compete-tee-tion

Sticks and Stones by Ellsswhere has my nod for shirt of the week purely because it's so interesting. When I look at this design, I want to know more about the story behind it. The artwork is spot on, with well-formed musculature on the character, and smoke escaping from his mouth that emits the text WORDS. You get the feeling that although the words haven't destroyed him, he's been cut to the quick and remains standing due to sheer strength and power of will. The only aspect I'm not totally sold on is the Sticks & Stones text- while it does a good job of clarifying the theme, for me it becomes too much of a focal point, detracting attention from stronger areas.



Freedom Fighter by zerobriant is a t-shirt rarity- a design that takes an art-y approach to sport. What really works is the primal, grimy feeling of the paint- it feels both like a cave painting and like a bruise personified. The pose is that of someone who has been battered, but never beaten, and he's still pushing forward to victory. Since I'm not much of a boxing fan, the appeal of this is a bit limited. But for those who are fans, it's hard to imagine a better shirt. If you pick one up, be sure to participate in the artist's contest, which will award a free tee to the best photo submitted of someone wearing Freedom Fighter.

Rainy Days by chantal is a design that, in the thumbnail view, didn't really interest me. It seemed to be a fairly typical rain illustration, with big clouds and raindrops in shades of blue. But when I took a closer look, I realized that there's a lot to enjoy here. I like the hands that loop down from the clouds, clutching umbrellas (or maybe handing them to folks on the ground). And there's a cool textural quality to the rain, separating it from the vector smoothness of the rest. Still not for me, but interesting work.



Real Men Thumbwrestle by Evanimal is undeniably well-done. The massive print is full of details. Where it falls apart for me a bit is in the concept, though. At a basic level, I just don't find thumb wrestling all that funny. Or, more importantly, all that attractive and worthy of wearing. The interesting part of this tee to me is the characters, not the huge thumbs. Unfortunately, even amazing artwork is pretty unwearable to me when it is in service of an idea that doesn't capture my imagination.

oldskoolSPEED by tealesm presents the Big Wheel, every kid's favorite tricycle, as a powerful vehicle built for racing. The strong angle of the bike and the roughness of the background give a hardcore edge to something full of the innocence of childhood, which is a neat, understated element of humor. I think for people who wear the sort of design this gently mocks (or are around those who do), it's a pretty solid option.

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

It is my pleasure to present a TeeFury Sneak Peek- this beauty of a parody will be for sale on Monday, June 1st!

As artist Nicholas Tassone says: This design is about lost youth, trying to retain it, and turning into parents who go "WOH WOH WOH!"

So true!

Labels: teefury

Shirt.Woot's newest derby is a perfect fit for summer: BBQ. Here's what they're looking for:

What is it about cooking outdoors that makes everything taste so much better? An open fire under an open sky, the tang of the smoke permeating your clothes, the crunchy surprise of a wayward insect - no wonder this is one of the few habits we've kept from caveman days. This week, let's BBQ.

And by BBQ we mean all forms of recreational outdoor summertime cooking, including weenie roasts, shrimp on the barbie, S'mores, luaus, all of it. Explore the culture of BBQ. Investigate the regional variations of BBQ. Hypothesize about how zombies or Vikings would BBQ. Design something you'd wear while preparing or eating BBQ. Promote your favorite imaginary BBQ place. Have it your way, as long as it's about cooking outdoors for fun and nourishment.

Incidental text is allowed. Text on a BBQ sauce label or a map of BBQ styles is fine. A shirt that just says something like "What Are You Roasting Under There?" is not.

Labels: derby, shirt.woot

Full Metal T-Shirts came through with two new prints this week. The first, Dragon Attack by Mike Friedrich, is an intricately halftoned piece. The dragon is very well rendered (with some delightfully sinister empty eyes), but what I'm digging most is the red splotches. They imply both fire and gore well, leaving the design feeling very dangerous and rugged.

Uncharted Space by Denny Unger of WorldWorks Games is the second tee, handpicked by the site. What I like about it is that it does what only DTG can- a huge print, full of color and detail. I've not seen a print like this at any other contest site, and the game tie-in should help ensure its popularity.

FMT chooses a new winner weekly, with that designer earning $100 cash, $100 credit, and $5 cash for each shirt or print sold in the first year. For the theme-inspired, they also have a monthly contest with the same prize- for May, the theme is Robots.

Labels: full metal t-shirt

Party Animal by John Hegquist (quister) was an easy choice for shirt of the week. I love the boldness of it, where a single glance conveys the concept and gets you smiling. The melding of the bull with the rock fist is well done, using a textural, dotted style that unites the piece while granting it some uniqueness and a rough feel. It's good work, and I'd love to see more with this degree of clarity and concept printed.



Frowns are Flesh by Geoff Mcfetridge is the first of this week's Selects, part of the Mumble Collection series. I think the concept here is very strong, setting up a comparison of the struggle of life with the peace of what follows. It's an intriguing image. Where it fails for me is in the execution, which is unappealing and weird. The head is so oddly shaped as to be barely human, killing the idea.

