Uneetee's newest winner is Duck Hunt by Rikki B. It's a humorous take on the game Duck Hunt, showing a hunter armed with a zapper. The strength of the design is in the color scheme- that distinctive neon orange is used sparingly, and draws attention to the zapper. It's a solid nostalgia piece, and compared to some past prints a very nice choice for Uneetee. That said, I feel that in the realm of duck hunt parodies, I already own the best design.
Uneetee chooses winners from the designs submitted by and voted on by site members. Winners receive $1500, with the chance to earn more through reprints.
Tuesday, September 30
Monday, September 29
When Pandas Attack by Jimiyo vs. AJ Dimarucot (the110) looks more like a DBH print than the typical Threadless style, and it's no wonder- the artists behind it are two of DBH's most prolific designers. This collaboration is huge, dramatic, and even kind of funny- since pandas are so often seen as very docile creatures, it captures the imagination. There's some great texture in the piece, giving the one color design an unexpected level of variation in tone. It's an absolute must buy for me.
People Like Us by Drew Beckmeyer is this week's Select. It's not really my cup of tea stylistically, but I do think it is well done- the colors are inviting and the patterning is fun to look at. I'm less sold on the face, which feels hollow instead of possessing some character to my eye. But, this line of shirts is always at its best when they're more experimental, and I think the art is interesting and the puff ink process is a worthy try.
My Crony by Lim Heng Swee (ilovedoodle) is a cute idea, showing a moon and owl who are best buddies. There's some nice mirroring in the way their facial features relate, which fills in the back story that they're old pals. The owl is, for my money, the real star of the piece, so I'm disappointed that he's so utterly dwarfed by the moon. The livetrace-y look of the moon is also not too appealing to me, though I believe that style was meant to compensate for the overwhelming size of the moon. Overall it's very nice work, despite what I view as a few flaws.
Crime!!! by B7 Ben Foot is another favorite of mine this week, a great mix of classic cartoon style and a coloring book treatment. I love the way the coffee and donuts are portrayed as the cop's allies in fighting crime, it really comes off as a kid's take on the adult stereotype of donut-hungry police. The humor is very Threadless, and the technique is something the site hasn't seen before- I think that combination is a big reason why this shirt is such a standout.
Microwaves Are Just Too Slow by David Creighton-Pester (WanderingBert) shows a superhero taking a super-powered approach to one of the more tedious tasks of modern life- microwaving a frozen dinner. The genius of the premise is that, despite a host of abilities at his disposal, he's not using super-speed to whip up a huge gourmet meal or flying to the best restaurant in Moscow- this guy is Just Like Us, just a guy who wants to eat his Swansons meal in peace. The illustration is also nicely done, in particular the coloring which, despite a huge print, doesn't overpower the shirt.
Graphite For Your Right by David Creighton-Pester (WanderingBert) is another seriously great print this week. The hand grasping the lightning bolt of a pencil is a great metaphor for creativity, and it's a powerful, memorable image. This is another possible buy for me, making this a very expensive week.
Threadless prints new shirts every week, chosen from the designs submitted by and voted on by site members. Winners get $2000 cash and $500 in Threadless credit, with the possibility to earn more through Bestee awards, poster prints, and reprints.
Sunday, September 28
Fight the Good Fight by jimiyo may have come in fourth in DBH's $10,000 contest, but for my money his design is the most interesting and wearable of the bunch. It's a gorgeously textural, yet soft, drawing of one warrior hopelessly outnumbered by creatures, but still fighting valiantly. The one color technique works well, emphasizing just how lost in a mass of monsters this guy is. Great looking shirt, and I'll definitely be purchasing one.
SeaSick Symphony by mathiole and Saltyshadow is a great concept, and I really am drawn to the colors and composition. But where it falls apart for me a bit is in the black ink- to me, those bits are overpowering in comparison to the soft colors and in some areas (the jacket) they don't feel entirely resolved. Areas like the bird on top, which seems to be formed out of the flowing ink, are much stronger. It's still a good shirt, but I feel it just misses being a great shirt.
