MY LOVELY TEES

Inspired Mag’s 55 Fresh T-Shirts for Creatives

2009-06-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

I am a sucker for a big list of cool t-shirts. Typically, a big list will include about 30 shirts….so I had to feature this one because they bumped it up to 55.

Inspired Magazine has been pretty consistent in coming out with great lists over a wide variety of topics. I really perked up my ears on this one because they featured 55 fresh t-shirts for the creative community. You know I have a little something for tees. :)

Here’s two screenshots with examples from the list. You can click on either one to go to the original article.

Tees Fail

2009-06-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

I’d like to ease myself back into updating this blog, and I’m going to start by posting a few t-shirt related fails from award winning website Failblorg.org. Fail Blog is always good for a few laughs, and unlike this site, it’s updated several times daily. It also has a store called the Lol Mart, that features a collection of t-shirts dedicated to some of the greatest internet fads.

Now that I’ve got your attention, I’d like to tell you about a new website that I’ve been working on. It’s called Book Fail, and it’s all about weird, funny, and off-beat. Some of my favorites so far are The Zen of Farting, and How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art. I’ve worked up quite a list so be sure to check it out, and subscribe/bookmark.

Favourite Tees

2009-06-17T01:59:00.000-07:00

Oh, hard to follow up t-shirts with Monsters — But what better than Cylons, Skulls & Ray Guns for a friday favourite?

First, i don’t really know what Androids Always Win is about — Maybe i’m missing out on some inside joke? I like the t-shirts anyway. Note the little cylon inside the muni bus! I’m dying of cute over here.

I liked this clever little FTW Skull from Palmer Cash.

And finishing up with a nice, sci-fi geeky touch, I give you Ray Guns! I think this is partially inspired by a great theater experience with the new Star Trek.

Time to go love some geeks.
Love & pocket protectors

Beatnik Aesthetics: Roar T-Shirt or Roar On A Shirt :)

2009-06-17T01:57:00.000-07:00

Love the simple but gloriously overdone words on a shirt concept here from Beatnik Aesthetic . Both the Roar T-Shirt and the Love T-Shirt are worthy wardrobe options. It’s always good to have opposing concepts in your T-shirt collection, love one day, Roar the next

Philosoraptor Now Has Video

2009-06-17T01:53:00.000-07:00

I wrote about the Philosoraptor a little while ago and a friend of mine just sent me this video. It appears that philosoraptor is now a meme :) I’m kind of bummed I can’t get the shirt as they seem to be constantly out of stock

GM - Government Motors T-Shirt

2009-06-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

Love this T-Shirt from Dispair Inc. “in Soviet Amerika car drives you… bankrupt”

Department Of Works T-Shirt Company

2009-06-13T09:11:00.001-07:00

The Department of Works just started following me on Twitter so I checked out their stuff and was glad I did. They have a lot of fun concepts, well executed that I would be happy to wear anytime.

Infinite Love by Blend Apparel

2009-06-13T09:08:00.001-07:00

Blend Apparel has a wonderful collection of T-Shirts with an incredible collection of positive messages while avoiding being too saccharine. In addition to the positive messages the shirts are made of eco friendly fabrics and even the server is run on wind derived power and the printers run on elastic bands… no i’m kidding about that one. Anyway, check them out, I met the owner at his birthday party at Cafe Gratitude and I can tell you he was a genuinely nice guy, and even though I’d only just met him he invited me out to celebrate with him and his friends and they were all wonderfully warm and welcoming.

