This is episode #18 of Coty Loves Threadless and we’ve got a wonderful bunch of tees to review this week! My Threadless Pick of the Week is the wonderful tee by Olivier Fritsch Gomez, titled, Face! How did the rest of the tees fare? You’ll need to watch to find out! If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out and vote for my TypeTees slogan submissions -- I’m submitting one every day until I get printed! Every vote counts so vote for a slogan and help me get printed.
Nintendo recently previewed their latest blockbuster game at the E3 2009 conference and my goodness am I excited! They have been releasing so much retro NES goodness for the Wii as of late that I’m not sure if I can take it. First, Punch Out and now, New Super Mario Bros. in all it’s 2D side scrolling goodness. I am so excited to play this game especially since it offers multi-player beyond just Mario and Luigi. I’ve never been so excited for coins in my life. Cha-Ching!
And to commemorate this momentous occasion I have here 10 unique Super Mario Bros. inspired tees and a hoodie to boot. All of these are available for purchase with the exception of Super Mario Skull.Â
1. Game Over by Fuzzy Ink. First up, we have Game Over from our buddies over at Fuzzy Ink. This is one of the more fantastical of the Mario tees here as it features our favorite characters all grown up and elderly! Maximum cuteness factor indeed. This Jublin designed tee is available on a Grass colored American Apparel tees and can be purchased for $18.95. Use the coupon code “Hawaii” for 10% off your order!
2. Super Mario Bros. Sushi by thickblackoutline. This tee by thickblackoutline really made me realize just how good Super Mario Bros. would taste as sushi. Okay, that might have come out wrong. Nonetheless, it’s a great shirt and available now at Red Bubble for $28.83.Â
3 and 4. Mario Block and Mario Frog Suit by Nerdy Shirts. Nerdy Shirts really has some love for our favorite Italian. They have a bunch of Mario inspired tees available and here are two of them: Mario Block and Mario Frog Suit. Mario Block reminds us of how simple and fun B-bit gameplay really was. Mario Frog Suit reminds me of Super Mario Land for the original Game Boy (remember the level that you had to swim and kill that huge octopus/huge fish boss).
5. Magic Mushrooms by Ian Summers. It’s no surprise that Magic Mushrooms by Ian Summers made my list of favorite Mario inspired tees. After all, it was my Threadless Pick of the Week in Coty Loves Threadless Episode #15. They are running low in stock really fast on this tee over at Threadless so if you want it I suggest you go and pick it up now. I was able to secure a guys size large (there were only 2 left when I did).Â
6. I Sneak Down Pipes by Euan Gallacher.I Sneak Down The Pipes was conceived by the Tee Doctor, Euan Gallacher, a Scotland based T-Shirt prescriber! It’s a clever play on the much used I Heart NY tee. I Sneak Down Pipes is available from MySoti for $17.72 and is printed on a white Alstyle tee.Â
7. da Vinci’s Mario by Kevin Tong. Artist Kevin Tong designed this masterpiece, titled da Vinci’s Mario and inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s famous Views of a Fetus in the Womb. This three color design is printed on an American Apparel blank and is available for $20.Â
8. Warrior Plumbers by Dr. McNinja. Have you ever wondered what Mario, Luigi and the rest of the Super Mario Bros. gang would like in real life? Wonder no more because Warrior Plumbers by Dr. McNinja answers that very question. Warrior Pumbers is printed on Hanes Beefy Tees and is available for $19.75 from TopatoCo.Â
9. Super Mario Skull by MisNopalesArt. This Super Mario Skull tee from Etsy is just a tad bit disturbing. Just a tad. Our favorite plumber in skull form and in the raccoon suit to boot! What is wrong with this picture! This tee is unfortunately no longer available for sale.Â
10. Video Game Shirt by Stay Up. If video games are your religion then this is the tee for you. And right square in the middle of that 8-Bit cross is non-other than 8-Bit Mario. Pick up this tee from Stay Up in either a white or tan colorway.Â
Enclothe MarioFlague. And for the finale, I have this epic Enclothe MarioFlague zip up hoodie! Talk about attention to detail and a sure conversation starter. It’s a fully custom designed hoodie that features and inside breast iPod pocket, metal mushroom zipper pull, quick action cuff thumb hole, and an extra spacious 3 panel hood. This item can be your for $65.Â
I’m always on the hunt for a great Super Mario Bros. inspired tee. If you know of one that’s not on this list then let me know and maybe it’ll make the next wrap up!