PPP (perversion of paranoid populace) by radiomode is my second favorite of the bunch, largely because it is such a perfect fit for the medium. I love the way the video screens truly fill the shirt, overwhelming the fabric in a way that immediately communicates the oppression of Big Brother. I was pleasantly surprised to see two shirt color options and the fact that this is printed both on front and back- this is the kind of attention to detail and willingness to go the extra mile that makes me love DBH.
Altitude Sickness by BRCollective was the second place design in the competition, with a skeleton astronaut puking nonsense. To me, it's not nearly as strong as other collaborations I've seen by this group both at Threadless and DBH- the puke element really feels like a pile of unrelated doodles to me, in direct contrast to the cohesion of their Robot shirt. For me, even the three shirt color options are a bit of a waste- I think the artwork is by far best suited to black. I think a great part of my disappointment here is that I know how much talent the group contains- unfortunately, I'd have rather seen a design by any single artist in the collective take second than see this particular collaboration do it- it just doesn't speak to me.
Black Hole Sun by collisiontheory, the $10,000 winner, is just a huge disappointment to me. Unfortunately, a lot of this falls on DBH themselves- what they printed doesn't look very much like the design that people voted on, in my opinion. His original submission had much more color, and I would argue quite a bit more flair because of it. To me, this makes me question the entire voting process- if voters were shown what DBH actually planned to print, I'm not sure that this would have won. This is a huge deal when so much money is at stake, and when votes are the only determining factor in who gets it.
Design By Humans is an on-going t-shirt design contest that prints new shirts every weekday. Prints are chosen from the shirts submitted by and voted on by DBH members. Shirt of the Day winners receive $500 cash and $250 DBH credit. Shirt of the Week winners get $1000 cash. Shirt of the Month gets $1500 cash and $250 credit. Winners also have an opportunity to earn residuals through the Rockstar Awards Program.
Friday, September 26
A Better Tomorrow's newest winner is Rotkappchen Reloaded, a cool modern take on Red Riding Hood that arms her with gun. I love the strength that the design gives Red- she's got the confidence to face down an entire pack of wolf creatures. The art is well-done, especially in the way red is used sparsely without. The texture of the background is another nice touch, enhancing the apocalyptic atmosphere.
A Better Tomorrow chooses winners from the shirt designs submitted and voted on by site users. Although the site is in German, designers from all over the world can enter and win. Winners earn 500 euros when printed.
Thursday, September 25
Neighborhoodies' Design for the People contest is one that anyone can participate in, because all it takes to win is to email your great shirt idea to cameron@neighborhoodies.com, with your explanation at 100 words or less.
This week's theme is 80s Music. As Neighborhoodies explains, "Whether it be new wave, hair metal or teeny-bop, we want to see your '80s band-inspired T-shirts and we want to see them now!" Email your idea before Monday, September 29th at noon EST for your chance to win. The winner will make $5 for every purchased order.
This past week's Cats theme resulted in an Oz-inspired grand prize winner: I Can Haz Courage?
Wednesday, September 24
Uneetee's newest winner is Colorful Gardener by Jublin. I love the idea of watering flowers with paint (even the CMYK palette works well enough here not to bother me from its general overuse). Something that I think makes this design a great fit for a wraparound print is the way the design transitions from the clean solidness of the character to the chaos of the paint-splattered garden. That said, I'm less than pleased with the specific placement- based on the product photo, it looks like the flower bed is precisely in the middle of the back of the shirt (perhaps not the most flattering option available).
Uneetee chooses winners from the designs submitted by and voted on by site members. Winners receive $1500, with the chance to earn more through reprints.
Tuesday, September 23
Dangerous by Draco (DracoImagem.com) is the best Threadless shirt this week. It's a slick text treatment that transforms the letters into a snake, complete with photographic texture that gives the fantastic scene a sense of realism. The unsuspecting nature of the bird sets up some impending doom and contrast, which further helps to bring the shirt to life.