Social Media T-Shirt - Unlocking All Behavioral Disorders

2009-06-12T19:52:00.001-07:00

Wow, just wow, I love it :) Social Media T-Shirt - Unlocking The Awesome Potential of Behavioral Disorders

Lycanthrope Beer T-Shirt from MiniCassette

2009-06-12T19:49:00.001-07:00

I love this T-Shirt from Minicassette T-Shirts, a lycanthrope, as all you underworld fans will know is of course is a werewolf. I really like the way this is designed to look like a beer label, particularly reminiscent of the Löwenbräu brand. A great shirt for all you werewolves that want to fly the flag when you’re out and about

Burp Contest at Print Liberation Store, Philly PA

2009-06-12T19:47:00.001-07:00

Yep, these crazy guys at Print Liberation are having a burp contest, if you’re in the area stop by :)

Z.O.U.K Clothing

2009-06-10T06:03:00.000-07:00

Zouk; a Zeitgeist of Singapore club culture (active for more than 17 years) and also considered to be among the best clubs in the world has launched its own clothing brand called Z.O.U.K which features some music inspired t-shirt designs and some interesting collaborations (such as the one with ed banger records pictured above). zoukclub.com

Flying Coffins

2009-06-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

FlyingCoffin.com

Selector!

2009-06-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

Selector! is a brand for reggae fans, by reggae fans, launched in the summer of 2006. The goal is to offer appealing graphics inspired by Jamaican music ranging from ska, rocksteady, and foundation artists, through to the latest in dancehall. .riddimselector.com

Stussy Great Minds T-Shirt Series

2009-06-10T05:56:00.001-07:00

Great Minds Series T-Shirts

TEE TEST: Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction

2009-06-10T05:49:00.000-07:00

I like long names. Maybe this is because I have a particularly long name myself - two middle names both with three syllables. Of all my names I like my surname the least, mainly due to the fact that it only has three letters.

Perhaps slightly pre-determined by my fondness for the gratiutously named, I love Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction (despite me being too lazy to type their name in full again - "aita" from here on out). When aita asked if they could send a shirt for review I took two quick looks at their impressive roster and said "I'll take two thanks."

To my joy the impressive nature of aita did not conclude with a lengthy title and a pretty website. The package I received contained the two shirts wrapped in the sexiest tissue paper I have ever seen (hell, I didn't know tissue paper could even be sexy until now) and a plethora of impressive marketing material that they were kind enough to send. Sure, it may seem inconsequential, but I think that a company that can get their marketing looking tight is well on the way to success.

The shirts continued to impress. The guys logo tee is so freaking soft it feels like underwear. Which is a good thing. In fact it's softer than my underwear... The softness comes via an American Apparel 50/25/25 track shirt - and because it's AA you know it's going to fit well. I'm also quite fond of the logo and the way it subtley humanizes the industrial subject. Deep right?

While the guys shirt is subtle, the girls shirt is straight-up crazy. Screenprinted front and back with catastrophic imagery, in an engraved style that you'd expect to see in a 19th century history book. Typhoons, volcanoes, tidal waves and even aliens destroy everything in sight. Sweet. I'm not sure as to the origins of the shirt itself but it's 100% cotton and comes from Peru. Awesome.

My only concern with these shirts was the slight twist in the seem (check the photo) on the girls shirt. I'm told that this is not common and is due to the shirts being "unique and individually printed," and it actually looks kind of cool when the shirt is being worn - although I'm sure it may bug some people.

Aita's other shirts also feature amazing art work and are totally worth checking out. They've just released some new one's too - be the first in town to grab them. A great range from a nice little label that sticks by it's name and produces some great artwork, hand prints their shirts and pays attention to the small details.

RRP: Mens Logo Tee $28 (USD), Womens Catastrophe Tee $36 (USD)

Imaginary Foundation

2009-06-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes almost a bit scary to see what designers do when you give them unlimited possess of (printing) techniques. And we still admire the unique way of style of the Imaginary Foundation, though.

WOODWOOD. The End Of Times

2009-06-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

Our neighbours in Frankfurt, AZITA, always have the right touch with everything you could put on your body. This time it was this tee from WOODWOOD. Unfortunately sold out.

Glamour KILLS

2009-06-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

This is Glamour Kills from the States. To be honest, we are not the biggest fans of their whole line but had a crush on these three items. We Like.

Tshirt of the week

2009-06-06T00:22:00.001-07:00

David Flores Collaboration Tee is a Tshirt by Dissizit!, available at karmaloop:

Hang Loose tee

2009-06-06T00:20:00.001-07:00

“Hang Loose” tshirt, available at Karmaloop:

Terratag x Tokyo PLastic

2009-06-06T00:17:00.001-07:00

At UrbanRetro they have just put up some new designs for the very popular brand Terratag which features some very cool robot art on t-shirts.
The highlight of the collection are the Tokyo Plastic x Terratag Collaborations based on some toy designs and art they created.