Well it’s about time! I’ve been wanting to get my hands on some laFraise products for some time and now I can! French based T-Shirt contest site, laFraise previously only offered shipping to European customers. They’ve decided let Americans, like myself, and Canadians into the mix!Â
And if you’re itching to spend some cash but aren’t sure what you want to buy, I’ve included some of my very own laFraise suggestions that I’ve hand picked for you!
For some reason, I haven’t been paying much attention to Teextile. But that’s about to change. Teextile has been releasing some amazing tees, many of which have flown right past my radar. Starting today, I will be reviewing the weekly batch of tees at Teextile and giving my opinion as to which are my favorites!Â
If you aren’t familiar with Teextile, they are a T-Shirt contest site that features a new batch of tees every week. Each tee is featured for a day and is available for $12 on the day it is featured and $15 for the rest of the week. New releases are unveiled every Monday.Â
And without further ado, this weeks Teextile Favorite happens to be The Dark Side of Doodles by none other than Wotto, a personal favorite of mine. This tee is just all around wackiness and I love it! I think the design looks splendid on that white shirt. It’s the perfect shirt to wear during creative pursuits!
I’ll also rank my favorite Teextile tees in order from my 1 to 5, with 1 being my Teextile Favorite for that particular week. Feel free to debate your favorites!
My Teextile Power Rankings for June 15, 2009 to June June 19, 2009:
#1 (Favorite): The Dark Side of Doodles by wotto
#2: Carried The Sound by Rodisleyd
#3: Premium Panda by kookylove
#4: Redux by spacegirl
#5: Â Coalition Against Crested Apparel by latortuga.
Our friends over at Fuzzy Ink recently released a brand spanking new tee, Two Wheels Are Better Than One. It’s a super cute, single color print that can be purchased in two colorways, Cyan on Light Blue and Magenta on Pink.Â
And speaking about super cute, how about these amazing Fuzzies! These are super plush mustaches that can be purchased in a variety of different colors and with or without an elastic band (so that you can wear them on your face!). The Fuzzy Ink Fuzzies are available in three different sizes: Small, Large and Monster!
Here’s an interesting post that I stumbled on Andy Sernovitz’s Damn I Wish I’d Thought of That blog about the power of a great brand. In the post, he talks about how Pan Am merchandise survives to this day despite the airline being dead since 1991. Oddly enough, I saw someone using a Pan Am leather bag just like the one seen in the photo below.
Are any of you old enough to have actually rode on a Pan Am aircraft?Â
Urban Retro is now carrying tees from Disney streetwear brand BLOC28. These tees are listed as being a retro fit super soft vintage wash. These are tagless with the BLOC28 artist bio on the back neck print. There is also a BLOC28 logo print on the sleeve. The tees sell for £24.99 ($41 US), so yes, they are on the high end. Featured artists include Steven Daily, Mear One, Suiko, David Flores, and Greg Simkins.
As a kid, I must have seen the original live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flick a gazillion times. I remember how excited I was when I went to go and see it in the theaters, it was a blast! You can now relive those memories this weekend if you live in the Boston area. Johnny Cupcakes will yet again be hosting another movie night at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline / Boston. Here’s the info you need:
“Join me THIS Saturday June 13th at 11:55pm (midnight) to see TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES on the big screen for $7.75 @ The Coolidge Corner Theatre on 290 Harvard Street – Brookline, MA. Along with your movie ticket, you will be given FREE Upper Crust Pizza upon entering the Theatre. We even got a hold of the original movie reel from back in the day!”
This week I also start the summer long series on Ongoing T-Shirt Contest Sites. Every week, I will be reviewing a different tee from one of many different online contest sites. I’ll be discussing how each of these sites differ, how the submission and selection process work and what your rights are as a designer. This week we kick things off with ShirtFight!
You can also watch this episode on Vimeo, Viddler, YouTube, blip.tv and download and sync all episodes to your iPod or iPhone by subscribing for free to Co-Tee TV in the iTunes Store.
Coty’s Thoughts:
You Might Need More Than A Nightlight This Time by Evanimal.Good: Nice custom packaging and T-Shirts are individually packaged. This is the first ever winning tee at ShirtFight and so it makes a nice collectors item. Printed on an American Apparel tee so you know I like the fit, 5 color soft print, orders come with a ShirtFight thumb wrestling kit. Bad: I wish they went tagless. Price: $18.00.