Judith + Holofernes by Frank Barbara (franx) is an amazing drawing, and a highly worthy winner of Threadless's True Stories contest. It's a perfect fit for that competition's sex and death theme, with a great mixture of realism and symbolism. There is definitely a lot to like here, from the soft fleshy gradients (pink for the living, blue for the dead) to the almost decorative flourish of the hair. I'm really intrigued by the unrealistic style used on the blood- that really makes this stand out, and I think it grants the shirt a bit of whimsy in the midst of the otherwise horror-tinged scene.
Raise and Rise by Peter Taylor is this week's Select. It's unlike any other shirt I've seen, featuring two bulbous, balancing creatures. They're very circular characters, and remind me a bit of swollen humpty-dumpties with full-body tattoos. From neck to ankle they're coated in a doodle-inspired texture, which again relates back to the circle theme. The coloring is another nice touch, as the way it falls outside the art's borders helps to give a feeling of motion. It's not a shirt I'd personally wear, but I love that people are creating things like this.
Battle For Centaurus A by Ryan Lin (Kojima) combines a space battle with a glow in the dark ink treatment. The style is clean and simple, and the colors are fresh- it feels a bit like the coolest side-scrolling video game you never played. The front and back print is a nice value-adder, making this more of a unique-seeming piece. I think this is a good example of how a really great execution can make even fairly lackluster concepts feel interesting.
Home Grown by Dan Rule imagines plants clipped into the shapes of instruments. I'll be honest, the concept doesn't really work for me- I just plain don't hear the phrase home grown applied to music enough for this to be funny. On top of that, the topiary conceit is feeling a bit overdone to me, so I think it would take something really unique to make me take notice and want to buy. The art is high-quality, it's just thematically a weak design to me.
Threadless prints new shirts every week, chosen from the designs submitted by and voted on by site members. Winners get $2000 cash and $500 in Threadless credit, with the possibility to earn more through Bestee awards, poster prints, and reprints.
The latest Threadless Loves competition is arguably the most impressive yet. For Threadless Loves Travel, they're looking for shirt designs that involve (duh) travel. And they're providing a huge reward to the designer who does it the best.
Enter before October 22nd, 2008 for your chance to win the massive prize package, which includes round trip airfare for two to Reykjavik, 2-night hotel accommodations and a Golden Circle tour of Iceland, $1,000 credit at a travel site, an original Calexico song inspired by your design, original artwork from Victor Gastelum, a signed copy of the new Calexico record Carried to Dust, and a Dakine Split Roller 90 Travel Bag- all in addition to Threadless's typical prize of $2000 and a $500 Threadless gift certificate.
Sunday, September 21
Metal Plated Horn by everybodylovesirine is my favorite shirt of the week. I love the complication of it, and the grittiness of the design (it is distressed with inky speckles throughout). The large size and soft colors let you really dig in to the quality of the drawing. The lines of the skull are pleasingly ornate, which does a great job of setting this apart from DBH's other skull-themed shirts.
Red Blue Mixup by Vo1ture isn't something I particularly enjoy- I feel that it comes off a bit like a hodgepodge of unrelated elements. But I do think it's a worthwhile print for a couple of reasons. One, it's pretty dramatically unlike most of the other designs in the shop (it feels more technical than organic). And two, the closeups are pretty sweet. It's really the composition as a whole that isn't up to par- taken in small portions, it's a lot more functional. I'm not a fan of the vector collage thing, but for people who are this is a decent take on it.
Circe Berman by tomburns centers around a great shirt concept: a woman with a visible skeleton. The all over print is incredibly attractive, with different shades of red hair covering the entire front of the shirt. It's an amazing piece... except maybe for one thing. The face creeps me out A LOT. The lips look so cartoonishly inflated that I'm reminded more of wax lips than a human face, and given the way the design centers on the face, it's enough to prevent a buy.
You Were Here A Second Ago... by guillotine0084 is a shirt I'm a bit torn on. I think the concept is great, but the execution feels lacking. What works for me is the interaction of the stripes and how the missing creatures are shown in negative space. But the colors of the stripes themselves feel chosen at random, and it bothers me that the animals shown have no size relationship to each other (especially the birds). Another issue for me is that the text is dead center in the design, and on stripes that seem dramatically cleaner than the others. It's a solid idea, but I think it needed more work to live up to its potential.