Constellations by Don Pendleton is another Select, and more successful. The interconnected, doodled style is interesting and encourages the viewer to really explore the art. Within the lines, fish, monsters, and more come to life and intersect. While I'm a little wishful that the various elements had greater pull (I like them, but the drawings don't, for the most part, have personality and character that makes me keep thinking about them), overall the work is very nice. And best of all, the art is a nice fit for the tee so it looks great worn.



Escape to Space by Andy Jenkins is the third Select, and easily my favorite of the bunch. What I'm drawn to is the way it uses the shirt, with the smoke trail coming from the hem and the rocket about to blast past the collar. Because it uses the space available so well, it feels like a design made specifically for t-shirts and thus more wearable and exciting. The way the lines of smoke knot around is great, because it implies a story and that takes this beyond just being a space tee. I'm not totally sold on the rough style of the rocket itself- it feels a bit at odds with the vectored crispness of the rest of the design- but it's far from a dealbreaker.

I'm Fascinated by Outer Space by Michael Leon is the last of the Selects this week. And as a t-shirt, it's a heck of a nice photograph. I like the concept, I like the photo, and I'd even consider hanging this on my wall. But in a shirt, I'm looking for more than a photograph (signed, even!) centered on the chest. I want something made for the medium, and something that takes advantage of the possibilities that offers. To me, when I see a Select like this I honestly wonder why it wasn't just printed as, well, a print. Is there any reason that some Selects can't be posters instead of tees?



Intruder! by Budi Satria Kwan (radiomode) has an interesting premise, defining the shape of a monster by applying a splatter outside his boundaries. The result is that this creature feels totally alien, which gives the sense that the astronaut guy really did stumble into something from another world. The astronaut, though, is the part of this that I'm not entirely crazy about. What is that thing he's holding? It could be a lantern, weapon, or maybe some kind of orb he's stolen from the monster. But since it ends up being the major focal point of the shirt (or perhaps second behind the sunglasses), the lack of clarity keeps me from becoming involved in the action.

Peep by Tang Yau Hoong is a great concept piece, introducing the idea of hiding in a beam of light (instead of darkness). It works both as a play on the idea of being blinded by light, and also is cool from the perspective of someone parting the beam of light. The strangeness of the fellow peering out from the light is another positive, creating kind of a weird alternate universe feeling. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the printing- because the guy is so low on the shirt, it pretty much looks like he's inhabiting your pants. Ick!



Progeny by Candywarhol shows the genesis of the keytar, as the mutant offspring of a pile of keyboards and an electric guitar. I'm definitely digging the way the instruments have been cartooned, which boosts up the humor and gives them personality. I'm iffy about the style, though, because while I love the use of photography, the halftoning is so heavy and dark that I think it looks messy and unresolved when seen up close.

Useless Superpowers by Thomas de Santis (Montro) is another Threadless tee that lists funny things, each accompanied by a small drawing... and unfortunately, it's also another one that doesn't quite work for me. The problem, as I see it, is that the shirt only works close up and in situations where people have time to read all the little subtitles. The drawings themselves aren't clear enough to work without reading the text, and the arrangement doesn't create interest either. For me, since it doesn't work at most viewing distances, it's much more appropriate for a poster print than as a tee. I'm also disappointed with the title, which really adds nothing to the piece and could have been a great opportunity to set the tone of the design or unite the smaller elements.



Geology n' Physics: The original rock n' roll by Clint Skene is one of the better slogans I've seen, with great humor that especially hits home for all the science geeks. I'm even enjoying the text treatment, which is a nice throwback to old rock t-shirts. I still wouldn't rate it as highly as I would the graphic tees in the catalog, but in terms of Type Tees this is top shelf.

Franklinstein by Mikey Hester (mikey0145) is really impeccably illustrated, hitting a perfect middle ground between the two characters. Both are very recognizable in the piece, but neither takes over. The fact that the engraved currency style is maintained throughout (even in the clouds) is impressive, and adds some character to the design. I'm also digging the inclusion of the kite, which highlights the uniting factor in both people- their connection to electricity and lightning. Probably one of the best (yet most crazy) concepts I've seen.

Quick note on Twitter tees: Although Threadless is releasing new ones every week, I've decided that I won't be reviewing them. This is for a couple of reasons. One, because they've printed 6 tees so far and to me they're not even at the level of Type Tees, I feel it would be a depressing undertaking (I hate giving wholly negative reviews, even when honesty dictates that they must happen). Secondly, since the shirts aren't appearing in the full catalog on Threadless.com, I'm assuming that the site itself is considering those to be in a different category than the rest.

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

Congrats to InkHound, who have unveiled a great new site design tonight. The new site is a lot easier to use than the previous one, and it does a great job of highlighting the products.

This week's tee is Concentration by Tobefonseca, which has a really nice watercolor effect and does a good job of showing the kind of immersion a lot of people feel when they use their computers. I'm also digging the hat design, Good Morning by dxtr. The illustration itself has the same raw, cartoony appeal as a lot of RecycledWax's work, and I think the print on the brim is a great touch.

