compete-tee-tion

Field Study 01 by Rick Crane (The Paper Crane) is my favorite shirt of the week, a slick, colorful collection of birds. It takes advantage of the wildly differing silhouettes of birds to identify specific types and then uses color to unite them all. The specific colors used bring to mind a sunset for me, and that combined with the motion of the birds flying away makes this piece thought-provoking, capturing the fact that some of these birds might not stay around much longer. The only flaw I see is a couple of typos in the names of the birds- which is very unfortunate, I'm surprised no one checks for these things before they're printed. Still, it's a minor enough detail that it doesn't ruin the shirt.



City Of Freaks by Andy Rementer (andyandy) is this week's select, taking its cues from the underground comics of the seventies. A group of diversely colored and drawn characters walks around the shirt (front and back print), defined with clean lines and solid colors. The real value here is in the creativity of the characters- each one has something interesting and totally unique that draws the eye and ignites the imagination. My favorite is probably the spotted dog with the hat, but there's a lot to like.

Laundry Monkie by Wenceslao Almazan (walmazan) uses superglow ink to create a shirt with two distinct moods. In daylight, an industrious monkey endeavors to clean up his laundry room, taking a moment to play a bit (he is a monkey, after all). But at night, the scene is silhouetted by the moon and it all takes on a more serious look- instead of posing with a laundry basket, the monkey hangs perilously from the spire of a skyscraper. I love the way the design represents both the reality of play and the way it appears in the imagination.



Where The Heart Is by Chris Thornley (Raid71) is the best implementation of the "home is where the heart is" theme I've ever seen, using an artistic dashed line style to convey the warmth and security of home. A couple of details kick the level up even higher- the arterial trees and the van Gogh-inspired sky definitely made me eager to take another look around the composition. Definitely some amazing artistry.



Delimitating Macrocosms by Budi Satria Kwan (radiomode) is a parallel universe cartoon, showing how one scene might exist in other realities. It's mildly funny, but not really a stand-out. I think the main issue is that this sort of cartoon has been done so many times- nothing about this particular version makes the joke feel fresh. A more stylized approach or a different (non-panel) format might have made it seem more unique. Beyond this, it's very rectangular, not something that I think looks too great when worn. You have to be up close and personal before the jokes are clear, and even once there it's not that humorous.

Le Romantique by Matheus Lopes (mathiole) is a gorgeous watercolor-influenced shirt, perfectly expressing the anticipation and hope of the moment. It's also a great use of the shirt, with the flowers beginning on one side and the figure on the opposite side. What especially makes this work is the feeling of discovery as you view the entire design- your experience starts to mirror that of the protagonist. I also like the addition of the hummingbird, which is a nice bit of semi-reality in an imaginative scene.

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.

Labels: threadless

The Hunter by a_mar_illo is to me clearly the best shirt of the week. At first glance it's a well-done and straight-forward portrait of a hunter. A closer look, though reveals a lot of added value. The hunter's feet and gun are firmly planted in the ground like tree trunks and the text treatment of the shirt's title is unusual (the piecemeal collection of letter styles reinforces the rural and old-fashioned feel of the piece).



Big Heart by collisiontheory is, for me, a disappointment. The shirt itself is nothing but a piece of clip art enlarged to cover the entire torso. It's not a choice that I find to be particularly interesting or attractive, and in general I just wish a more imaginative approach had been taken. It would have been a much more successful design for me if the artist had altered the clip art to include some sort of detail- maybe introducing another color, some text, anything that might make this unique. Huge isn't interesting to me, there needed to be more going on here.

Shiva & Parvathi by vespamike1 is a good-looking piece with some really great coloring. It's also got a nice retro vibe and a clean, crisp style. Overall, a very nice shirt- though I admit I have some hangups about wearing a shirt featuring the gods of a religion I'm not that familiar with. It might just be me, but I'm a little uncomfortable wearing images that people literally worship in a purely decorative way. I mean, I doubt anyone would mind, I'd just feel weird about it.



Pollution Effect by goenz is another skull shirt, yes, but with a difference. It uses a fun color palette and a collection of icons and creatures to communicate the damage that pollution causes. I'm especially a fan of the grumpy faces on the vehicles- it's definitely funny to think of the cars as polluting against their own wishes.

Feelin' Lucky by ianleino is a heap of lucky items. While it's been done on a shirt before, the particular items included in this collection are funnier than what I've seen done previously- in particular, the inclusion of Kentucky cracked me up. On the men's shirt, the placement feels strange to me- the way it occupies the upper right quadrant of the shirt so precisely kind of kills the motion of the objects. I feel the larger placement on the girls shirt is more successful.