Same Bird, Different Day! by shibbiy uses an interesting contrast of style. The almost photographic hand, the line drawing of the bird, and the organic feel of the color splashes are at first glance so different that it feels almost collaged. The difference of the elements is magnified for me by the way the bird seems to almost- but not quite- rest on the finger. But what saves the design for me is the treatment of the color splashes. They relate to the shape of the bird and the edges give the impression of feathers.
Design By Humans is an on-going t-shirt design contest that prints new shirts every weekday. Prints are chosen from the shirts submitted by and voted on by DBH members. Shirt of the Day winners receive $500 cash and $250 DBH credit. Shirt of the Week winners get $1000 cash. Shirt of the Month gets $1500 cash and $250 credit. Winners also have an opportunity to earn residuals through the Rockstar Awards Program.
Saturday, September 20
CafePress is looking for political tees in the Sport Your Support contest. The contest has two ways to participate, through designs or through words. Designs should answer the question "What are you voting for?" Slogans should complete the phrase "I'm voting for..." and use the EZ Designer.
Enter before October 12th, 2008 for your chance to win. The first place winner will receive travel accommodations and tickets to the inauguration party. Second place will be awarded a Gibson guitar. Third place is good for a signed Shepard Fairey print. Each winner also walks away with Rock the Vote gear and a CafePress gift certificate.
Friday, September 19
Scribtee has added two new winners to their catalog. First up is Pencil by RikkiB- it's very much the style you'd expect from her given her past work, but the fact that all those doodles flow out of a drawn pencil adds a nice twist. Luz by Ninhol also strikes me as being very doodle-style, kind of an upside-down lightbulb made of homes and flowers. Truthfully, the shape is a bit off-putting to me as it isn't quite the right shape for a bulb- it makes me feel as though there's a joke here I'm not quite getting. But the colors are nice, and it's certainly good-looking.
Winners at Scribtee win $500, and are typically announced monthly. As with other contests, site users can vote to influence which shirt designs will be printed.
Thursday, September 18
Collar Free currently has a contest underway set to find the best political t-shirt for each of the presidential candidates. They're looking for originality, designs that include imagery, and things that make a positive statement about the candidates.
Enter before October 6th, 2008 for your chance to win. One Obama winner and one McCain winner will be chosen, each earning $250, 20 shirts with their design, and 10% of the profits of their design's sales. If other entries are printed, they will also receive 10% royalties on their work.
Wednesday, September 17
Design By Humans is currently looking for shirts to print during their Halloweek celebration. But act fast, as there's only a two week window to enter. As long as it suits the season, anything goes for design and printing techniques.
Enter before September 30th, 2008 for your chance to win. Five designs will be chosen, and each winner will receive $500 cash and a $250 DBH gift certificate.
Tuesday, September 16
Uneetee's newest winner is their best in awhile, Paper Motions by Jason Pursian. I love the way the morphing of the paper translates into the plane's motion in the wind. It's unique, and maybe even a bit dreamy- that transition from ordinary paper into something that takes flight is a nice mirroring of the creative process, making this something that anyone can appreciate, from office worker to burgeoning artist.
Uneetee chooses winners from the designs submitted by and voted on by site members. Winners receive $1500, with the chance to earn more through reprints.
Here's a great contest for creatives who aren't necessarily interested in designing shirts. Shirt City has teamed up with Daily Motion and they're looking for videos of all sorts, from fake ads to drama to animation, as long as it features t-shirts.
One winner will earn $1000. Second place is good for 100€ at Scribtee or Shirt City and video editing software from Magix. Third place also receives the editing software, along with 50€ at Scribtee or Shirt City. Even better, they've pledged to reward every half decent entry with a free shirt of the entrant's choice. Check here for the official entry page.
Monday, September 15
Emptees member QuakerNinja has posted a great list of all the freely available portfolio sites on the internet, along with descriptions and commentary on their advantages. This is a great resource for anyone who is thinking about showcasing their shirt design work.