Artists at Ink Hound earn $2 per item sold, with no cap on profits. Even better, artists maintain full rights to their designs.

Labels: inkhound

le tigre by brianluong has my nod for shirt of the week. With its soft, watercolored style, it lends an exotic air to the animal while erasing some of the danger. Instead of looking angry or ready to attack, the tiger almost seems to grin. Flourishes explode behind him, adding a tinge of action and drama. The result is a tiger tee that stands out from other animal shirts, feeling wholly unique despite the subject matter.



Catstronauts by MasterControl is probably the print this week that I understand the least. While I'm on board with the idea of cat spacemen (why should dogs get all the glory?), placement bugs me. To a degree the red dot (presumably a laser pointer) makes the extremely low-sitting print make sense, but even so it adds bulk to an area of the body that doesn't need it. Similarly, I like the story-telling element the dot adds (implying that these cats took to the skies to reach the laser), but it's also something that almost looks like a printing error. I think it'll sell well regardless, but I'm not really digging this one as far as wearability goes.

The Best Friends by joulu is the shirt that I am most likely to be buying this week. I love the style, which uses flat color and large pattern to form two awesomely weird characters, who I guess are trying to catch a flying hat. It makes no sense, and it looks like an alternate reality. What I like best of all, though, is that this feels so unique to the catalog- the color palette and style make it stand out, and it's a very creative piece.



Then and now by tastyhills probably has the most intriguing concept I've seen in awhile, pairing childhood drawings with a more skilled, adult illustration. A kids drawing on a shirt is definitely a risky gambit, but this works by filling the entire canvas, using some overlapping, and by being pretty good-looking given the style. I think the reason it ends up being a cool pairing of drawings is that it's not just skill being compared, it's flesh vs. bone and enthusiasm vs. determined practice. Both sides have their pluses, but a perfect piece would have a bit of each in the mix.

Shirt of Prey by lastsoundtrack is a huge freaking owl. As such, not everyone is going to want to wear it. Because frankly, most people on the planet can't pull this look off- and beyond that, you'd have to really, really, really like owls. That said, the illustration itself is perfection- it's one color with great hatching to create grey tones, and it conveys a feathered texture. Placement, while huge, works well for the art because the torso becomes an owl. For the right person, this is very rad.

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

Dale Edwin Murray secured another win at A Better Tomorrow with his design When Chameleons Go Wrong. The humor is immediate, showing a reptile having trouble with what others of his species do naturally. The stripes exaggerate the extent of his failure, and that huge eye feels panicked and frustrated. Solid humor, and it looks pretty sweet.

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

Design By Humans is teaming up with the biggest band yet in the latest installment of their music series: KISS. Even better, the new prize structure shows that they've learned a lot from the controversial results of some past contests. Even more interestingly, branding elements are not required for two of the three prizes.

The deadline for entries is June 14th, 2009. One Band Pick (must include logo) will win $1,000 Cash, $250 DBH Store Credit, and a $150 KISS Grab Bag. One People's Choice winner will earn $1,000 Cash, $250 DBH Store Credit, and a $150 KISS Grab Bag. One DBH Pick (with no logo or branding elements) will walk away with $1,000 Cash, $250 DBH Store Credit, and a $150 KISS Grab Bag. One of the three winners will also receive a pair of tickets to a KISS concert with a meet and greet and photo opportunity with the band members.

Labels: design by humans, kiss

Shirt.Woot is at it again with a new derby, and this time the theme is Dance. Just what does that mean? Read on...

Whether it's a ritualistic spiritual practice, to win over potential mates, or because an outlaw is firing his revolver at our boots, dancing is an almost universal element of human culture. In every place and time except for that one town in Footloose, people have moved their bodies to rhythm. Capture the beauty and grace of the living form in motion, or crack visual jokes about the graceless twitches of the clumsy, and put it into t-shirt form. Belly to break, swing to slam, tango to techno: let the dance begin...

No text.

Labels: derby, shirt.woot

Scribtee has released a new trifecta of designs, spanning a wide range of illustration and concept types. My favorite of this batch has to be Red Soul City by Sven Palmowski, which has the futuristic feel of organic architecture, chock full of geometry and texture. The design is slick, though I think it is a bit let down in the printing- it's so low on the tee that the placement looks awkward to my eye. Muse by Lukas Bischoff is a more classically inspired piece, supported by artistic instruments. Nice choice for an artist. Fuck Free Hugs ... Got Free Fucks by Jonas Kakoschke is the third tee this round, but while I appreciate the originality I can't say I like the concept much. As is always an issue with profanity, it comes off forced and kind of unfunny to me. Nice execution, but the idea isn't too wearable.

Winners at Scribtee win $500, and are typically announced monthly.

Labels: scribtee

Dead Pirate by McBess is one of this week's Selects, and an easy choice for my favorite tee of the week. It works so well because it's a great idea, and done with a clarity and simplicity that is memorable and fun. The concept of solid skull hiding behind a pirate's eyepatch sticks with you, and makes these already enigmatic characters feel even more unreal and mysterious. The implication is that pirates are born, not made, which is a pretty cool thought. Great text finishes the piece nicely.



