is to get complacent and stop innovating. A Threadless where great, creative art is the number one priority could do huge things for the entire tee world.

Ending an unintentionally simple-colored week is the simplest of all: thatrobert's "The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things." With a shirt.woot theme as awful as "heart," this nearly-blatantly-obvious piece stood out because it really was a perfect, simple tee graphic. It's crisp. It's instantly understandable. It's a little subversive while being a lot adorable (and somehow appealingly so... the vacant faces make them all the more unsettling, I think). It could even be iconic. There's just enough concept, just enough size, just enough color to make everything work, and it looks incredibly hot on heather gray, reason enough for praise. I love my artistic tees, and find the bias against them ludicrous, but t-shirts were a born canvas for simpler work like this. If only all simple work took the time to be effective as well, instead of just simple clothes for simple people: the world would be a better (and less hideously ugly) place.

Snoreassic Park

2010-02-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty much stoked to be stating that Tilteed will be printing Dekonstruct's Brontosnorus Saves the World this weekend. The popular past woot derby piece and former Contest Watch favorite will be on sale until Sunday, Noon Pacific, so for all y'all who were crushed when this didn't print at woot, put your money where your mouth is and pick a copy up. It'll totally be worth it: Tilteed's prints are awesome, and so is Dekon's design. The humor of the dino dream and the stark black-on-white make for a piece which is both fun and hip at the same time.

We're big on the idea of this piece doing well, but if you're more interested in printing with us instead of buying with us, feel free to contact me at Adder (at) Tilteed (dot) com. For the rest of you, be sure to keep your head up: Tilteed Limited is indeed a limited time offer, so grab one now so you don't miss it later.

Beep/Boop 2

2010-01-29T12:07:00.000-08:00

Level 1-2: we get a view of the majestic knight astride his steed. His lance straight ahead, he charges toward his opponent, gaining speed, hoping against hope that he will strike the felling blow and not be knocked off his... ostrich?

What I love about Sokowa's renaissance etching of Joust is that it captures a moment of absurdity in a stately crest. Joust itself, as a game, is one that has maintained its cult status largely for that absurdity... you're a knight riding an ostrich? Sounds awesome to me! It is less loyalty to the game, and more to the amusing concept, which is why Tilteed is bringing you this little gem.

I've never played Joust, which should be it's own explanation of why this towers above similar work in and of itself. For me, it is that image of a knight on an ostrich which is so wonderful. It's an image that seduces the imagination... you don't need to know anything about the game itself to appreciate it, especially in the capable hands of the artist. The piece is more about that imagery of the knight-errant than 8-bits of gameplay. Again, the designer picks a smart style to attach the images to an art form that corresponds and compliments it, and that makes the whole shebang feel more inspired by Don Quixote than Shigeru Miyamoto. Which is probably good, since Miyamoto didn't even create Joust.

If you're an artist who wants to send your design knights careening down curation lane, feel free to approach me at Adder (at) Tilteed (dot) com. We're not in the business of printing a million videogame references, but we ARE in the market of awesome shirts. Hopefully that's your bag, too. And don't forget guys, this tee will only be around until noon pacific on Monday, so grab yours now!

Beep/Boop 1

2010-01-28T22:10:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big fan of pop-culture without anything further added. It's like McDonalds... fast, cheap, and easy, yet incredibly profitable. That said, today I'm going to have to eat my words. Twice.

Well, not totally. I mean, Travis Gentry's "Dangerous Creature" is simply brilliant stylistically. It takes on the work of Durer spot-on, especially his fantastical woodcut of a rhinoceros. The choice is smart, because to those of Durer's time, the rhino would be no less fake than a koopa paratrooper, but the immediately recognizable style is enough... it takes our modern, marketed art, and turns it into something classic. The tee, however, will sadly not be around as long as Durer's woodcuts... RIPT'll only be selling this classy bit of 80s kitsch until midnight central tomorrow. Grab it before it's game is over.

Contest Watch: Week of January 21

2010-01-28T12:47:00.000-08:00

Hello, boys and girls.

Besides working for Tilteed these days (see the last post, not to mention tomorrow's, for more), I'm still busy bringing the best of the contest world to light for your voting pleasure. But before we get to this, let us be sure to remind y'all to head on over and vote for Salt and Pepper by Radscoolian over at Threadless. It got totally robbed over at woot in a particularly ludicrous voting week, and deserves its day in the sun.

While we're on Ludicrous Robbery At Shirt.Woot, welcome to Palindrome Week. It's hard to secure a real design based on a palindrome, yet many entries managed to pull off something appealing even with the forced inspirational constraints, and inevitably get robbed by work that is questionable even from a woot perspective. Enter Taco Cat, which ended right outside the fog. By friend-of-the-blog Omnitarian, it's a great absurd character in the first place, which is the sort of work which really makes the most sense to go with if you're working in the constraints of palindrome. It's also the sort of character work that you need to do if you're thinking in terms of t-shirts. Something striking, charming, appealing and interesting (I mean, what about a taco isn't appealing, right?) and this is all four, no question. I'm not sure if I'd rather own or feast upon the character itself, but as a shirt, it'd be everything a simple graphic tee should be.