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.

Labels: design by humans

No, it's not a t-shirt, but it's definitely a cool chance to design some apparel. Hathead is looking for cool hat designs, and winners stand to make $250. There are a variety of templates available, so you can design anything from a traditional cap to a visor to a military-style hat.

Labels: hathead, hats

Labels: coupon code, design by humans, sale

Shirt.Woot has announced another derby, this time with an Independence theme. Here's what they had to say about it:

In our infancy and our dotage, we rely on others to survive. In between, it's all up to us. This week, we're calling on you to explore the theme of independence. From the hatchling leaving the nest to the sovereign nation assuming its place on the world stage, from the gal who runs a tiny record label from her basement to the guy who lives off the grid in a solar-powered bunker, independence is about standing alone, following your chosen path, and throwing overpriced tea into the ocean. And while you're celebrating freedom from oppression, make sure you follow these oppressive rules:

Your design must be on a Red, White, or Royal Blue shirt.

You may only use one ink color, but it may be any color.

And no text.
Keep in mind that these shirts won't even go on sale until the 4th of July, so we're not looking for something you'd necessarily wear on the 4th of July.

Labels: derby, shirt.woot

A Better Tomorrow has a new competition, the Typo Shirt Contest. They print great shirts so I'm a fan, but I can't confidently give too much information on this contest since I don't speak German.

So here's the deal. Read here for details on the contest. Then hit up a translation site and puzzle out the details. A prize of 500 euros is surely worth the effort.

Labels: a better tomorrow, typo, typography

Glass Boutique's t-shirt design competition has entered into its voting stage. Vote now to determine the winners!

Labels: glass boutique

Uneetee's newest winner is Imogen by Jimiyo. As with his other pieces, it is a complex, attention-getting composition full of both bold, motion-filled shapes and meticulous detail. The concept is something that I think will instantly resonate with an reader- fantastic elements swirling around and emerging from a book. The colors make it a stand-out piece as well, with bright, crisp golds that pop on the navy blue fabric. I'd consider this another opportunity to get DBH-quality art at Uneetee's lower price.

Uneetee choses winners from the designs submitted by and voted on by site members. Winners receive $1500, with the chance to earn more through reprints.

Labels: uneetee

Threadless has launched another Loves competition, centering around True Stories. The winner could be not only a shirt, but also the cover of Fray's next volume (which will include stories with a "sex and death" theme).

Enter before July 23rd, 2008 for your chance to win the prize package, which includes a subscription (and two guest subscriptions) to Fray quarterly, $150 in Blurb scrip (redeemable for professional-quality books), Autographed Stephen Toblowsky's Birthday Party DVD, an outgoing voicemail message recorded by Stephen Toblowsky, an autographed Stephen Toblowsky's Birthday Party poster in addition to the customary Threadless prize of $2000 cash and a $500 Threadless gift certificate.

Labels: loves threadless, threadless, true stories

Cake Is Awesome! by Matt "The Cake Comrade" Palmer (bananaphone) is cute, simple, and most importantly a lot of fun. The cake rocker's frosting takes on the look of disheveled hair, and the lightning lets you know that he's serious about the level of awesome. I'm a little torn on the shadow (it looks pretty dark in the product pics), but otherwise it's very solid.



Lost City by Guillaumit is this week's Select, a collection of solid shapes that looks both like eastern architecture and a cat-like face. Something about the bright colors and surreal imagery makes me think of this as what the best eighties video game that never happened might have looked like. Definitely a favorite of the Selects I've seen lately, it is both interesting and wearable and it fills the space of the shirt very well.

Cooking With Friends by Kat Moon (steamedbun) shows two chef bears who literally cook their pals. The idea is reasonably cute (particularly the penguin stuffed into a measuring cup), but the style is what makes it a winner. Instead of relying solely on the smoothly curved shapes, the animals are given a burst of personality and dimension with some textured lines and uneven edges to show fur. The shirt color choice, though, was a disappointment to me- I think by using a shirt color so close to the coloring of the ink, this design lost all its visibility at all but the closest viewing distances.



Keeping Up With The Boneses by Ryan Alamillo (ryeofcali) is line art at its best, featuring a collection of framed portraits of skeletons. The arrangement of images is nice, with different shapes and sizes in close proximity to each other. But of course, the composition really sings in close up, where you notice all the fun details (the skeleton cat clock is especially nice). The cracks in the walls are a great detail that help to establish an environment for this wall.