Magic Mushrooms by Ian Summers (Ian-S) is like a sting operation on the seedy underbelly of the Mushroom Kingdom. The reason it works so well is that it makes so much sense- this is a land ruled by a brutal dictator, gangs of enemies roam the streets openly, and eating the weird things you find gives you new "abilities." Put in that light, it's crazy no one came up with this before! Style is more than up for the challenge set by the concept, bringing the design to new heights by mimicking the game's style well and limiting the color palette for dramatic effect.

Test Pattern by Dan Rule (danrule) is kind of an odd piece for me, because I love the idea. It just feels like it wasn't made with the medium in mind. Placement feels really odd to me, with two huge shapes floating awkwardly on the shirt. Nothing grounds it to the canvas of the tee, and because of the angle it sort of perennially looks off-center. I like the style, though, and the way the colors bubble into the puddle. That said, I do wonder if it might have been stronger to make the tv itself sharp, to contrast with the softer, blurring test pattern inside.



Special Uninvited Guest by Merijn Hos is this week's second Select. While the rough style might throw some people off, I think those who give it a chance will find a lot to like here. There's a nice story being told, with one character making off with a huge rainbow while another blinks from the darkness it used to conceal. And I'm impressed with how well this design sits on the tee, centering the rainbow on the chest but still conveying movement and action. This is good stuff, the only thing turning me off is the steep price.

Robots wish they could do the human by Jef Kaplan is the kind of slogan I like to see printed because it appeals to the imagination. Te second you hear that phrase, you picture robots trying their best to imitate smooth dance moves. I think it was a good choice to show the robots in the midst of their dancing, since that adds humor, but I do wish they were interacting with the type somehow.



Icarus by Joe Carr (ISABOA) is probably the most eye-catching shirt this week, with a huge yellow sun that swallows about half the shirt. Which of course, given the subject matter, makes perfect sense- that massive, looming sun creates immediacy and drama for the scene. It gives the illusion that the wing is disintegrating at a quick speed, which lets you know that you are looking into the eyes (er, goggles?) of a doomed man.



I took a bite out of crime and kinda wanted seconds by Mitch Ansara is another solid slogan (is this the first week ever with two good ones?). I think what appeals to me is that it takes advantage of how completely ridiculous the original phrase is, and extrapolates it to something even crazier. The shirt itself, though, doesn't entirely work for me. I love the concept of the cookie crime scene and chalk outlines, but they're placed on the shirt very oddly- even though the entire tee is available to work with, everything seems smooshed tightly together. It kind of leaves me feeling that the wall of text is literally supposed to look like a wall, part of the scenery for the cookie, but it's not very clear.

A Study in Scarlet by Alice X. Zhang (silverqe) is a tough tee to discuss because it's all style and no substance- and as such, you either like the style or you don't. Unfortunately I fall on the don't side. I'm not opposed to the concept of rough drippings and smudges forming an image, but in this composition I feel like there's nothing to hang on to or react to. The woman's pose doesn't convey anything of her personality or character, and with her face rubbed out there's nothing that draws me into the scene or tells a story. I think I'd prefer something entirely abstract, since that might allow me to read emotion into it that I'm not seeing in the present configuration.



I Only Surf on Comets by Peter Kramar (badbasilisk) is a rad concept, setting up an astronaut as a kind of out-of-this-world extreme sportsman. The line art style helps to complete the allusion between the comet's trail and the curve of the wave, so that at first glance you might wonder for a moment why this surfer is dressed like a spaceman. But quickly the details fill in the story, and the planets, stars and shards make it clear that the universe is his ocean. Pretty cool stuff!

HOT CHICKS ON WOLVES by Dick Firestorm is trying way too hard. Way, way, way too hard. The first Dick Firestorm print was funny, playing off commonly seen shirt stereotypes. The reason it worked is that it was a tweaking and mild exaggeration of those sort of designs. This, on the other hand, is so far from the source material that it bears no resemblance to what it is supposed to be mocking. It's the Robin Williams of tee design, just tossing everything on a shirt at the same time in hopes that some percentage will stick. As far as the art is concerned, it's very skilled. That said, I really question the proportion of the piece- if it's been made specifically for the tee, then why isn't it taller to fill the canvas more nicely?

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

Le Soleil by the110 is the latest winner at Uneetee. I'm fairly torn on this pick. On the one hand, it's a pretty cool image. Something about seeing that firey sun rise over barren trees is intriguing and powerful. But while I like it as an image, I'm much less sold on it as a shirt. Those bright colors look much more faded in the product pics, and placement is strangely high which leaves the bottom half of the shirt solid black. Because the production feels sloppy in both the colors and placement, this becomes yet another Uneetee shirt that feels like a poor attempt to imitate trends at Design By Humans.

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.