Piaggiolino

2009-06-06T00:15:00.001-07:00

Teeshirt PIAGGIOLINO for kids 2.4 and 6 years old, by our friends at LowRider.
“Gelati, spiaggia e le belle machine sono la dolce vita a l italiana !”

PAID IN FULL

2009-06-06T00:13:00.001-07:00

Philip from 316Graphics have just launched their new graphic T line PAID IN FULL apparel.

And they’re running a sale this week: Tee’s for $16 (us). Inventory is extrememly limited so these will go fast!

Squishi, clothing company

2009-06-06T00:10:00.000-07:00

“Squishi is a clothing company which is run out of our studio in Wiltshire, UK. All of their items are printed manually (by hand), on our 6 colour press.

LUDWIG is the man.

2009-06-06T00:03:00.000-07:00

We discovered a new young label from the US and A: LUDWIG. We’re glad we understood instantly, it’s german. Nice clean approach to street style. This is our favourite item from the current collection.

Concrete Hermit on Sale Items

2009-06-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

It's not a secret that Concrete Hermit is one of my favorite shirt stores (and not only) and that's why I'm very excited about the new sale items added at the sale page. Like all Americans I hurt when I buy anything coming from Europe due to the currency exchange rate, so sale pages and sale events like this one never go unnoticed.

Summer Heatwave Sale at Threadless

2009-06-05T23:47:00.000-07:00

Well I bet you all receive the Threadless newsletter but since I'm jet-lagged and quite tired, I deserve to write an easy posting. Right? So check out Threadless sale with shirts starting at $5. Here's a sample of the goodness you can get for just 5 bucks...
Sale ends Monday, June 8th.

Starved T-shirt by Akumu Ink

2009-06-05T23:42:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid I'm running out of thing to say about Akumu Ink t-shirts. One after the other these guys deliver totally wearable shirts! This time it's about starved bats attacking their prey. The red color print works exactly how it's supposed to work with the black shirt underlining that the subject of this scene, even though we don't see any, it's always the blood. Thus it immediately gets a spot in my favorite bloody shirts collection. I've said many many times how much I love Akumu Ink and I'll say it one more time, these guys make eye-catching shirts and you'll never go unnoticed wearing one of them.

Rubens Scarelli By Way Of Abduzeedo

2009-06-05T10:18:00.001-07:00

Abduzeedo just turned me onto one heck of a t-shirt illustrator. The guys name is Rubens Scarelli hailing from Brazil, and apparently he’s been winning t-shirt competitions of late. I haven’t seen his designs before and I was glad to be introduced to how clean his artwork is.

He’s not afraid to spend some time on a design and create a lot of characters for one single print. The complexity and volume of the artwork isn’t always synonymous with good design. He is able to do both but is also able to keep it simple. That is a talent that many t-shirt designers wish they had but can’t be taught. It’s just one of those things where you either have it or you don’t.

Rubens Scarelli has it.

2009-06-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

As I wind down the week and prepare for a glorious three day weekend thanks to Memorial Day, I thought I would leave you with a cool little tee by OriginalFake….

They busted out with an embroidered pocket tee featuring an OriginalFake character climbing out of the pocket. A little clever and very much their style, this one has a chance to be a conversation piece. Enjoy the tee and enjoy your weekend!

The “Survival Of The Fittest” Pack

2009-06-05T09:43:00.001-07:00

The term “Survival of the Fittest” dates back to Charles Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection, and in today’s tough economic climate, who can deny that survival is the name of the game?

Together, Akomplice and respected Chicago-based retailer, Leaders 1354, have a combined 12 years in the industry, allowing them to build an understanding about what it takes to survive in this game. With that in mind, Akomplice has teamed up with Leaders 1354 to save the day by producing a stunning “Survival of the Fittest Pack” which includes an Akomplice x Leaders Swiss Army knife, an Akomplice x Leaders T-shirt, a certificate of authenticity and a lemon (That’s right, because when life chucks a lemon at you, say “fuck it” and make some juice.)