I'm Waiting For You In The Rain by Yeoh Guan Hong (yeohgh) is innovative in the way it uses the falling rain to define the shape of the main character. The figure is further described with some bright orange illustration that calls out a few more defining features. I love that this got printed, because it relies only on art instead of on cuteness or pop culture references. This is the kind of visual experimentation I'd like to see more of.

Making Mythology by Jason Sho Green is a great idea (I think everyone has wondered what had to happen for mythical creatures to exist) that is very charmingly illustrated. Unfortunately, I'm not sure it's a great fit for the medium- the six drawings don't feel connected to each other, and they don't fill the shirt in an interesting way. I think a different way of arranging the idea on the shirt would have been beneficial. Strangely, this would be a pretty nice arrangement for a zip-up hoodie, so I was disappointed that it wasn't offered as a purchase option.

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.

Labels: threadless

Concentric Downpour by ohbarrett is the most distinctive shirt printed this week, showing a Hitchcock-looking fellow caught in a storm of falling circles. The major strengths of the shirt, to me, are the colors (fresh and interesting) and the unique placement, wherein the circles encompass the entire collar, spilling over both sides of the shirt. It's definitely a solid piece, though I find myself questioning the way the umbrella guy just seems to hover in space- it might have been a bit more cohesive for me if the ground was hinted at or if the man was placed at the bottom of the hem.



Tiger Tiger Tiger by Godmachine is a really great tiger illustration, copied three times in three colors for a motion effect. Unfortunately, the 3d thing is a bit lost on me- I think it does more to muddy the quality of the drawing than to enhance it. I suspect the style would work better with a simpler drawing, or maybe three very similar drawings. But in its current state, I'd much rather have had a shirt with just one tiger.

Stay Fresh! by Incarnadine is a cool, interesting text design that also makes a statement. It rails against the overuse of skulls with words that form that familiar shape, but in creating a skull in such a unique way it also supports the point the text makes. The use of pink also adds some interest to the piece.



Cryptozoology by sonmi is probably my favorite shirt this week. I say probably, because the lack of decent product pictures makes it hard to appreciate the details. I definitely love the way illustration and text intertwine, it's just disappointing that I can't see some of the smaller text properly or get close enough to identify more of the creatures.

reCYCLE by viiieast uses bicycles to make a machine. Specifically, the bike tires function like water wheels. The water is probably the best element in the piece for me, because those blue droplets shake up the otherwise grey composition and move the eye around. The stripes in the background are another nice choice- it gives the water machine an environment to exist in. While usually the boxyness of the design would bother me, I think it's actually a strength here as it gives an industrial feeling to the 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.

Labels: design by humans

ROYGBIV is a design contest looking for entries that fit one of three themes: Out on a Limb, Shoot for the Moon, and One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure.

This is a tiered contest with two stages. 16 preliminary selections will chosen from submissions and will each receive $500. From there, sales will determine 8 winners who will receive an additional $2000.

The submission deadline is July 1st, 2008. Designs will be posted for voting on July 15th and finalists will be announced in August. Winners will be available for purchase at a major national retailer.

Labels: roygbiv

It's no secret that I'm becoming a pretty bug fan of A Better Tomorrow, and great shirts like this week's winner are why. 12 Masks Cannot Lie by Metamephisto is a swirling masterpiece, looking a bit like a great animation sequence paused at just the right dramatic moment. The masks give the smoky mass a unique sort of character, making it easy to see it as having more than a bit of mischief in its motion. Unique and interesting work.

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.

Labels: a better tomorrow

Shirt.Woot has announced a new Derby theme:

Whether they're insects, spiders, centipedes, or scorpions, the kind of bugs we're talking about have a couple of things in common: they have a lot of legs, and you don't want them in your pantry. They don't have to be real: feel free to imagine insectoid robots, or spidery aliens, or humanoid lice wearing people clothes, or the bugs of a post-apocalyptic future. They can crawl or fly or swim. But we're not talking about any other meaning of "bug": computer bugs, or audio bugs, or bugging people, or bugging out, or even our own Dave Bug. We're looking for the creepy crawly kind.

No text once again.

Labels: derby, shirt.woot

Phantom Planet and crowdSPRING are working together to find the perfect shirt for the band's upcoming tour. To that end, they've put up a variety of logos and photos as materials for submitters to use in creating Phantom Planet shirts. There are no color restrictions, it just needs to work as a design for both genders.