Labels: uneetee

The Flitter Flatter Tree by iQuitt is my pick for shirt of the week- I like how it takes subject matter we've all seen a million times and makes it feel fresh. The style on the tree itself is gorgeously full of texture and motion, with swooshing lines that make the tree seem to grow right before your eyes. The strange birds, with their loose doodled lines and huge grins, add character and charm to the piece. I'm not crazy about the branding element of the logo, but it's not too obvious so I'm not entirely opposed.



Bull's Eye by presh is the kind of shirt I just can't get behind winning a contest. I look to the t-shirt competition world to be a breeding ground for innovation and new ideas. This bullseye is the opposite of that, just retreading ground that has already been repeatedly broken in by others. It's wearable enough, in a bland sort of way, but it doesn't excite me.

Splash of wolf by nomhak, on the other hand, impresses me. While wolf shirts are a dime a dozen, this inky take on them feels unique. It works so well because it capitalizes on the animal itself, how it has an air of mystery and is imagined to be lurking in the shadows rather than in broad daylight. I'd wear it and I don't even particularly like wolves, which makes this pretty darn successful.



Octo Coal by BeeryMethod is another tee investigating an enigmatic animal, painting this giant of the deep in circles and patterns. It's a neat approach, causing the octopus to seem to glow in the darkness of the water. Some of the specific posing of the limbs feels a bit awkward to me, though that does reinforce the strangeness so it's not entirely negative.

the agitator by a_mar_illo is awesomely weird, in a way that instantly appeals to me. I think the reason it works so well is that even though it is about oddity, it does give the viewer some elements to relate and respond to. For instance, the cartoon face and the little hands create a personality, while the white dotted lines dazzle those who enjoy a nice abstract pattern. Ridiculously good.

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

PARK(ing) Day is an event when artists transform parking spots into temporary parks. It's a cool concept, and one that undoubtedly deserves a neat tee design to go with it. The purpose of this contest is to find that shirt.

Enter before June 29th, 2009 for your chance to win $1000 cash.

Labels: parking day

ShirtFight's latest victor is Wee Man and the Masters of the Puny Verse by Gaunty, an inspired Muppet Babies style take on some classic 80s nostalgia. The concept works because thinking of HeMan takes you back to childhood, and it's hilarious to see the characters mimic that regression as well. The great color palette (bright, fun, and perfect for summer) kicks things up a notch as well. Great tee.

Also of note is ShirtFight's expanded printing capability- they've just added full color process printing (including metallic inks and foils!) and a larger 17.25in x 23.5in print size. I'm excited to see how artists will take advantage of these new options.

The current theme is The Letter T. Enter before May 21st, 2009 for your chance at the $500 prize.

Labels: shirtfight

This week's new shirt at Goodjoe is Make Your Own Music, a shirt I designed. Since I'd obviously be a pretty biased judge I won't be reviewing it, though I will say that the $10 preorder sale on this design will last until May 17th, 2009.

Winners at Goodjoe earn a prize of $300 cash and $1 for each product sold. Additional prize money is available to student winners.

Labels: goodjoe

Campus Progress has a competition going on right now to see who can design the best shirt based on the theme “What is Progress?”

Enter before June 7th, 2009 for your chance to win. Judges will award one Grand Prize ($800 cash, your design featured in Utne Reader) and two runners-up ($100 cash, your design featured on the website).

Labels: campus progress

Let's Get Physical by Keith Kuniyuki (herky) repurposes a mousetrap into a rodent home exercise system, hilarious for a couple of reasons. I love the idea that this mouse is eschewing cheese in favor of getting lean and mean. Even better, it gives a really funny reason to how mice evade those traps and get that cheese free and clear- they've been training for it! Anyway, it's a nice piece- the details like the wood grain on the trap and the little sneakers add a lot of charm.



Carroaaaarsel by Alvaro Arteaga (alvarejo) is a Merry-Go-Round gone wrong, revealing the aftermath of a rogue lion's attack. The style here is so perfect, because the shading and posing of the animal really does give him that shiny, solid feeling of carousel seats. That, plus the tremendous guilt on his face even as a shoe dangles from his mouth, really sells the concept and gives the joke punch. Solid work.

Nosferatu by Draco (DracoImagem.com) is a really amazing illustration. I'm drawn to the way it tells a whole story in one image, showing a monster driven from the town and hinting at what he's left behind. In the lowest frame you can see light breaking the horizon, and in the highest the moon hangs among the stars. It's a clever, subtle way to inject a timeline into the scene, while at the same time providing a setting. Another thing I enjoy is the multiple ways the image can be interpreted. The sad woman at the bottom could be mourning the loss of someone who was a victim to the vampire, or lamenting the vampire's flight (bats in the background might lend credence to the second, while the cross supports the first). That said, it feels more like a poster than a t-shirt design to me (those clearly defined outer edges framing it cause it), so while I'm passing on the shirt I'm really hoping it becomes a print quickly.