While you're at Emptees, also check out the rest of their Resources section. You'll find design process examples, tips on online contests, interviews with people in the industry and more.
Bread Barber by Patchadapim Sansiripun (monkeypim) is my favorite shirt of the week because it has a classic Threadless theme (food with faces, cute cartoon style) but it still feels totally fresh. The bread's butter flip makes for an adorable haircut, nicely contrasted with the roll's hair and mustache. The subtle color daubs make for nice shading, it's textural enough to communicate the qualities of the bread well. Over all, a great package.
Striped Bird by Sebastian Guadarrama Gomez (RNA) is a very appropriate winner of the Lomography competition. From beginning to end, the entire composition relates back to photography. The half-toned bird image is photoreal, displayed on stripes of film, all done up in colors inspired by a camera. It's very unique, and I like the way the film gives the feeling of a striped shirt. My quibble here is with the printing- a larger print size would give more of that striped feeling which I think would be superior.
The Three Ploogs by Gary Panter is this week's Select... and really, it's a pity that this was made into a t-shirt instead of a print. The art is quite nice, it's just at heart indicative of a basic failure to consider the medium. It's a rectangle of art, centered on the chest. Not terrifically exciting, which is in direct contrast to the coolness of the illustration (which has a bunch of fun, sketchy creatures). I find myself wishing someone on staff would have taken a minute to explain shirt design to this guy, because he's capable of much, much better.
Liquid Shot by Jonas Hovden (jonasbmf) is like the Pink Floyd prism, only with a bullet in place of the rainbow. The contrast of the solid geometry and photographic elements is striking. It feels familiar but still fresh, almost like the realism of the bullet is destroying the purity of the shape. The splashy entrance of the bullet looks fantastic, though I'm less sold on the exit- maybe it's correct, I have no real way of knowing for sure, but the angles as it leaves the shape look much less well-done than the entry curves. Still a great shirt regardless.
The Last F*ckin' Unicorn by Dick Firestorm is pretty much a parody of metal shirts, taking an even more bombastic approach to those symbols than even metal favors. There's a scantily clad lady riding a dragon who breathes flames in the shape of a skull to chomp on a unicorn, it's completely nuts. The art is really well done, it's just very genre-based, which I think means that for all the comedy, it's still a shirt that will be almost exclusively worn by metal types. Truthfully, given the attitudes people have about metal iconography, I'm not sure this would even read as comedy to the average person at all. Without the title and the designer's history on Threadless as evidence, it's possible that no one would look past their initial impression to see that humor.
Threadless prints new shirts every week, chosen from the designs submitted by and voted on by site members. Winners get $2000 cash and $500 in Threadless credit, with the possibility to earn more through Bestee awards, poster prints, and reprints.
Sunday, September 14
The Prophecy by a_mar_illo is my favorite shirt this week at DBH. It's an intriguing mix of architectural elements and portraiture, with rich detailing that makes me want to take a closer look. I have to admit, though, that while I love the drawing the colors aren't the most appealing for me. I'm hoping this is exaggerated by the photography, but that particular shade of sea foam used as highlight in this piece is really off-putting for me. I hope it's less bright in person.
Birdhay v2 by aman was a winner in DBH's Unity Through Art contest. It's probably my favorite of those shirts, largely because the bird characters are so much fun. From their empty eyes to the great feathery texture, they draw the eye. The problem for me is that the logo speech bubbles grab my eye even more, flipping the balance from a shirt with a logo on it into a shirt that promotes a logo. Having three logos right at the top is excessive, to the point where it kills my willingness to wear this. I got interested in buying shirts online in part so I wouldn't have to wear as many logo shirts, so this is pretty opposite to my interests.
Eye Of Providence by Tees is, again, a cool shirt marred by DBH's branding. If not for the line of text displaying the site's name that splays from shoulder to shoulder, I almost definitely would have bought this. The issue is that the text Design By Humans gets prime placement, making it a major focal element- but it's not, in and of itself, an interesting phrase or something I want to get behind (for comparison purposes, A Better Tomorrow has a company name that also makes a great slogan, which keeps even their branded items very wearable for me). The contest's Unity Through Art title makes for a much better slogan, so it's inclusion on the shirt works for me. At any rate, the illustration quality is great, so I'm a bit sad that the branding wasn't done more subtly.
