Up on the Sun

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.

Winter Whimsy

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.

F.U.

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.

Just Enough Support

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.

Dogs Bark + Hoot

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?

Tee Otters

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.

Quite the Trend

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

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

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.

Wet T-Shirt Contest

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

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

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.

Don't Keep this Quiet!

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.

sea and sand

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.

Sound and Vision

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.

Killing Yourself to Live

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.

No One Can Hear I Scream

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.

Alright! Already!

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.

A Singular Tee at SingulariTee

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.

Space is the Place

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.