Enter before June 26th, 2008 for your chance to win the $500 prize.

Labels: crowdspring, phantom planet

Design By Humans has just begun their second themed contest and are looking for shirt design submissions for the band Forever the Sickest Kids. Entries should be based on their album's title, Underdog Alma Mater.

Enter before July 15th for your chance to win the prize package of $1000 cash, $250 iTunes gift card, a signed FTSK poster and free shirts with your printed design.

Labels: design by humans, forever the sickest kids

Uneetee's newest winning shirt is Dove of Peace by Candy Chuah. It's in that category of designs that create one object out of many small ones that hold the opposite meaning. Because war is so often used with the stated intent of creating peace, it works especially well. A couple of things are preventing me from fully embracing this shirt, though. For one, as I said in my review of one of Design By Human's shirts a couple of days ago, the idea of combining elements of war and peace into one structure like this has been done to death, so it no longer feels fresh. Secondly, the word Peace is actually spelled out in the design, smack dab in the middle of the dove. To me, it completely dumbs down the concept- it was more than obvious enough without the text, and the text breaks up the flow of the arrangement. It's not a bad shirt by any means, but it doesn't feel particularly refined or unique to me.

Uneetee choses winners from the designs submitted by and voted on by site members. Winners receive $1500, with the chance to earn more through reprints.

Labels: uneetee

Playing God by Aaron Hogg (hogboy) envisions religion as a video game, with a deity dispensing death and destruction for big points. Just as this is the most basic type of game possible, the style chosen is to mirror early games like asteroid- the bold colors and geometry look great. Another brilliant move is the use of humor- the details like the omnipotence powerup and inventory of plagues help the design to remain funny and engaging even after the first wearing.



The Impossible Escape by Alex Purdy is this week's Select, and sadly despite the great artist it is not one of the better shirts this week. The concept is kind of weak (I wish the illusion triangle's escape had something to do with his odd shape instead of just happening for no reason). And while gradients can be used really nicely, they feel tacked on here to me, not bold enough to really merit their use. The real killer for me is the shape- I just feel that large squares don't do much to enhance the look of the person wearing them, and it certainly doesn't take advantage of the t-shirt medium. Disappointing.

Self-Sufficient by Aled Lewis (fatheed) is an impeccably executed illustration, from the textures to hieroglyphic graffiti details. The fatal flaw for me is in the concept itself- Ew. There's literally a corpse on a toilet. It's the kind of thing I suspect I could get past if the style was less realistic or the joke was more innovative, but as it stands I'm thinking the toilet joke limits the audience pretty severely. The composition on the shirt is a bit iffy to me as well, as it feels more off-balance than I'm comfortable with. I still think it would make a decent Halloween shirt, though selling it in the middle of summer is a bit of an odd choice.



A Rustic Hat Rack by Michael Blaine Myers Jr. (slaterock) is a piece that manages to be both artistic and funny. The deer's curious expression seems to convey that he has no idea how the hats got there- but he doesn't really mind. The subtle background replicates the experience of wandering through a foggy forest and stumbling upon something unexpected, a perfect fit for the subject matter. I'm also fond of how the forest floor fades out into a root system, which is a clever way to refer back to the structure of the antlers. Maybe the thing that sells this design the most, though, is the color- that shock of light blue infuses the scene with a uniquely otherworldly character, and also works as a bit of a cliff notes for the design, pointing out all the most important elements quickly and clearly with that burst of light.



Bedrest by Yoshi Andrian Amtha is an odd shirt, which makes the strange color choices totally perfect. The focus of the shirt is on a speech box containing a looming hammer, with highlights and angle conveying its heft well. The rest of the scene feels much less resolved, particularly the lines on the thumb (many of which don't seem to be curved properly). The lack of care in terms of the piece jumps out at me in the shapeless lumps of clothes some fingers wear, and the rough facial expressions. Maybe a shirt focusing on strangeness doesn't necessarily need to be beautiful as well, but the fact that this reads more as carelessness than simplicity is troubling. I can't help but feel that one more round of revisions could have made this a dramatically stronger shirt.

Lemon Aid by Jeff Battocletti (Ellsswhere) is a great summer shirt, illustrating the classic summer lemonade experience from a different angle. I love the idea of a dedicated team of lemons who rush in to save the lives of their juiced and sliced brethren. The style is at the same high level as the concept, recreating the uniquely textured skin of the fruit in an attractive and accurate way.

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.

