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Bold Colors

June 5, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

New t-shirt companies start up all the time. It’s very easy to get lost in the noise, and very difficult to stand out from the crowd. With all the t-shirts available, new ones need to be new and different in order to be appreciated. Some designers achieve this with unique fabrics or flattering cuts. Others rely on mind-boggling or hilarious designs. Yet others make their shirts unique by producing locally and using the profits to support a specific cause. Recently-formed Cotton Citizen takes a simpler, yet slightly different take on standing out.

Cotton Citizen, founded in LA by LA native Adam Vanunu, grew out of the family business, American Dye House, where Vanunu learned about colors and fabrics early on. Cotton Citizen’s shirts are different because of this focus on the materials and inks. By applying dye and distressing techniques normally reserved for high end denim fabrics, Vanunu has created shirts and other clothing that stand out from the crowd.

The company’s website isn’t up yet beyond a placeholder, but the line has already been picked up by retailers Ron Robinson and Fred Segal. The company has already gained much notice at the August, 2011 ENK trade show and the shirts have been photographed on celebrities such as Jessica Alba. The website is scheduled to go completely live sometime this June.

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Black Sabbath shirts

May 30, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Black Sabbath is back. Ozzy Osbourne and company will be performing on an unfortunately scaled-back tour this summer, with their only US tour date at Lollapalooza in Chicago this summer. The band was going to be performing a full, proper tour with its original line-up, but due to guitarist Tommy Iommi’s unfortunate cancer diagnosis and contract disputes with drummer Bill Ward, the band was forced to tone things down in terms of the scale of the tour.

One area that isn’t scaled-back or toned-down is t-shirt availability. The band has partnered with international merchandising producer Bravado in order to provide the shirts that will be sold at the three tour dates this summer. Bravado is even hosting a contest to solicit ideas from fans in the US, the UK and Germany for t-shirt designs to be sold on the road.

There’s also another, separate t-shirt contest in the US, run by retailer Hot Topic, by which fans will also be able to submit their ideas, with winning shirts to be sold in Hop Topic stores. The Hot Topic contest started on May 19 and will run through June 17. The winner will receive a Black Sabbath lithograph signed by members of the band.

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Political popularity

May 24, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

For a long time now, various people have been calling for electoral reform in the US, to simplify and impose more order upon the system by which we select our top elected leaders. This has been especially true since the hotly-contested and still-controversial 2000 presidential election in which George W. Bush won the position of commander in chief. Ever since then, various groups have raised their voices louder and louder in proposing various electoral reforms. The idea behind this is that the current system may not adequately yield results that correctly reflect the intent of the voting public.

However, one system that has not been proposed is election results based on campaign t-shirt sales. If that system were put in place today, the perhaps surprising front runner in the 2012 presidential race would be Senator Ron Paul. To date, the Paul campaign has been responsible for a whopping 46 percent of t-shirt sales so far this election season. The Obama campaign is in second place at 39 percent, and Romney campaign t-shirts trail in a distant third place, accounting for only 15 percent of campaign t-shirts sold this year.

Unfortunately for Ron Paul, t-shirt sales are unlikely to translate directly into votes this November. Those who pay attention to these sort of numbers predict that if Romney wins the GOP nomination this summer, Obama will become the clear front-runner in t-shirt sales from that point on.

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From Crowdsourcing to Crowdfunding

April 5, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Some of the most innovative and influential companies in the t-shirt world of today wouldn’t be where they are today if not for the concept of crowdsourcing. Crowdsoucring is exactly what it sounds like – harnessing the power of a group of people. In this case, it involves soliciting new art, ideas and designs from the public for use on t-shirts. This business model has proven successful for many, with notable companies such as Threadless leading the pack.

The idea of crowdsourcing is starting to spread globally. One notable example is Chilean Alan Earle’s online company, Magna Corta, which gets its t-shirt designs from independent artists and designers. In under a year, Earle’s company was selling shirts with designs from many independent artists, all who earn a commission on the sales they generate.

It only makes sense that when Earle wanted to expand Magna Corta’s capabilities, he turned again to the public, this time utilizing crowdfunding, to generate the necessary capital to grow his business. Crowdfunding functions in the same way as crowdsourcing, except that the goal is to gather monetary contributions. Earle was able to raise the $4000 he needed in 40 days with the help of 25 contributors, with which he was able to grow Magna Corta, giving it a chance at even greater success in the future.

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The Dark Night’s Wardrobe

March 27, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

The Dark Night rises is one of the most anticipated films of 2012. Christopher Nolan’s first two films in the franchise are widely regarded as masterpieces in the superhero genre. The third and final intended chapter in this phase of the Batman mythology has huge expectations to live up to, and fans are eagerly awaiting what will be Christian Bale’s final silver screen appearance as the masked vigilante.

To mark the occasion, the filmmakers have partnered with Design By Humans to design a t-shirt to mark the occasion. Design By Humans, if you didn’t know, runs contests to design various t-shirts. Artists and fans are welcomed to submit new shirts for consideration. The community votes on the submissions and the winning designs are offered for sale via their website.

The Dark Night Rises contest began this past week and runs through the end of April. Artists may sue the famous bat logo, but they must download and use the official version permitted for the contest. Designs featuring major characters in this new installment such as Batman, Catwoman and Bane are allowed, but characters from previous Nolan movies such as the Joker, the Scarecrow, and Two-Face are not permitted.

There are over $13,000 in prizes up for grabs. Some submissions are already up on Design By Humans’ website, and they reflect the dark tone of the comics and movies. Director Christopher Nolan and producer Emma Thomas will determine the winner from ten finalists selected by fans. The first prize is $3500 plus twelve shirts of the artist’s choice.

