Every time around this year the T-Shirt community builds up a frenzy in anticipation for the Design By Humans Contest. For the Design By Humans community, this is the time of the year that matters, and for the bright artists that make up the top 24, this is their moment to shine and make some big bucks doing it. Every year, the team at Design by Humans choose the cream of the crop for their community to vote on – the big winner wins a whopping $10,000. Past winners include AJ Dimarucot, whom used his winning to start his own clothing line for infants. Last year’s winner, struck gold with Mecha-Labaw.
As we’ve seen with the past DBH 10K contests, it doesn’t just take a great design to win, but also plain old hustle. Every vote counts, so each designer tries crazy tactics to garner the most votes. 2009 winner Christian San Jose pulled out the big guns with a full fledged social media campaign, and it paid off. 2008 Winner AJ Dimarucot used the power of family to spread the word, and that did the trick for him.
I’m interested to se what this years DBH cream of the crop do to set themeselves apart from the competition to win the hears and votes of the design voting public. That’s what I’m interested in.
Oh yeah, and I also like to pick my favorites. Here’s are my top 5 favorite designs from this years top 25! Which do you love?
Into The Light by Muttley:
The Perfect Murder by alvarejo:
Never As It Seems by zerobriant:
The Siren Song by sirensong:
Unleashed Imagination buko:
And here are a few thumbnails of the rest of the top 25:
When I first spotted these kitten heavy T-Shirts made to look like other clothing garments, I surely thought that they were a joke. Needless to say, I delved deeper, jumped into the rabbit hole and found out that these LOL worthy kitten tees are indeed real and made by Deli Grocery, purveyors of Deli Grocery Specialty Products.
This unique brand based out of Brooklyn, New York, offers an alternative to the played out faux tuxedo tee (we’ve seen those a thousand times over and then some). Instead, they offer two options, a classic button up and a western themed version, both decorated with kitties that any fan of the I Can Has Cheezburger network of sites could be proud of. That wrap around bandana on the blue tee is a nice touch, don’t you think!
Though bordering on bizarre, both Deli Grocery tees have a unique character. It’s up to you to judge whether or not that character is worth $30 a piece.
In this episode of Co-Tee TV I wear Eleprint by Fur Face Boy and review Unplugged by Frank and Jan, a brand that was founded in 2007 in Los Angeles, California and and born from common themes of capitalism, fame, minimalism and consumption of pop culture. Frank & Jan is an art and design driven company showcasing bold graphics mixed with simple, functional apparel.
Fur Face Boy sent me an insane amount of T-Shirts from their Series 3 Line. I will be featuring the shirts throughout Co-Tee TV Episodes 70-79 so definitely keep an eye out for even more Fur Face Boy in the coming weeks! See Episode 70 of Co-Tee TV for the Fur Face Boy full review.
You can also watch this episode on Vimeo, Viddler, YouTube, blip.tv and download and sync all episodes to your iPod, iPhone or iPad by subscribing for free to Co-Tee TV in the iTunes Store.
Coty’s Thoughts:
Unplugged by Frank and Jan.Pros: T-Shirts are shipped in individual plastic bags inside of a black Frank and Jan custom mailer. Frank and Jan tees are tagless and feature the Frank and Jan logo. Frank and Jan custom logo stickers are included with each T-Shirt. Unplugged features a ver large vertical print featuring half tones to give the illusion of different shades of blacks and grays as well as extra depth to the design. Unplugged is a little tame compared to some of the other Frank and an offerings. If you want something a little more risque then be sure to check out the Frank and Jan online shop! Cons: Size wise, the T-Shirt seems slighter larger than the American Apparel blanks that we typically review here. If you like color in your designs then Frank and Jan may not be your cup of tea – they tend to focus on designs that feature just black and white. Some of the tees over at Frank and Jan’s shop are a little vulgar, but if you like that kind of thing then you probably will love Frank and Jan! Price: $24 (Sold Out). You can purchase some Frank and Jan tees from Colette.fr, but you will pay a premium for them.
“In addition to art and design, Frank & Jan is also a full-service screen printing shop providing quality, custom design and screen printing services for individuals and businesses. Influences Include: Pop culture icons, fame, street culture, gangster rap, punk rock, religious iconography, reggae, death metal, and infamous front page headlines.”
FFB Eleprint by Fur Face Boy. I’m a big fan of Michael Jordan, Jordan Brand and Nike, and so when I saw that FFB Eleprint featuring the famous elephant print from the Air Jordan 3’s (circa 1988) I was stoked. Fur Face Boy founder, Ha Mai, continues to draw inspiration from his childhood passions and incorporate them into his brand – you’ve got to respect that. unfortunately, FFB Eleprint is no longer available for sale because it’s sold out! Hint: If you want something from Fur Face Boy then buy it when you see because it will sell out at one point or another and probably sooner than you’d expect! Price: $32 (Sold Out).