The Invisible Gentleman by Philip Tseng (pilihp) is a rad image, and what makes it work is the level of detail in the piece. It's a virtual masterclass in how to do one color well, using a variety of patterns and textures to express the various materials. The watercolor of the suit and hat almost feel like a cloud pattern, reinforcing the lightness and emptiness of it. The woodgrain of the pipe lends the unseen man a level of sophistication. And that small glint of light on the sunglasses cements the realism of the piece, keeping it firmly three-dimensional. Though I love the artwork, I do have reservations about the print- based on product photos, some sizes have the art looking very small and low, when it's really at its best as a huge print.

Flamenco by Aneesh kumar .T.K (anivini) has super-tall flamingos whose legs run right off the bottom hem. It's a decent visual, but not a stand out to me. It's purely a visual concept- what if this tall thing was taller? But because it doesn't embellish on that point (other tall bird shirts elaborate with clouds floating around the legs, for example), it doesn't capture my imagination. It's the kind of thing I would wear, but not buy.



Ships in the Night by Siloette is the first of this week's Selects. Frankly, it kind of freaks me out how much this looks like a band shirt. That text, totally disconnected from the piece, adds no value and detracts from what is a really tremendous illustration. I love that fragmented shading technique, it adds texture in a way that feels organic and warm. I wish the text and the background were at the same level of style as the face is.

Mouse Hole by Mel Kadel is this week's second Select. It's interesting. I think that is both the best and worst thing about this piece. It's awesome because the concept is perplexing, with this crazy character dragging an unending mass of mice. That ties into the kind of disgust a lot of people have when thinking of rodents, when you become convinced that behind each hole lurks this insane gang of mice about to spill out and take over. And that's the problem with this shirt- who wants to wear the weird looking person drowning in mice? It's not an appealing visual, clever though it is.



Mandrillus Sphinx by Rafael Bastos is perplexing. I can kind of understand wanting to wear a huge monkey face, though that's not my style. Monkeys are inherently kind of cool looking. The style totally throws me for a loop, though. I can't figure out what is gained by making this out of stiff lines. It leaves the animal feeling very stagnant and posed, even though it should be full of motion. I can respect the amount of work that must have gone into this, I just don't understand the thought process that led to it.

Supervision isn't nearly as cool as it sounds by Ross Matlock is for me one of the strongest slogans that Threadless has ever printed. There's great wordplay, and it has a clear audience since it hits that intersection of comic superheroes and authority. Great for kids and the chronically immature. The type is capable (hitting the right note with a comic book font), but doesn't really add much. Luckily the slogan itself is so tight the rest barely matters.

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

Uneetee is releasing a mystery shirt this week in lieu of a new design- and that means that for a paltry $6 you'll be walking away with one unique shirt featured in their catalog. If you generally like what they print, this is a great opportunity to get a stylish tee without paying much.

Labels: uneetee

Caponocca is the newest tee design contest on the block, one that (at first, anyway) might be defined by it's printing limitations. While other sites typically offer 4, 6, 8 or even an unlimited number of ink colors, Caponocca's preference is for 3 ink colors or less. This isn't necessarily a bad thing- a lot of the best and most iconic shirt designs use a low number of colors. It may even lead to more artists creating original work for this contest rather than resubbing old pieces.

Caponocca awards a $500 prize to winning shirt designs. Printed designers also earn 10% of sales on their tee design. The contest is on-going.

Labels: caponocca

Labels: cottonable

BurgBot by sonmi was pretty much destined to be my shirt of the week, as it combines two of my favorite things- robots and delicious hamburgers. There's a great retro style to the piece, giving it the feeling of an icon for a fifties era fast food joint that never quite caught on. The way the robot's claw arms shoot ketchup and mustard is a great twist, painting the robot as a kind of intergalactic ambassador for fast food.



I don't want to like Abraham Lincosmic by ejiboo. It combines two recent tee trends (Lincoln and photographic space imagery), seemingly without regard for any kind of concept beyond "both these things are awesome." But you know what? I would wear this. Heck, I'd even buy it. And yeah, that might just be that as a resident of the Land of Lincoln, I'm predisposed to being in favor of Lincoln. But I still have to give props when they're due, so even though I don't find this particularly creative, I'd be amiss if I didn't point out how wearable and appealing the design is.

Bleu Beaches by raginor is a tee targeting the surf crowd, so maybe it's my midwesterner showing when I say that I'm not really feeling it. Part photographic and part geometric, an outdoorsy scene is framed by layered boxes and lines. It's a good-looking shirt, but to me it feels more like sort of apparel I expect to find in a catalog of a major label than among DBH's more experimental, emotional work.



Rhanga by jimiyo is actually a collaboration with Chris Parks of Palehorse, so it should come as no surprise that these two powerhouses of tee design worked together to create something epic and original. The subject matter is new to me (it's stated to be based on Balinese myths, which sounds cool anyway), but looks amazing. Kind of like a reptile man performing a war dance while snakes ebb and flow around him, weird but rad. Coloring, though, is what takes this even higher- I love the dark grey that drops some of the snakes into the background, and the two shades of red giving the creature's skin a tattooed feel. So amazing.

