Don’t Be Jealous Of Envee’s Tees

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Envee, Envee Apparel, art shirts, conceptual, designer tees, heaven, hell, tattoos

They say that the grass is always greener on the other side, who knows, I only have a small decked terrace with a few potted plants, but I’m guessing the idea that you can always aim higher rings true with many of us. The idea of a better life, a greater existence, a final destination is a concurrent theme throughout Envee Apparel’s line of top quality designer t-shirts. I’ve just received a very enthusiastic email from Robert Hartland to take a look around their rather innovative fashion store and blog, and overall I’m impressed. I say overall because they are rather excessive in the logo department, something I’ve criticised many designers out there trying to make the grade, plus, and this can be easily remedied, the collection is a little scant on the ground right now. Bar those two rather minor criticisms I think the people at Envee maybe on to something, take a look at their “Destinations Collection” to see exactly what I am about to ramble on about.

Life can be full of surprises, it can take unexpected turns from one day to the next, some good, some not so good, some bad and some downright awful, but imagine, if you will for one moment, what happens after life? This is exactly the rather enormous question that Envee hopes to tackle with its unique line of tees for men and women. They have a very sharp attitude to design, the whole brand image has been well put together, from the design of the site to the shirts themselves, but don’t let the slick exterior of Envee fool you, these guys have their sights set on a whole other level, practically tackling the biggest question that any being on the planet will eventually face, and that is “what is the meaning of death?” as opposed to the more popular conundrum, “what is the meaning of life?”, which more than likely has an infinite choice of answers. Douglas Adams in his Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy novels states a simple mathematical equation resulting in the answer “42″, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey quotes the lyrics from a Poison track “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”, Monty Python’s Flying Circus takes a rather simpler route offering the idea that one should “Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.” But what about the meaning of death? Well in a word it is, as far as Envee are concerned, a “destination.”

There are three options for the afterlife at Envee Apparel, and they are The Low Road, The Middle Road and The High Road. In essence, the good, the bad (ass) and the downright scary. Lets’ start at the bottom and work our way up.

Taking the low road, the darkest route to oblivion and hopefully a final resolution to one’s troubles, expect Envee’s tees to bring out the evil in you, ranging from:-

The Necromancer T-Shirt

to the

Envee Skull T-shirt

On to The Middle Road with the

Legendary T-Shirt

offering a rest bite from the darkest path, offering a chance to battle for absolution and make towards the light of the Higher Road offering the likes of:-

Evolved Essence T-Shirt

Guardian Angel T-Shirt

Now I have to admit that although conceptually the whole format is strong I’m not so sure if Envee have actually achieved their goals with these pieces, they are smart and attractive designs, that I grant you, but in essence it seems as if the women’s t-shirt designs are more successful in their approach than the men’s tees. Essentially the Envee logo for the women’s tees are great, perhaps a little large, but at least more graphically pleasing. What I do have a problem with are the men’s shirts is that the logos are large and on the front of the shirts, and the designs are as yet not dark or complex enough for my liking.

I’d like to see more tattoo design influences, especially Japanese ones or perhaps a jaunt into the world of biker emblems and insignias may help too. I’m sure that both Envee’s style and selection will evolve rapidly over time, they are a relatively new design house, their store is still in beta, and I’m sure they can take a little positive criticism on the chin. For some cool influences for designs I’d recommend they take a look around Flickr too.

Still, it’s well worth keep an eye on Envee Apparel – I’d love to see their strange and evocative concept come to fruition!

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