Labels: threadless

The Other Side by campkatie is my favorite shirt of the week. It does a great job of conveying the dual nature of the face, with bold lines and glam rock style. Specifically, I'm a huge fan of the colorway used in the female version of this shirt- I think that, despite the lack of gore, it's one of the more successful creepy-cool designs I've seen. On the girl's shirt, the skull imagery reads a lot more clearly.



I Dig You by j3concepts is another of the artist's great collage pieces, using bold, bright shapes to create a host of amusing characters and objects. The creatures are a lot of fun, especially the blue one with large trousers who politely lifts his hat. The hang up for me is that the centerpiece of the design is an oversized pair of lips. It's just not the most wearable thing to me, as I'm creeped out by facial features being blown up like that. It's still a good shirt, just not for me.

Lion --art by deyaz is another favorite of mine this week. The pattern filling the animal is really intricate and engrossing. There's just one factor that isn't sitting well with me- the paint drips. Paint drips are seriously overused in general, but its even worse here because it makes no sense- nothing about the design looks painted. Still, it's a relatively minor element so it doesn't hurt the piece as a whole as much as it could have.



Greenpeace by von_brandis is a one-color design that fills a bomb with images of nature and peace. It's a classic theme, to be sure, and the execution is solid. My hangup is that it's not particularly unique to me- a huge heart, eight billion leaves and flowers... I think it might have benefited from a more imaginative or experimental approach, as this territory has been pretty thoroughly mined in the past.

Must Destroy the City by Recycledwax is a great use of a huge print- you definitely get the feeling of these huge robots overwhelming the city even as they overwhelm the shirt. I enjoy the cuteness of the chaos, conveyed through curving lines and a soft color palette that includes pink and light blue. I especially like that one robot seems to be grasping for the neck of the wearer- it's so huge, the action almost seems to flow right off the fabric.

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.

Labels: design by humans

itself is a new clothing brand employing some crowd-sourcing to design and choose their t-shirt designs. Join up to vote on the designs in the running or to submit your own work.

Winners at itself get $1750 cash and $250 in itself credits for the first run of 3000 printed. If the first run is a huge success, a second run may be printed to earn the designer an additional $1750 cash and $250 credit. Since the contest is on-going, there is no cutoff for submissions and winners can be printed at any time.

Labels: itself

Here's the blurb for Shirt.Woot's newest Derby:

Home. It's where the heart is, where you hang your hat, where you go to play with your toys, where you turn when you need subject matter for a heartwarming cliche. Home can be a split-level ranch, a jail cell, a space station, an underground burrow, an entire planet. And it can be taken away, as millions of Americans are now discovering. If your homey shirt design can win the hearts of the voters, it will find a good home on one of our Woot tees. Now let's go home!

No text this week.

Labels: derby, shirt.woot

TastyThreads is a new on-going t-shirt design competition. For purchasers, they offer the satisfaction of buying organic shirts that have been printed using sustainable methods. Additionally, 10% of each shirt's profits support a non-profit.

Artists also benefit from the site, which offers $250 or 10% of the proceeds for winning designs.

Labels: tastythreads

A Better Tomorrow's newest contest winner is In Their Minds by Jeffer. I like the dreamy color scheme and the illustrative style. The use of patterns (the dots and the swirly bits in the background) unites the piece, and also gives it even more surrealism. Something I especially enjoy is the way the dream plays off the reality of the scene- both characters incorporate the banana into their imaginings in different ways.

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.

Labels: a better tomorrow

Uneetee's newest winner is Something On Top by Kaya. The leaves of the tee form... um, something. An animal. Maybe some sort of elephant/pig crossbreed? Yeah, to be honest I don't really get this one. I've seen the animals in leaves thing done much better, and this just feels unfinished.

Uneetee choses winners from the designs submitted by and voted on by site members. Winners receive $1500, with the chance to earn more through reprints.

Labels: uneetee

Squeegee Clean by Reilly Stroope is the winner of the Threadless Loves Revolution competition. In some ways, it's a great choice- to the best of my knowledge, it is the first shirt submitted to a design contest that uses color to cut a shirt in half this way. But while the method of the print was, at the time, unique, it was printed after a similar (though perhaps more widely appealing) shirt at DBH, Blackbirds Attackin' in the Dead 'O' Night. It sort of strikes me as being similar to another Threadless shirt, I Hate Stripes, except on a larger scale. So to me, it's not particularly revolutionary, but still a solid shirt.



