tFuse – Fusing Talent And Recognition

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Want to be famous? Want to be famous for making t-shirts? Good. tFuse is a community that uses t-shirts and video to promote all types of artists. Following in the vein of many t-shirt crowd sourcing sites out there, this company offers a little something extra in the way of video exposure to ensure their artists get as much exposure as possible. After a hefty 7 month beta tFuse are ready to bombard the unsuspecting public with your greatest offerings. What’s particularly interesting about tFuse and the people behind it is their focus on creative and artistic talent, they’re not just following the traditional route of dipping into the usual pool of t-shirt talents out there, they’re giving a worldwide shout to all artists from every background, using the medium of the t-shirt as a primary tool for publicity and exposure for the unsung heroes of the artistic community.

I’ve argued this before and will again (I’m sure), essentially there are slow routes and quick routes for making a name in the arts world, take graffiti for instance, many names in this modern urban genre have made it big through public recognition, word-of-mouth, one fan telling another and so on. Not stuffy old galleries in the back streets of trendy city ghettos, but every street in every town in every city of the world. Another way an artist can boost their profile in the public arena is to print t-shirts, the more people who wear them the better known their work will become. This is exactly the philosophy of tFuse and then some. Combining t-shirt art with video promotion is probably one of the fastest ways any artist can reach the public immediately and in quantifiable numbers.

Yes I think the logo needs work, I’d have thought within 7 months something more imaginative could’ve been sourced, but hey they have enough artists on their books, what about asking them to create one, I’m sure they could offer a good incentive? Talking of incentives, they offers lots of ways to earn money and t-shirts in their referral program, so if you aren’t to au fait with creativity you can still join in and make a few bucks, or rather FuseBucks.

If a friend likes your t-shirt they’ll ask where you bought it, they’ll check the source and most likely won’t want to but exactly the same design (unless you’re actually twins a la ‘The Shining‘ – those doppelg√§nger types out there really freak me out). So back to the point, they buy another design, they wear it, now two of your works are on ‘public display’ somewhere in the world and so the ripple effect has begun. I’ve never believed in network marketing or pyramid schemes, but I do believe in the power of fashion to spread the message as fast as possible. So many large charity movements like Live Aid have used t-shirts to viral effect, so why not artists? Now don’t get me wrong, their use of videos isn’t as cut and thrust as your usual corporate dross out there, it’s all creative no matter the format, you won’t get far making a video of you telling the world to “buy my tees – they are great”. No, this is all about personality, brand identity, a unique reality that the public will either lap up or won’t. Just the way comedians conjure up a scenario, or writers and directors set the stage, the public want to be enticed, enveloped, engulfed in the minds of their favourite bands, artists, and celebrities in general. The only difference is you won’t have a big PR firm doing it all for you, you have to do it yourself, which is really the name of the game these days.

The site is still a little bare right now, but that can work to your advantage, the less competition there is the more chance you have of becoming established before tFuse really takes off. Just imagine combining the power of Youtube with Threadless and you’re half way there. All it takes is a little imagination and a lot of hard work and perseverance. Are you up to the challenge? Do you want to be the next t-shirt idol? Then take a look at what you’re up against right now…

Right now tFuse have limited offerings, however here’s a few tees that stood out for me:-

Lend A Hand Tee

Now unless you’re a member you can’t actually view any artist profiles which is kind of mad, it sort of goes against the whole idea of tFuse for me, however this is Lend A Hand, designed by Joe (whoever he may be) and although it’s a tad generic it is well drawn and printed in generous proportions to pull off the concept. In a way I think it’d look stronger without the text although that would just leave a solitary hand which might look a little Gospel, you know, “heal, heal me Jesus” kinda thing. Anyway a strong tee, I’d much rather see something that was printed all over, perhaps two hands shaking, one diagonal at the front reaching over a shoulder and clasping the other at the back. Oh well, that’s my two bits worth, worth considering for the future maybe. Lend A Hand is available for $19 in small to 3XL sizes for men and women.

Don’t Judge Me Tee

It’s a genuinely funny tee, I mean I’m not rolling around on the floor here but I do think it’s funny, even better than that it’s funny and original. I’d love to link to the artist who created Don’t Judge Me, but I can’t and so if you do become a member look him up, the alias is Iamcorbie (of course I’ve no idea if it’s a guy or a girl). I really was excited about the concept when I started this review, tFuse has plenty of good intentions, but I’m just not feeling it as I go through the site. Anyway I love the drawing style of this tee, and the premise, well it speaks for itself. You can’t buy this (yet) one but if you sign up you can vote for it here.

Okay one more tee…

Teddy Bears Tee

I’m not into ‘cute’ or ’schmaltz’, but this t-shirt has a deceptively cutesy appearance whilst beneath lurks (perhaps) some solid social commentary, the mechanical claw, the teddies bodies packed together like cattle, almost a kindergarten version of a scene from Matrix (if you really really squint). I’m impressed, I like this design and didn’t think I would. There are some great tones in the Teddy Bear t-shirt, I love the composition and generous proportions of scale. You’ll find quite a few of these machines down my way, lined up along the beach, waiting to ensnare tourists, families, kids, boyfriends trying to impress their new girlfriends. On average they’ll spend a small fortune on the ‘challenge’ and I find them rather depressing all in all. Still, Meetmebythesea has done an excellent job here. It’s up for a vote now here.

I thought I’d feature a video to round this review up (if you want to embed any of tFuse’s videos click the ‘E’ in the viewer – would be nice if they simply had a text box underneath for this. This is a very strange piece by fondersuperfly88 simply entitled Loopy Clown Music Vid.

As for tfuse I have to say I feel a little let down between concept and resolution, however I am reliably informed they are opening the profiles up to the public as I write. They seem rather attached to their logo – I’d have to disagree there but it’s their choice, Perhaps when they get a heap more designs in and come back to me in a month or two we’ll try again

In the meantime if you have a smidgeon of talent you have the perfect opportunity of blasting the competition wide open, submit your designs and wait for fate to play its hand at tFuse.

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