Exploded 128 by Garry Booth. Fun shirt for any Mac fanboy (like myself)! I’d wear this tee with pride any day. Love the colorway and it’s printed on a American Apparel tee so you know that I dig that! Price: $18.00.
If you want to send me a product to review, please feel free to do so. You can find my information in the contact menu above. Thanks!
It was my pleasure to interview Dale Edwin Murray for this weeks Indie Tee Spotlight. He has definitely made a name for himself in the crazy world of T-Shirt design and has been very successful in submitting designs and winning at some of the top T-Shirt contest sites around, like, Threadless, A Better Tomorrow and Shirt.Woot. Dale shares a little bit about how he got his start, what you can do to improve your chances of submitting a winning design and why he doesn’t wear his own shirts!
Coty: How did you get started in the T-Shirt design business?
Dale: I help start an online t-shirt store about 5 years ago. I was initially involved in content management and marketing and somehow ended up designing all of their own brand tees. I went freelance about 3 years ago and have been doing t-shirt design ever since.
Coty: What was your first experience in submitting to a T-Shirt design contest? What did you learn from that initial experience?
Dale: My first experience of a t-shirt contest was subbing something to threadless. It was a long time ago and looking back on it the design was pretty awful. It scored pretty badly and got hardly any love from the crowd over there. I learned a number of things from that experience – firstly that t-shirt design is not as easy as it might first appear. There is definitely an art to it and just because you are a good designer doesn’t necessarily mean that you can do commercially appealing tees. It also became apparent just how much competition there is out there. Subbing to threadless was definitely a useful way to get unbiased feedback on those initial designs. It told me that I needed to go back to the drawing board and come up with something better and better each time.
Coty: You’ve submitted to and won at Threadless with the designs Squeeze Me and Music Business Remastered. With Threadless receiving over 2000 submissions a week, how difficult is it to get noticed and printed at Threadless? What tips do you have for those trying to get printed by Threadless?
Dale: There is a lot of competition at threadless. There are a plenty of very talented designers over there and they get a ton of submissions. So yeah it’s tough to get printed. I thought it was never going to happen! And I’m finding it just as tough to get printed for a third time! I guess the advice I would give would be to take your time with getting your design just right before you submit it. Try and get something perfect and resist the urge to get it subbed quickly. I think it is also important to try and get involved in the community over there, to participate in the blogs and critique/score/comment on other people’s designs. Try and get yourself known and as silly as it sounds, get a good, easily recognisable avatar.
Coty: Which of your designs is your favorite to date? Why?
Dale: I guess it would have to be Music Business Remastered. It is my highest scored design on threadless and went down pretty well there in terms of sales as well. I guess that’s what I’m always striving for, a design that looks great but also sells well. Funnily enough on my way to the gym the afternoon I actually saw a guy wearing the hoodie version – that made my work-out much easier!
Coty: Aside from submitting to contest sites I am sure that you do freelance work outside of T-Shirt design. What, if any, type of graphic design work do you do outside of designing awesome T-Shirt designs?
Dale: I’m lucky enough to have enough t-shirt design work to not have to diversify at the moment. I say luckily because I really love doing tee design. But in the future I would also love to move into other areas – editorial illustrations, album and book covers – that kind of stuff would be cool. But at the moment I am all about tees!
Coty: Digit Duel is the “sequel” to your first Threadless design, Squeeze Me. I’ve got to ask, what’s the story behind these squeeze characters? How’d you come up with the concept of colorful beans on oversized hands? And secondly, are those the hands of Dale Edwin Murray!
Dale: I have absolutely no idea how that idea popped into my mind! I was just doodling these little bean characters and wanted a way of making them look really small in relation to something else. I thought it would be cool if they were interacting with something rendered in a photo-realistic kind of way – a mixture of fantasy and reality if you like. So it sprang from there I guess. So I took a photo of my own hand squeezing a grape to get the perfect pose. Yep, those are my hands – complete with freckles!
Coty: With a growing collection of Dale Edwin Murray designed tees circling the Internet, I wonder, does Dale wear his own tees?
Dale: I have to admit that I don’t wear graphic tees at all – my own or anyone else’s. I only wear plain tees. I used to wear a ton and still have them all in my wardrobe but I don’t feel right wearing them anymore. That’s what happens when you hit 30!!!!
Thanks to Dale Edwin Murray for taking the time out from creating wonderful tees to chat with me! Be sure to stay up-to-date with Dale’s latest designs by visiting his online portfolio.