Misplaced Divinity by Rocky Davies (Rockslide) is, frankly, the kind of drawing most people wouldn't even think of wearing, which is exactly why I'm glad it printed. It features a sort of deconstructed hero, whose body explodes and disconnects. In particular the way his leg bones are freed from the skin skeeves me out spectacularly. I wouldn't wear it, but it's so unique that I respect it a lot. This kind of experimentation is what keeps the medium fresh.

And How Are You Feeling Today? by Jan Avendano (funkie fresh) is a cool concept, and I love the color. The style loses me, though I acknowledge that this is a very subjective thing. Because while I really like the way it is printed, and the subject matter, the stiffness of the lines makes it awkward and unfinished to me. I think a style with more flowing of the lines would be a better fit for such a huge print- my eyes get hung up on the detail and miss out on the concept in the current style.



Uprising by David Creighton-Pester (WanderingBert) is my favorite print this week. The artist has been long overdue for a win (his shirt Finding Technicolor at Shirt.Woot is amazing). And this shirt is a great way to kick off what I hope will be a Threadless winning streak- it's unique in terms of the other shirts Threadless has printed, and it's an interesting, painterly approach to the medium. I really enjoy the motion and the colors of the strokes.



Ticket To Ride by Olly Moss (Woss) is classic. From afar, it's a clean plane icon. At a medium distance, you get the joke- the plane is made of tickets. And up close, there's even more to discover, because each ticket has some sort of joke worth exploring (I especially like the movie ticket for Apocalypse Soon). Awesome work.

Headhunter by Joshua Prince aka Dust LA Rock has some serious potential, though to me it feels unfinished. I like the idea of a silhouetted dude with his headpiece and shoulder decorations called out. I love the way the body unravels rather than ending abruptly. But the highlighting method of the shadow is extremely uncomfortable to me- it feels very muddy and distracting, taking my attention away from the cool colors happening elsewhere. Overall, I think another few rounds of revisions might have produced a tighter design.

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.

Labels: loves threadless, revolution, sale, threadless

Bold is Beautiful by jfinley is not only the best shirt DBH printed this week, it's also probably the most impressive print they've ever done. The amount of color (9 inks, though it looks like even more) and the large size both make this stand out from the crowd. While I love it, though, one single element is preventing a buy- the entire design feels like it should sit 3 to 4 inches higher on the shirt than it does. I still might crack and buy it, because it is an amazing piece, but that one factor causes it to fall just short of perfection.



Big Wolf! by yehteh is a tremendous illustration, with a fresh color palette that really grabs the eye. White speckles convey the hugeness as well, as though this creature is looming large among the stars. Strangely, the bigness is exactly what turns me off about this shirt- it's so overwhelming that it takes a certain type of person to pull it off without looking ridiculous.

Parasite by Andreas_Mohacsy is interesting to me because of the way it plays with size. The protagonist is a large monstery fellow, but the real action takes place in his mouth: a woman lounges among his teeth, with the saliva river swirling around her and dripping out in between his teeth. It's a cool idea, and I like the way it becomes a totally different shirt based on how far away you are when you see it.



Now, Let's Remain Civil, Gentlemen by Incarnadine is a great illustration. The use of pattern, color and texture is very well done, which really helps engage the viewer in all areas of the design. The hang-up for me is that I don't really care for the subject matter. Nothing about this dude makes him something I would wear- I'm a little confused about the "why" of it. So while I think the art is good, I'd rather hold out and spend money on a shirt where both the art and the concept knocked me out.

Once Upon a Time by casajordi is, to me, by far this artist's most successful shirt design so far. While I'm often uninterested in his work because I feel the emphasis is on the stock art, in this piece the composition itself is what shines. It's still a bit imperfect in the execution (the shape of the art, and the way it fades, feels unfinished to me) but I think it's still a great evolution from his past work.

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.

Labels: design by humans

Red Is White is a t-shirt design competition with a twist- unlike other sites where anything goes, they're specifically looking for faith-inspired designs.

This contest is on-going, and printed designers earn $400 cash, $100 in Red is White credit, and $2 per shirt sold (once the initial run of 250 shirts is completed).

Labels: red is white

Threadless's newest themed contest is Threadless Loves Lomography. Lomography is all about experimenting with photography, and the goal of this competition is to demonstrate one of the 10 Golden Rules of Lithography through a shirt design.

Here are the rules that submitters can choose from: 1) Take your camera everywhere you go. 2) Use it anytime – day and night. 3)This is not an interference in your life, but a part of it. 4) Try the shot from the hip. 5) Approach the objects of your desire as close as possible. 6) Don't think. 7) Be fast. 8) You don't have to know beforehand what you've captured. 9) Afterwards either. 10) Don't worry about any rules.