But really, what would life be if we only went for the simple graphic tees, right? As appealing as a charming, simple, well conceptualized character can be, we should never forget the tee's ability to act as artistic canvas. Threadless pulls this off regularly, in submissions such as Nature's Embrace. This piece, by thechild, channels any number of brilliant designers while creating a final product that nevertheless avoids aping any of them. The designer plays all the right cards in just the right amounts. The colors are warm, yet soft (the palette really is wonderful as far as I'm concerned), with repeating motifs that don't feel repetitive. The detail is charming and attractive, yet not so heavy as to distract. There's abstraction here, but it is not truly challenging, just a pleasant designing "noise" about the piece's natural imagery. Then there's the style: again, it's right on balance, with clear skill showing through amid a simple execution. The term "wearable" comes to mind, and I cannot see how this piece could be seen as anything but. It's a graphic that goes beyond the tired status quo, but remains very accessible, with colors that are smart and flow that intrigues without confusing. Definitely worthy as a future tee.

Taking the concept a bit further is againstbound's Leader of the Pack. This was originally at Threadless as a style-swap piece with B7, but is now being tried over at Design By Humans. It's no secret we at Singularitee love againstbound's style, but I've especially enjoyed seeing him in Threadless alumni contests like this. Actually, Styleswaps have done pretty well for themselves in this blog in general. But especially for againstbound, there always seems to be more of his own style coming forth in any given piece than other swappers might allow, so we get a final product that feels more like a brilliant one-man collaboration. Oh, yeah, and the piece itself is worth talking about on its own, too. The colors are killer, for starters... color usage is absolutely HUGE on this piece's appeal, especially if it finds itself on that deep purple. The flow, as well, is great... I love the downward "S"-curve the eye takes. The overall piece is hip, bold, but even potentially powerful. There's some non-denominational spirituality going on somewhere in here, intentional or not, with that wise wolf staring out at us, up in the clouds, and it makes the image arresting. Great piece.

Another arresting and powerful image comes from one of igo2cairo's latest pieces: "I Know You Called..." While the againstbound piece takes the unknown and draws you into the mystery of what it all means, here we're quite familiar with the base of the design. It's a telephone, and an old one at that... nothing special on the surface. The texturing done here, however, is what is so alluring. We have no idea if the phone is melting, or leaking, or covered in goop. I probably don't want to answer it, that's certain, yet if it rang, it might almost be irresistible to find out what was on the other end. This is the sort of design that keeps us thinking, because we really cannot be sure what the meaning is. Is the phone represented as oppressive, with it's sooty, oozing covering driving us away from it? Is it rotting away in its obsolescence? Surely a rotary phone is something young people will start marveling at as a relic. Whatever the case, I know two things: good art makes you think and discuss, and good shirts need to be wearable. This passes muster on the first for me easily... this image could easily spur on an intellectual dialogue, given its puzzling nature and the depth of its possible translations. As for a shirt? By itself, a phone is perhaps not ideal as a tee graphic, but the intrigue here helps a lot. The phone itself is well composed, the textures are hypnotizing, and the grayscale of the palette makes it an easy wear as well. I'd put it on my chest, at least. Hopefully I'm not alone.

Finally, we palindrome right back to shirt.woot, where theinfinityloop gives us the saddest little gravity-defying dog ever. "I'm, Alas, a Salami" takes a different angle of approaching the palindrome concept, but knocks it out of the park on execution. The first and best thing here is that the design hinges less on the palindrome itself, and more on how to illustrate it, which makes it stand on its own. It's no secret that dachshunds look like deli meat, and having the poor little guy standing there, tied like a sausage and sliced in the middle (with that perfect salami marbling inside) is a concept that stands up to the test of wear... you have no title when you're rocking a tee, and this will still convey it's ideas perfectly. But easily the best part of this is the dog's face... the emotion conveyed is perfect, and sums up the "alas" in the title to a "T". There's really no reason a piece like this should be in my contest watch and not on a shirt. More power to the site that mans up and prints it.

A Brave New Era

2010-01-26T12:07:00.000-08:00

Today marks a big departure for Tilteed. The contest site is launching the first of an ongoing set of curated pieces. The move is being made concurrently with their contest; the site will still be taking entries, allowing votes, and awarding prizes. With curations, however, the site will return to its original 72-hour cycle, and is hoping to bring more eyes, more excitement, and more diversity to the mix. Frequent readers will know I've long praised Tilteed for any number of reasons, but their diversity and willingness to take a risk for amazing work is probably the part I've been most impressed with. Changes can always be worrisome, but given the site's strengths, it is also a change which excites me.

It is also a departure for me, though, because I can no longer be fully impartial to the site: I've been selected as part of their curator team. It's kinda a huge honor, since these guys are a company I've totally been impressed with and feel 100% comfortable standing behind. I will continue my blogging, of course, across the board of sites offering high-quality wares to the world, but you'll likely be seeing a decided bent toward awesome Tilteed curations. Speaking of which, if you're a designer who wants to be brought in, feel free to contact me at Adder (at) tilteed (dot) com. I'll be happy to discuss getting curated with us, so long as you realize it's all about having solid, printable work. You've read the blog, I don't promote just -anything-.

We're easing into the switchover naturally instead of going for a grand reopening, though certainly things will be different. The first tee, available now until Friday (noon pacific), is Leigh Farrior (studioelle)'s "The Gift." The style is simple yet charming, almost with a degree of Keith Haring in the characters. It's also something that could be quite powerful or inspirational to the right person: it's a message of love lifting us up, whether intimate love or the love of a friend, but it's not heavy-handed in that message. Leigh suggests that the piece "could be a rockin' Valentine's Day gift for your sweetie." It certainly could (tis the season). But to me, the way the executional choices diffuse the message of hope into something whimsical and wearable as well as potentially powerful is what really sets the piece apart. We, of course, hope you like it, and hope you keep tuning in to see what's next.

Sporty New Tees

2010-01-24T12:42:00.000-08:00

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.