We Just Started With Art by deyaz honestly cracked me up when I saw that it won. Not because it's a bad shirt, but because it's so expected. The DBH logo with huge paint splatters behind it... really? Really really? It looks decent and all, but it's very similar to any number of prints they're already done... just with a huge logo on it. I'd prefer seeing more innovation.
Soft as the Breeze Strong as a Hurricane by image620 is a nice illustration (if a bit uninspired), with a really great shirt placement. The art fills the fabric brilliantly, with a nice motion in the lines that keeps the eye moving around. I'm just really not fond of the shirt color- the cream shirt interacts oddly with the blue-ish white ink behind the figure, which I think makes the shirt color look like a mistake. It's an odd color interaction, which I'm hoping is a photography issue and not something as present in the actual shirt.
Design By Humans is an on-going t-shirt design contest that prints new shirts every weekday. Prints are chosen from the shirts submitted by and voted on by DBH members. Shirt of the Day winners receive $500 cash and $250 DBH credit. Shirt of the Week winners get $1000 cash. Shirt of the Month gets $1500 cash and $250 credit. Winners also have an opportunity to earn residuals through the Rockstar Awards Program.
iStockPhoto has a huge membership, and they've decided that they need shirts for fans of the site to wear. Designs should have a maximum of three colors and should include at least one image from iStockPhoto. Learn more here.
Enter before October 9th, 2008 for your chance to win. Five winners will each receive $500 and a copy of their design.
Saturday, September 13
I made this. It is at TeeFury for today only.
TeeFury is always looking for new artists. Printed work earns $1 per shirt sold, and the artist maintains full rights to the design (which means you can have it printed somewhere else later on). Sign up here.
Cameesa's first fully crowd-funded print is a tee sure to capture the hearts, minds and dollars of the book nerd demographic. Take Me To Your Reader by vonmonkey depicts a book like a UFO, transporting readers to exciting new worlds through a text-filled spotlight. It's definitely a cool image and a unique shirt, and the monotone imagery gives it the feeling of an antique book illustration.
Cameesa has a unique way of determining which shirts print. They let the community control each design's destiny, as users literally fund designs they like by investing in their future. Each shirt requires 50 investors. Investors put $20 towards the design, which pays off in the form of a free shirt and a percentage of sales once the design begins selling. Successful artists receive $500 and a percentage of sales each time the shirt is sold.
Friday, September 12
Neighborhoodies' Design for the People contest is one that anyone can participate in, because all it takes to win is to email your great shirt idea to cameron@neighborhoodies.com, with your explanation at 100 words or less.
This week's theme is Cats. As Neighborhoodies explains, "not only those of the LOL variety: we’re talking kitties, gatos, domestic and wild felines. Because, you know, everyone loves cats." Email your idea before Wednesday, September 17th at noon EST for your chance to win. The winner will make $5 for every purchased order.
This past week's Politics theme yielded a great first place winner, a Monopoly-style card with the text You Have Won Second Prize in a Beauty Contest Collect VP Nomination.
Popdeck has been dominating the skateboard format for awhile now, with their contest awarding designers to the tune of $200 for creating deck designs.
Building on that success, they've teamed up with Urban Outfitters for a shirt contest. The goal is quality, so they're not skimping at all on the extras- artists can use up to 12 colors, specialty inks like foils and flock are available, and they're open to cuts like v-necks. On top of that, they'll be specially dying the shirts to match each designer's specifications. Incredible opportunity, I hope the winners will take full advantage.
This contest will run for four weeks, with winners chosen the following week. Five semi-finalists will receive $400 and their work will be sold in Urban Outfitters stores nationwide. The best selling design gets an even nicer bonus: $1500.
Thursday, September 11
Sure it's not quite a t-shirt, but hats are another great apparel item for artists to experiment with. Fitizen's cap contest is still in beta, but they're boasting a $1000 prize. The next winner will be announced on September 30th, so get your entry in before then.
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