The winner will walk away with a substantial photographic prize package, including a Lomo LC-A+, a LC-A+ Wide-Angle Lens, a Splitzer, a Colorsplash Flash, a Leather Sidekick Bag, a DianaF+, a Diana+ Fisheye Lens, a Fisheye 2, 10 rolls LomoX-Pro film, and 10 rolls assorted 120 film, which is in addition to the customary Threadless prize of $2000 cash and a $500 Threadless gift certificate.

The deadline for entries is July 5th 2008.

Labels: lomography, loves threadless, threadless

Shirt.Woot has picked an interesting theme for their newest derby: Green. It's a bit unconventional:

Some may call green a secondary color, but it takes a back seat to no hue. Operating between 520 and 570 nanometers on your visual dial, it's the color of plants, of money, of jealousy, of eco-marketing. From Ireland to Libya, from the Taliban to the Green Berets, green is richly laden with mixed meanings. Pick out one, or two, or more and design a green-themed shirt that will make you lots of money and make everybody else jealous.

Your design must be on a green (or grass) shirt, or include at least one green ink color, in addition to dealing with "green" conceptually.

No text this week.

And let us remind you right now that plain green shirts, shirts dealing with marijuana, or shirts featuring copyrighted material (Green Lantern, Kermit the Frog, The Green Mile, etc.) will be rejected.

Labels: derby, shirt.woot

Uneetee's newest shirt is Scream by Yoshi Andrian Amtha. It's a cool idea to make a mouth constructed out of speakers, and it is certainly well-done... but man does it ever creep me out. Maybe this is my own issue and the rest of the world is perfectly happy to wear huge mouths on their shirts. There's just something about staring right into a person's throat, damn.

Uneetee choses winners from the designs submitted by and voted on by site members. Winners receive $1500, with the chance to earn more through reprints.

Labels: uneetee

Spiritual Symphony Fin by Jeff Battocletti (Ellsswhere) is my favorite shirt of the week, a clever drawing that shows how music unites and inspires us. The attention to detail is awesome, and makes it easy to forget that this is a one-color piece because there's so much visual interest.



Do-Re-Mi-Quack! by Jon Barthell (zipperking) is a cute concept that is executed very well- each bird has a great fifties kind of shape and styling, and I love the use of lines on the birds and the branch to give some texture.

The Great Animal Hunt by Ross Zietz (arzie13) looks like a huge all-over word search. Frankly, I don't understand the appeal, as to me it's not terribly attractive and I think I'd dislike having people search my torso for hidden words. For novelty value, it's an interesting idea, but not terribly interesting or wearable in the long run.



Summertime Treat by Eric Zelinski (xiv) just plain looks like summer. It's fresh, brightly colored and huge on the shirt. If ice cream is your favorite thing about summer, then this is the shirt for you.



Jonah And The Technicolor Whale by Andrew Wilhite (Leroy_Hornblower) looks a bit like a hippie's take on the biblical story to me, combining the imagery of Jonah and the whale with the idea of Jacob's technicolor dreamcoat. I love the almost stitched look of it, it definitely stands out from most shirts through color and style.

Scare List by Budi Satria Kwan (radiomode) shows icons and scientific names for various types of fears. I have to admit, as with a lot of informational shirts, I don't really understand what the appeal is. At any rate, the structure is too blocky on the shirt to really grab me.



All-Conference Squirrel by Brock Davis (Laser Bread) is really charming to me, even though I've never particularly liked football or squirrels. That's the mark of how well-illustrated this concept is, because I'm tempted to buy even though the idea itself leaves me cold.

What Do You Mean You Can't See Him? by Sam Schuna (olie!) takes advantage of UV inks to show a girl's imaginary friend. I love the idea, and the stylization of the creature is a lot of fun (I especially like his little hat), though I have some concerns about how visible the ink is- in the product pictures, it looks fainter than I'd like.



Bedtime Stories by Philip Tseng (pilihp) is one of this week's Selects, standing out both with a great placement (trees travel all the way up the collar) and some really exquisite use of texturing (especially the tree bark). I also enjoy the way every single creature in the piece looks tired, complete with shadows under their eyes.



Shotgun! by Olly Moss (Pornographic) has a cool look, as I like the color scheme and the clean style. The subject matter doesn't speak to me, though- while, like everyone in the world, I have called shotgun a time or two, it is just not something I care about enough to wear. I have no doubt that it will sell really well, but I wish the trend of putting every iota of nostalgia on a shirt would finally end.