The T-shirt features a Swiss Army knife-inspired design which highlights 10 qualities necessary for surviving life. If you’ve watched MacGyver, you already know how crucial a pocket knife is in tough times, this one just happens to look really nice.
Everything comes nicely packaged in a rope-bound black box. Limited to just 30 packs worldwide, this very special release will drop on May 23rd, at 12 noon, and is available exclusively at the Leaders Boutique in Chicago (1400 Milwaukee Ave).

MILES DAVIS: 50th anniversary tee

2009-06-05T09:37:00.001-07:00

Special T-shirt release from LUDWIG, produced in collaboration with the Miles Davis Foundation!

When LUDWIG were approached by the Miles Davis Foundation to produce a special T-shirt to mark the 50th anniversary of Miles’ seminal LP Kind of Blue, they jumped on the opportunity to work with the people who safeguard the legacy of jazz legend Miles Davis.

It makes sense when you consider that LUDWIG’s Creative Director, Mike Dytri, is a huge Miles Davis fan. Indeed, Mike’s own graphic design book released several years ago was named “Bitches Brew,” in tribute to Miles and his music…

The limited edition T-shirt comes on one of LUDWIG’s great enzyme washed custom T-shirts, and it will be exclusively available at the LUDWIG online shop.

BORO

2009-06-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

BORO is a young company based in the south of Italy, is born by founders fulvio sorbino (owner of the company) and antonio diagonale (designer), its main production is t-shirts, BORO stand apart among the competition thanks of its Lively colours, rich in visual impact, typical of an innovative message that wants to be heard, accompany the simplistic style apparent in the logo.

Montana Knox

2009-06-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

Just opened in the East Village of New York City, Montana Knox shares a unique and personal retail experience with the discriminating buyer.

The boutique exhibits a continuously evolving selection of affordable, high quality climate neutral apparel for men and women, original art prints and lifestyle accessories. Current collections feature the illustrative work of artist/designer Montana Knox and a collaborative partnership with Brooklyn-based jeweler Aaron Ruff of Digby and Iona.

The interior for the boutique was designed by Mark A. Reigelman II. Its conceptual ingredients, which include a giant painted mural by Montana, create a captivating and unconventional environment that conveys a three dimensional manifestation of the brand.

Montana Knox is a family-owned artist-driven label based in New York City. Originally from Maine, this creative team of mother, daughter and son, (Annette, Laura and Montana), launched their brand in the spring of 2005 on a folding table in SOHO. Montana Knox celebrates this dream-come-true with a loyal following.

Montana Knox:
4 Extra Place (the un-signed alley off East 1st Street btwn Bowery and 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 529-KNOX

Open Tuesday thru Sunday, 12-8

Hellmouth, available at 2K

2009-06-05T09:13:00.001-07:00

This particular design is actually a combination of two images done one above the other. It is a little telling of the kind of imagery I was taking in at the time: street signs, old videogames I was playing on emulators, and a book about various images of the devil in European art.

I reckon you can go back and just cut and paste the info about “Ri-Damn-Diculous” from your earlier article. If you need me to write anything new, I sure don’t mind. I would like to mention the trouble I went through to transfer the image from a hand-drawn shirt into a reproducible digital image:

I photographed the shirt hanging flat on a board, printed out the photo, traced the photo to tracing paper on my light table, scanned the tracing, then cleaned up the scan in photoshop with my wacom. Even more work to justify the design’s title, I’d say!

It’s odd to look at these older designs and see how simple they seem now compared to what I’ve been making lately. I hope to get my present work out to the rest of the world a little quicker in the future, but I do appreciate that 2k and its customers have thought well enough of my images to invest in printing them.

It’s a really big compliment, and my family is tickled pink, of course :) .”

Bear Picnic Clothing

2009-06-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

Add a bit of colour to your summer wardrobe with the new Pop Culture tee!

Available to buy online now from their brand new website.