Arteefact

admin    T-Shirt News, T-Shirt Reviews     arteefact, custom tees, heat press, vinyl tees

John from Arteefact, a brand new t-shirt label contacted me yesterday for a review. Uniquely they hold no stock, instead, when they receive an order they plot it, weed it and transfer it on a t-shirt especially for you. Each of their tees comes with a unique number printed on the back, and they even offer custom designs. Now, I’m not known as a fan of vinyl tees, I’d take water-based printing over heat press every time, it’s better for the environment and feels much nicer to wear, but who knows, you might think differently.

Amongst their slightly shambolic first collection are some real beauties, I adore their Determination T-shirt, which again is an abstract design, not my favourite kind, but this one seriously works. On the other hand there are a few I’d rather skip. Over all I’d suggest the collection needs some work to get going. The designs that do work are strong, the store is beautifully laid out, and their commitment to a more personalised service is very reassuring, I just wish there was a way I could convert them to a more eco-friendly approach, something that would add to their mounting kudos rather than detract from it. Still, there’s definitely talent at Arteefact, check these shirts out to get my drift…

Determination Tee

Not only is this a fantastically visual abstract design, it’s enabled Arteefact to be incredibly sparing with the vinyl which is most definitely the direction they should follow if they want to stick with heat press tees. There’s a real iconic dynamism to the look of this one, almost leaving you hanging in expectation. I want to see a lot more like this one in the future. The Determination Tee is available in 3 colours in sizes S-XL for €28 (Free Shipping) here.

Free Yourself From The Prototype Tee

I’m not keen on the text in this one, but I do appreciate the sentiment and the design is again very sparing, I’d focus more on making the image express an idea rather than “backing it up” with a slogan, however it’s still a very cool idea. The Free Yourself from the Prototype Tee is available at €35 (Free Shipping) each in 3 colours here.

Full Face Tee

Loving the vector stylings in this design, a beautiful use of line and sparingly laid out for maximum contrast. I prefer it in black as it really does stand out a treat. The Full Face Tee is available in black and white for men (€28) and  women (€30) in all sizes (Free Shipping).

I’m sure that Arteefact will think I’ve been a little harsh, but if I can steer them in a more eco-friendly direction now, it could spell the difference between survival and even failure as a brand and the chance of breaking into a far wider market and growing a cult following into something big, at least in the indie t-shirt world. Anyway… take a look for yourself and make your own minds up at www.arteefact.com.

One-Off Tie Dye Tees

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     custom t-shirts, custom tees, hippy tees, tie dye, tie dye tees

Here’s a brand new label for you, B’s Tees at Shopbstees.com run by Bettina Bairley, a past U.S Taekwondo champion offers something of a rarity these days, absolutely unique individual t-shirts. Yep, that’s right, no two of her shirts are the same, if you fancy wearing something that no one else in the whole world will ever wear, read on.

Bettina got hooked on dying t-shirts when she first tried it with her daughter for a little bit of fun on her 13th birthday party in 2007. From there she began to invest in better dyes and self-taught herself to an expert level. Her daughter wore many of Bettina’s shirts to school and kids would ask where she got them. Soon the orders began to roll in. Bettina’s done a lot of experimenting over the last 3 years and has developed a unique style that vastly differs from most dyers out there. With a good eye for quality, both her blank shirts and choice of colours are superb. She’s also been learning and experimenting with Shibori technique which can be very intense as it is really detailed. I’ve recently worked on designs for dresses, handbags and leggings but have not added them to the line as of yet. My main focus is still t shirts.

Customer service is her priority, almost all of her tees are produced on a custom basis. After a brief consultation regarding design and colour Bettina tailors each shirt to that specific client. Each shirt is individually numbered (where runs are involved) and signed with a silver Sharpie discretely on the inside hem to ensure authenticity. She’s also been a featured artist at the arts and crafts portal Dharma Trading website last Autumn which was really her first recognition as an artist and since then word has spread like wild fire. Right now her best sellers are little hearts and peace sign tees, however she’s had requests for crosses and so she’s currently working on a good technique for those.

I only have one slight criticism (although I’m nervous I’ll receive some kind of Taekwondo death blow for mentioning it), I fully understand B’s domain name choice, it’s just unfortunate that the name also spells out Shop ‘BS’ Tees, which might inadvertently attract a few bad taste shoppers from any Google rankings. Still I’m sure Bettina can convert their t-shirt tastes once they realise what she’s offering, something very thin on the ground these days, true uniqueness. Ah well, we live and learn. See all her tees at www.shopbstees.com.

New Tees By Maiden Voyage

admin    T-Shirt News, T-Shirts     Maiden Voyage Clothing, classic tees, vinateg tees, vintage t-shirts

If you’re more olde worlde than old skool you might remember our post in March about the Maiden Voyage Clothing Co. One of our only criticisms at the time was their Adobe Flash site which asides making it difficult to access for those on slower connections and crappy cell phones, the fact is reviewers like myself can’t poach pictures from their store so easily, so I for one am glad to see they’ve updated (or should that be downgraded?) their store back to lovely cuddly HTML. On a far less geeky tack, do have a butchers at their latest offerings in t-shirt form, yet again no doubt with the aid of some kind of time travelling device, MVC have captured the essence of the past, delving into the curios and curiosities of history to come up with these potential classics available in all sizes from £32 each…

Council of Crows Tee

Siamese Fencing League Tee

Dark And Stormy Night Tee

I hate to say it but it’d be nice to see some larger product images at the site and perhaps some more competitive prices, oh well, perhaps I should’ve mentioned that last time. On a side note, I think the model is superb, if anyone is going to sail the ship through stormy waters, it’s this old codger. Anyway do take a look at the rest of MVC’s tees (and handmade leather products if you fancy a new wallet – even if you have nothing to put in it) at www.MaidenVoyageClothing.com.