Koi Carps Are Cool Too by Martin Krusche (MartinK.) is a seriously intricate illustration of a bunch of fish, who are pimped out with various hats and props. As a drawing, it is amazing to look at because there's just so much going on. I'm not sure it's a great shirt, though- I have a lot of trouble parsing what is going on in the image unless it is in close-up, and to me a great shirt needs to work at all viewing distances.



Giraffes United Against Ceiling Fans by Jason Bergsieker (NomadSlim) is exactly what it sounds like, a crest for giraffes looking to protect their necks. It is one color, with no texture or detail. Frankly, not my cup of tea at all- while I could see some joke shirts making use of a composition like this, to me this joke is just not funny enough to do the trick.

Hey, Mr. Blue Sky by Lim Heng Swee (ilovedoodle) is one of the more innovative shirts I've seen lately. While most trompe l'oeille shirts only have one level of visual trickery, this one has two- first the dark, polluted curtain, and then the clean, blue sky. Another strength is in the use of multiple shading methods to distinguish between elements (line for the curtain, crosshatch for the girl, and halftones for sky).



Captured Nostalgia by Chalermphol Harnchakkham (huebucket) has a brilliantly spare use of color, giving the design a cool seventies vibe. The polaroid camera oozes a rainbow, a neat reference to the saturated look that polaroids are known for. I'd deem this a must-have for photography buffs.



Object Lesson by Dan Rule is another of this week's Selects, featuring a bloated police car. I respect it a lot as a drawing, but it doesn't impress me much on a shirt. It feels bulky, and lacking in the kind of details that make a viewer want to take a closer look.

Nemesis by Gamma is another of this week's Selects. I have absolutely no idea what is going on in the image, but it's enigmatic enough to make me like it despite that. The mixture of solids, light texture and line seems to call out several human forms, bent at interesting angles and melded together. It also looks surprisingly great on the shirt.



Our Secret Tuesdays by Anke Weckmann is yet another Select this week, one that charmed me immediately. While I admit it isn't a perfect fit for the medium (it's more a drawing than a shirt design, and doesn't suit the shirt particularly well), the character work is top tier. Something about the characters' postures and props made this an immediate buy for me, hitting the juncture of whimsical and intriguing.

Magic Is Just Stuff... by Steven Lefcourt is a new Slogan shirt for this week. The slogan itself is pretty cool, but the execution is kind of odd. Why put the words in a square? To me, it had the effect of mirroring the slogan in the sense that it made the type boring.

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.

Labels: sale, threadless

Here's a video with a taste of some of the shirts that will be offered:

Threadless Summer Blockbuster Movie trailer! from Threadless.com on Vimeo.

Labels: $10 sale, sale, threadless

The Suspended by tervaja is my favorite Design By Humans shirt of the week, largely because I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. While a lot of shirts make use of horned animals, this one incorporates an innovative placement that lets the horns flip over the shoulders and cascade down the back of the shirt. They almost look like braids. The lines are well-drawn, and I also appreciate the interesting use of the red rectangles.



The Stripes II by dagnis is another of the artist's abstract pieces. It looks a bit like an artistic take on shredded paper. I like the way the lines lay across the shirt, and the way the white pops so well on the red fabric, but the placement feels off to me. I feel that it would be a more finished looking design if the lines ran off the bottom of the shirt, though.

Wild Wilderness by weaselfarm is a cool riff on fur, melding several wild animals together by uniting their coats. It looks awesome, and is a great use of one color. My only slight complaint is with the production- seems like it would have been a great opportunity to use some process that gave those lines a little texture (maybe high density, flock or suede?). It's still a cool shirt, but it might have just missed being amazing.



Nice to meet you! by cbass99 is an attention-getting greeting shirt composed of two cast metal sorts for the letters H and I. The styling is dead-on, using lines that give it the flavor of a woodcut. And the use of so many print processes (including a background splatter and some embroidery) takes this to an even higher level. I think it's one of the more impressive shirts that DBH has printed.

C-THEORY by aliadotony is another example of why this artist is one of the only people capable of making a great shirt from collaged images. I think the reason I appreciate his work so much is that the images he used are truly just used as tools- the focal point of the shirt is never those individual elements, it is the composition as a whole. That is even more true here than in much of his past work, as the colored shapes are the stars of the piece. It has a great flow to it, and there's always another fun detail to notice.

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.

Labels: design by humans