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Born This Way Contest

March 26, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Musician, fashion icon and all-around artist Lady Gaga has invited fans to design a t-shirt to be sold during her 2012 to 2013 Born This Way Ball World Tour. Fans didn’t have a lot of time to submit designs, as the contest started on March 14 and ran through March 19. Winners are expected to be announced shortly.

According to rules, contest entrants needed to be at least 13 years of age and hold an online account through Facebook or similar social media website. Ten winners will be selected who will walk away with $500 each. Fans were permitted to use images of Lady Gaga, but only from a pre-selected list approved for the contest. Initial submissions will be judged by Lady Gaga’s merchandising team. Final winners will be determined by Lady Gaga herself.

Given Lady Gaga’s history of shocking and innovating, one can only imagine wide range of submissions received by the contest. Given her tendency to never look the same twice, you can bet that the contest entries are vastly different, one to the next. Based on the name of the tour and resulting contest, it’s probably safe to assume that there will be a good number of entries based on and inspired by her popular Born This Way video.

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Gone But Not Forgotten

March 22, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Every once in a while, a real game changer comes along in the t-shirt world. Torso Pants was among the best and more irreverent sources of t-shirts with hilarious designs. Some of the best included the Platypus of Death shirt, a “Say No To Swashbuckling” design, and one that featured a picture of nature’s noble buffalo, with the caption “My Native American Name is Steve.”

Unfortunately, Torso Pants shut its online “doors” a little over three years ago in December, 2008. However, all is not lost. Their wacky sensibility lives on through their sister website T-Shirt Hell. Sometimes offensive, always hilarious, T-Shirt Hell not only has t-shirts for men and women, but for those looking for a smartass start to life, they have a line of offensive wearable’s for babies. And, if that’s not enough, T-Shirt Hell has actually set aside a portion of their website to keep available some of their classic Torso Pants offerings.

Among the shirts currently featured there are some with religious humor – picture an atheist praying mantis and a poker game with the caption “Ante, Christ”. Also there, you can find some nature humor in the form of a moo-ing chicken and a shirt declaring to the wearer to be two horses in a man costume. No matter which section of T-Shirt Hell’s site you visit, I’m sure there’s something to suit your sense of humor, whether it is subtle of flat-out offensive.

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Scott Pilgrim Contest

March 19, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

WeLoveFine.com has recently announced their new Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World t-shirt contest. Scott Pilgrim, as you know, starrted as a line of graphic novels and was brought to wider audiences and acclaim through the 2010 movie starring Michael Cera.  WeLoveFine, known for awesome and funny t-shirts featuring everything from comic book superheros to Star Wars-inspired designs to classic cartoon characters, has partnered with Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley himself for the Scott Pilgrim contest.

Scott Pilgrim fans are encouraged to come up with their best designs inspired by the graphic novels and movie. The contest runs through March 28. WeLoveFine.com will select the winner. The grand prize starts at $1000 and can run up to $2500. The prize grows from $1000 based on the number of ratings the t-shirt receives.

The higher-rated the winning shirt, the higher the prize. Guest judges O’Malley and Christopher Butcher will also select their own favorite from among the submissions to win $400 each. There are also runner up and honorable mention categories – the prized for which are a $150 and $50 gift certificate to WeLoveFine.com respectively.

 

All winning designs will be considered for printing and sale on WeLoveFine.com. The contest runs through through the 28th, so if you’re interested, now is the time to get started.

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Offensive activewear

March 15, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

With countless new t-shirt designs made available every year, it’s a certainty that a few of them won’t be to everyone’s liking. Normally, you’d expect to find some of the more “out there” t-shirts at some back alley boutique or smartass online retailer. Imagine the world’s surprise when what it assuredly 2011′s worst t-shirt appeared at none other than traditional brick-and-mortar retailer Sears. Although the product page has since been deleted, they were for a brief time selling a t-shirt that (proudly?) read “I love butt plugs” with a festive heart graphic in place of the word “love.”

Probably due to uproar from the Craftsman tool-buying public, the shirt has long since been pulled from their offerings. Interestingly enough, though, this is not Sears’ first foray into derriere-themed products. A quick search of the word “butt” on Sears’ website revealed more than five hundred surprisingly legitimate items.

Legitimate products aside, it’s a pretty safe bet the aforementioned t-shirt was either the result of a rogue employee trying to get fired, or the head of Sears’ standards-and-practices division taking a day off. For now, we’ll mark this oddball t-shirt down on our gone, but not forgotten list. Don’t worry, though… Sears’ website still has hundreds of novelty t-shirts available – just none currently that express fondness for aforementioned products.

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Faux Real – Real Awesome

March 14, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Creative Concepts isn’t new to the world of upscale and innovative wearables. Founded in Minneapolis in 2000 by the Gray brothers, their business has grown by leaps and bounds, handling not only high-quality licensed collegiate apparel, upscale loungewear and high-profile private label items, but an entire novelty tee division, including their latest label, Faux Real.

Their Faux Real line, sold in conjunction with retailers including but not limited to Six Flags, Sea World, and Walt Disney World theme parks, breaks new ground in novelty apparel. What makes them unique are their photo-realistic designs. There are designs for the men and for the ladies, all designed to catch the eye and wow the viewer. There are shirts to mimic entire outfits, including a long-sleeve tee that looks exactly like a classic Cosby-worthy Christmas sweater, and one that mimics a stylish 1960s-cut suit jacket.

For someone looking for something a little naughtier, there are ladies’ offerings that give the illusion of showing bikinis, and one for the men featuring a bare painted chest declaring the wearer to be a super fan. These awesome shirts are also affordable, ranging from $25 to $32. Don’t worry – you don’t need to take a theme park vacation to get them, either. Faux Real is offering these t-shirts for sale via their own website, too.

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