Underwater Flight 2 by collisiontheory has a concept that I think is very cool, depicting jellyfish that resemble dripping ink. The black ink on a white shirt is striking. I do have to say, though, that I feel very weird about seeing collisiontheory get sole credit on the back of the shirt (at least that's how it appears in the product photo) for what appears to just be a color flip on someone else's photograph. Not illegal, just uncomfortable. The analogy I would use is that by putting it on a shirt, I feel like he chose the frame, but reversing the black and white isn't an adaptation that makes it feel like a remix to me.

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

Full Metal T-Shirt is unique to the contest world because they use DTG (Direct to Garment printing) while the rest of the field favors screenprinting. Both have their benefits, but DTG tends to be taken less seriously despite its ability to print high color counts and gradients with ease.

So I was greatly surprised and pleased to find that when I received a shirt from FMT, the quality was top-notch. As you can see in the close up, the texture of the fabric is still visible through the ink- that means that as you brush your hand across it, there is no bulk to the ink. It just feels like a slightly different type of fabric. The print is crisp, clean, and lightweight. Absolutely a rival to traditional screenprinting, and with the ability to print things screenprinting can't do. Designers would be wise to investigate how they can use DTG to it's fullest, because this might be what the future of t-shirt design looks like.



And as if the tee wasn't great enough on it's own, check out the mountain of extras that arrived with it! Buttons, a sticker, a handwritten note and more- these guys do it up right. Very impressive.

Use the code "compete10" and you'll save 10% off any order. The tee pictured above is Splash by Dale Edwin Murray.

FMT chooses a new winner weekly, with that designer earning $100 cash, $100 credit, and $5 cash for each shirt or print sold in the first year. For the theme-inspired, they also have a monthly contest with the same prize- for May, the theme is Robots.

Labels: full metal t-shirt, printing process

New at A Better Tomorrow this week is Get Awesome by Dale Edwin Murray. And for me, shirts like this are like acorn squash- sure, it's not for everyone, but it's something I almost always enjoy. I love the oddness of the character, his face unexpected and almost puppet-like. A fifties badass drawn in a style that communicates the opposite, pure fun and not caring about how it comes off. The spare color palette is used to great effect, calling attention to the great typography and rad 3d glasses while helping to paint the character as a relic from the past. Good stuff.

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

tFuse is a contest site that's new to me, but they're certainly doing some cool things. Their tag line is "Be Recognized," and their focus is on more than just t-shirt design creativity- they also offer a video contest, allowing creative folks of all types to participate and join the community.

My favorite of their shirts so far is Typewriter Tree, which is a cool take on the nature of storytelling. Shirt designers win $200 cash, 1000 fusebucks, and $1 per shirt sold (up to $2300).

Labels: tfuse

It's no secret that some of the Derby's participants have a hard time staying on theme. Perhaps in an attempt to improve the contest's on-theme entry percentage, Shirt.Woot has opted to make the focus of their latest derby one of the most common substances on the planet: Air. Ah, air... the invisible substance that is the focus of so many great shirt designs... Hmmm. Maybe this won't go quite as planned!

The derby opens to submissions at noon on Friday, with submissions continuing until Wednesday at noon. Voting is on-going from Friday at noon until Thursday at noon. Three winners will be printed the following weekend (as chosen by site members), with the printed designers earning $1000 for the first night of sales and a potential $2 per shirt sold on any sales after that date.

Labels: derby, shirt.woot

This week's Uneetee winner is FURY by m3000, and if that name made you giggle, chances are you're someone who looks at a lot of t-shirt websites! The name is an instant reminder that just a month ago, this same design was printed at TeeFury (where artists maintain the rights to their work, so it's totally legal). I have to say, I'm pretty glad this one made the leap to Uneetee- by taking advantage of their larger printing size and placement options, the design is transformed into something that feels different from the original. The huge print gives the dragon more of an epic feel, though I do wonder why one of the Chinese characters has gone missing this time.

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.

Labels: uneetee

Booty Fruit by John Mitchell (JOHN2) was an easy choice for shirt of the week, because it's so undeniably original. I feel like it actually makes two jokes- one, a play on the shapes may fruits actually have (extended to others like banana for maximum humor) and two, it's a clever play on the way we personify food- typically it's a "food with faces" thing, but here the entire dynamic is flipped. This is exactly the kind of work I love to see printed, because it's fun and fresh.



El Latigo by David Cordero is this week's Select, is a spooky, skeletal cowboy. Setting aside the fact that this is Threadless's second foray into this kind of Western-themed horror (How weird is that, though? Especially since it seems to be a slow seller), it's a neat piece. Instead of following all the conventions associated with the West, there are some fun twists- most notably in the pastel teeth, although I also enjoy the uncharacteristically clean ghosts. The text work is one of the more interesting aspects, and I love the style, and the intelligent way it flows from one letter to the next. Not for me, but I know a lot of people who could wear this and love it.