3 New Tees At Infinite Now

admin    T-Shirt News     graphic t-shirts, infinite now, infinite-now-com, logo tees, new t-shirts, octopus tee

Graphic savvy Infinite Now have just released three new tees (well two if you want to be absolutely technically pedantically precise about these things), two logo t-shirts and one rather jolly little number featuring an octopus. I remember a few years back when octopuses were sprawling all over the t-shirt world, perhaps it was the lure of drawing all those suckers, who knows, all I know is IN are reviving an old favourite of mine and how…

All three tees, 8 Ways, Blackout and Knockout are available in sizes S-XL at $25 each, printed on super soft American Apparel shirts. Check them all out at www.infinite-now.com!

All Day Sale At Pyknic

admin    T-Shirt Discounts     Pyknic, Pyknic Clothing, funny tees, graphic tees

The guys at Pyknic Clothing are holding an all-day sale on all their tees today, get a whopping 50% off any and all of their products including tees, hoodies, shorts, cut-offs and bracelets. Grab a bargain today by using their code “FEARLESSFRONT” at the checkout. Here’s one of their latest t-shirts as a little reminder of the culinary fashion talent that is PYKNIC.

Flying Toaster Tee

Another future classic by the gourmands of the t-shirt world, the Flying Toaster Tee is available in sizes XS to L for $12.50 today (reduced from $25) when you use the code “FEARLESSFRONT” at the checkout…

For loads more bargains visit www.pyknicwear.com today!

Shark Week Sale

admin    T-Shirt Discounts, T-Shirts     Fury Shirts, Seventh Ink, limited edition tees, t-shirt dicounts, t-shirt sale

It’s the Shark Week Sale at Seventh.Ink, get 20% off any and all products at their store at www.furyshirts.com until Sunday the 8th. Just use their promo code “sharkweek”at the checkout. If you’re scratching your head wondering what the hell Shark Week is, then don’t worry, I was in exactly the same predicament a minute ago, it seems it’s an American TV tradition, which sounds rather scary to me. Not so much the idea of vegging out in front of the TV and watching sharks as much as having a week dedicated to anything on TV at the height of summer. This sounds like viral marketing gone mad, I know one thing, the Brits have too much weather to ever consider gawping at the boob tube when the sun is out, it’s shirts off, down the beach and gawping at real boobs on the beach for most red-blooded British males (except for goths and emos). The nearest we get to a TV event is Big Brother, but thankfully that’s finishing this year :p

2010 Limited Edition Logo Tee

Aaitski! T-Shirt Contest

admin    T-Shirt Contests     Aaitski, cartoon t-shirts, character t-shirts, t-shirt contest

Our pals at Aaitski! Coolafied Clothing are holding an exclusive free t-shirt contest this August through Buy Tees, so if we’ve wet your appetite in the past and you fancy winning three of their highly original cartoon character t-shirts for yourself or your kids then here’s the lowdown…

Simply answer one question correctly and send it along with your size, name, address, email and phone number. The competition question is…

What is the creative alter ego of  ‘The Aaitski! Bros.’ ?

(Either the names, the url or both).

The contest ends on the 31st of August and the winner will be selected randomly via Random.org. Send your winning answer and details to us via our contact form or email us and you’ll have a chance at winning three freebie tees by the Aaitski Bros. Here’s a couple of tees to remind you of their signature style…

Ninjaboy Tee

Party Girl Tee

So get cracking and find the answer (which is at their site www.aaitski.com) today!

Olga Shvartsur

admin    T-Shirt Designers     Olechka, Olga Shvartsur, Star Trek, animal tees, hand drawn tees, hand illustrated, skull tees

Olga Shvartsur is a pharmacy graduate and self-taught artist from the Seattle area who offers up a fine selection of traditionally drawn tees and prints with a penchant for mixing up classic portraits and animal illustrations with the odd and rather bizarre zombie House M.D design and Trekkie drawing. She doesn’t have her own independent store right now and I’m kinda breaking my own unwritten rule by featuring her work, but I doubt it will be long before Olga is snapped up by some indie label or other, she has a great eye, superb line control and a quirky sense of humour. All of her t-shirts are available at www.redbubble.com/people/olechka, I’ve got a few tees up for sale there too as it happens, and RB are one of the best print-on-demand stores out there, so I couldn’t resist giving Olga some props.

Every shirt is available from £15.42 / $29.30 / €20.05 each in a wide selection of colours and styles, what’s more if you buy 4 or more tees the shipping is free.

Tigerrr! Tee

Zebra in Color Tee

“Spock” Tee

Live Long and Prosp-arrr! Tee

Scream! Tee

Skull Tee

As you can Olga Shvartsur offers up a great selection of superbly hand-drawn tees and a cool sense of humour to top it off. Check out the rest at www.redbubble.com/people/olechka/t-shirts.