There really isn’t any reason for you to do something that you don’t love. If you don’t love what you do then why do it? For money, you say? We’ll that’s a pretty bad reason. Your work should be about passion and it should be about love. If you’re not passionate about what you do then it’s inevitable that you’ll be miserable doing it. But the best part about working at what you’re passionate about is that it is almost guaranteed that magic will happen in one way or another.
The latest tee from Holiday Matinee is the epitome of this. Love Your Work. Work Your Love. There’s nothing else to say other than you can pick up this tee from Holiday Matinee now for $22. Do it.
Top Gear is one of the BBC’s most popular shows, with millions of viewers across a hundred countries. But one thing about the show that has remained a secret for some time now has been the identity of the mysterious driver known only as The Stig.
“The whole point of The Stig is the mystique — the bizarre characteristics he has, the wonderment created about what he might think, feel, do or look like. Kids adore the conceit, and I believe adults, although they know it’s a man in a suit (or is it?) gladly buy into the whole conceit because they find it entertaining.” says Top Gear producer Andy Wilman.
However, because of a lawsuit brought on by HarperCollins, the identity of The Stig is a no longer a mystery. According to HarperCollins, The Stig is actually a 33-year-old driver named Ben Collins. According to Collins’ website, he has raced both Formula Three and NASCAR, and even drove James Bond’s Aston Martin in the latest Bond flick, “Quantum of Solace.”
So what’s Top Gear to do now that The Stig has been exposed? Well, hire a new and unidentifed Stig! At least that’s what they did when the identity of the Stig prior to Collins was revealed in 2003.
Despite the reveal of the white Stig, you can still purchase his T-Shirts from the BBC America online shop. The shirts are priced from $22.98 to $26.98 and I am sure that these will be pulled from the store soon so if you’re a Stig fan, you better pick one of these up soon!
I originally saw this design when it was making the Internet rounds a few weeks ago and I just recently found that it’s now available in T-Shirt form. Needlessy to say, I was super excited because I love the minimalist take on the Street Fighter II characters that I grew up with. The design was done by Ashley Browning and was originally posted on his Flickr page (Flickr member infinitecontinues).
“This is a one-off piece, and a departure from usual Minimalism pieces of mine. This time I just wanted to go really, really basic. Initially, I felt I was creating a Bauhaus/De Stijl inspired piece, but after finishing it, I thought it also looked like the primitive graphics from Atari 2600 or Intellivision consoles.”
So this is a neat little video that I spotted over at The Laughing Squid of the world record holder for most T-Shirts put on in on minute. The record is held by Jamie Matter of Wisconsin, United States. And even though it’s not a Guinness World Record (it was submitted and accepted to The Universal Record Database), it’s still pretty interesting, especially for a T-Shirt fanatic like myself.
I will tell you this: I want this record. Seriously, I’m going to go hunting for XL, 2XL and 3XL tees so that I can beat this record of 25 T-Shirts. I’m on it. T-Shirt blogger extraordinaire is not enough for me. I’m gunning for you, Jamie Matter.
Check out the official page for this URDB world record.
As for my record breaking attempt, I will keep you updated.
The Chop Shop never fails when designing amazingly iconic T-Shirts! This time, they tackle the 80’s, a decade that was filled with a handful of pop culture icons. With the help of graphic designer Timo Meyer, the Chop Shop takes 22 films and converts them into Foursquare like badges that form an 8. Awesome. Now the only question is, can you figure out the names of all 22 films?
A new approach to the Chop Shop iconic tee. 22 classic 80’s films reduced to symbols and arranged into the form of an eight. A Chop Shop concept designed and executed by Timo Meyer.
I always knew that Christopher Robin secretly wanted to strangle Winnie-the-Pooh. He is constantly getting his head stuck in that darn honey jar – I’d want to strangle him too! Glenn Jones of Glennz Tees took things to the next level and had Winnie-the-Pooh gutted, skinned and turned into a rug suitable for the den of anyone who takes issue with a honey addicted bear who doesn’t like to wear pants.
For two years now, Ugmonk has been the go-to-brand for those of us wanting T-Shirts featuring sexy and well thought out typography. I’ve been a fan of Jeff Sheldon since the beginning and have admired his unique style for some time now. To celebrate Ugmonk’s two year anniversary, Sheldon put together an amazing and limited edition box set to commemorate the special occasion. Only 200 of these box sets were made and they feature:
2nd Anniversary tshirt
Ugmonk wooden box with wood-burned logo
Ugmonk laser-etched and numbered wooden coin
Ugmonk sticker
Signed 2nd Anniversary collector’s card
I am very much itching to get my hands on one of these boxes, especially since I love dissecting and examining custom T-Shirt packaging. This is as custom as custom gets, and I am indeed lusting over it.
The Ugmonk 2nd Anniversary Collector’s Set is available now for purchase for $50, but you can save 20% off of your entire order by using the coupon code “TWOYEARS” at checkout. If you plan on taking advantage of the 20% off discount code then you better do so quickly because it expires on August 31, 2010!