Ode to Joy by Joe Carr (ISABOA) is a weird one for me, because I like both the concept and the style. But what throws me off is that the design is the part of the story that interests me the least- a still image of an astronaut fighting the monster. Here's the thing- in an action sequence this would absolutely be the right move. But in a static illustration, I want context. What kind of monster is this? I want setting. Is this in the furthest reaches of space or just beyond the earth's atmosphere? Is the monster alone, or with a crew of allies? All of those things would invest me in the outcome and the design itself. As-is, I respect the work a lot (particularly the lined texturing) but wouldn't wear it. Because of the tight focus on an anonymous, suited figure, and the lack of characterization on either the man or the monster, I'm not pulled in.



Battle of the Giants by Alex Solis (alexmdc) is like the previous shirt in that it takes on an action-packed scene, but for me it's much more successful. The Kong and robot are both great characters, with faces and posturing that imbues them with personality. There's some quality work in color and line style that makes these creatures' very different textures clear and interesting to look at. And the scenery add to the story- while these guys fight, intent on destroying each other, an entire city is destroyed beneath their feet. I guess most wars are like that, making this a tee that works on two levels.



Ink Happens by James Gruber (jameses.x) is a well-done rendition of an octopus's embarrassment when it inadvertently leaks some ink. It's good work, but suffers from the fact that this kind of concept has been done to death. It's not bringing anything new to the table, so the only thing that saves it from dullness is technique. There's some nice use of halftone and the facial expressions communicate nicely, but to me this is still not a standout.

Let Go by Lim Heng Swee (ilovedoodle) uses what I would rate as one of my all-time favorite color combinations, red on turquoise. The concept itself isn't terribly exciting, revisiting that common theme of freedom with a girl who cuts the string on her kite, allowing it to soar. Honestly, stuff like this feels pretty cheesy to me. That said, style helps to revive it- there's some interesting realistic halftone work on the sky, contrasting with the drawn style of the figure and kite. It feels surreal and dreamy, like a metaphor come to life.



Eight Legged Cats Have Cool Names by Charley Schrader (fat pigeon) is a design in the grand tradition of things so awesome, you'll wish they were real. This Octopussy-inspired mutant combines the furry cuteness and curiosity of a cat with those freaky legs of an octopus. I'm drawn to the way it cascades across the shirt, using the bright pink of the yarn to lead the eye. I have to say, though, that I'm skeptical of the printing- the posted images show the shirt in, like, an insanely bright spotlight, and the ink still looks kind of light. If I'm right, that means it's going to be pretty faint in normal lighting conditions, at least compared to the level of visibility I like to see.

Boomerangs: They're making a comeback by Andrew Gregory is the new Type Tee this week. I dig the phrase, because it's a good play on the nature of a boomerang. To me, though, that alone doesn't make it good tee fodder. They're a very niche item, and while I've thrown a few in my time, I don't have any kind of attachment to them that makes me think about wearing a slogan about them. I presume this is the norm, as most people have no experience or limited experience with them. So who is the audience? I think it could have been possible for a really clever type treatment to get past this issue, but the printed arrangement doesn't raise the level of the piece.

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

Threadless's latest Loves contest comes straight from the community, who suggested a week-long competition following the rules early Threadless users were constrained by: no oversize prints, 4 colors maximum (no halftones), and no Flash allowed in submission presentations. Naturally, the contest is called Less Is More.

Enter before May 11th, 2009 for your chance to win $2000 cash, $500 in Threadless credit, and prizes from the community (still being announced).

Labels: less is more, loves threadless, threadless

Consider this your last chance at the sale at Design By Humans- it ends tonight at midnight! Use the code T6JE5W to save an extra 10% on your order.

Labels: design by humans

Full Metal T-Shirt's latest winner is The Summoning by Scott Gipson. What I'm digging here is the sheer originality- mixing Mayan iconography with the horror of Lovecraft gave birth to something totally unique. It adds to each facet of the concept, giving the monster an edge of history and making the past feel magnificently bizarre. I'd rate this a must-have for anyone whose interests include both history and horror.

FMT chooses a new winner weekly, with that designer earning $100 cash, $100 credit, and $5 cash for each shirt or print sold in the first year. For the theme-inspired, they also have a monthly contest with the same prize- for May, the theme is Robots.

Labels: full metal t-shirt

The latest winning design at A Better Tomorrow is New World Order by thew, depicting a clash of cultures in the form of a handshake. One is human and one is mechanical, but the insides cause you to question your assumptions- the robot has vines instead of wires, and electronics spill out of the man's hand. I'm not terrifically fond of the shapes in the background, because while I do think that area needed something, to me these shapes don't contribute much (I would have preferred something that helped to set the scene). But overall, it's solid 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

ShirtFight's last contest had an interesting theme, asking artists to limit themselves to use of Black, White, and one accent color of their choice. The Accent by 110SpecialBlack reigned supreme, a great choice because of how expertly it took advantage of the theme's limitations. The panda's face is hilarious, giving the feeling that he's both bemused and a bit nervous about his guest. The bird, for his part, seems entirely oblivious to the situation. Cute, wearable, and clever- I think this is my favorite tee so far from ShirtFight.

The current theme is Video Games vs. ?. Enter before May 7th, 2009 for your chance at the $500 prize.

Labels: shirtfight