Frakking Puppets Tee

admin    T-Shirts     604Republic, Muppets Tee, funny t-shirt

Here’s a new one from 604Republic called…

Frakking Puppets Tee

I used to love The Muppet Show as a kid, however Sesame Street sucks, I know they mean well, but kids, don’t play in the street with a man in a giant bird suit! The Frakking Puppets Tee features two old gits (Statler and Waldorf) who never seemed to enjoy themselves. I wish 604 had made a punch bag of these two, still one of their shirts and a big gut might suffice. Everyone’s a critic hah. Get this funny tee for $19.95 in sizes XS-XL.

How To Start Your Own T-Shirt Brand

admin    T-Shirt Articles     Start Your Own T-Shirt Brand, T-Shirt Articles, set up t-shirt brand, setting up a t-shirt brand, t-shirt branding

Last summer Ryan Kovac set up Beau Clothing, here’s how he did it:

“I came up with a massive list of things to accomplish in order for Beau to launch. I broke up everything I needed to accomplish and learn into 3 sections: brand, website, and legal.”

Brand: Assuming that you are creating your own brand, you probably have an idea of a niche or target audience. It is key that your brand fills that niche, or offers something unique in it’s own right. Brand development comes in three stages: your brand logo, planning, and shirts.

Logo: When making a logo, you want to create something that depicts your brand, but also incorporates what your brand is about. With Beau, our logo was created to show our minimalist designs and their simplicity. A logo is a key tool for brand recognition, a memorable logo can keep your brand fresh in the consumer’s mind.

Planning: For most Indie start-up lines, finances can be limited. Personally, Beau was brought to life by the two of us working all summer long. A sacrifice has to be made. Currently we are college students and are making ends meet financially out of our own pockets. We put all of our funds towards bringing our fans and customers the best possible product we can. Don’t let it scare you though, it’s a very rewarding feeling to have somebody enjoying what you put a lot of hard work and time into. The key is to create a plan, like I am drawing out here, with your finances. Microsoft Excel is a great tool to keep track of everything. The best tip I can give you is to be as organized as possible.

Shirts: Artistic talent is essential, if you have little you can always sketch your ideas out and use artists to create your designs. But that doesn’t have to stop you. Beau Clothing was lucky enough to use Cameron Hagedon, one hell of an artist and designer and friend. Places like Emptees.com are places where you can find talented artists. If you don’t know any artists personally, they can help you create your clothing’s art. Just remember that there are always resources out there to utilize.

Printing: Do your research, our biggest tool was google. We lived on sites like bandwagonmerch, and t-shirtforums just asking questions and gathering information. Prior to Beau, I knew nothing about Plastisol inks. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Email anybody and everybody whom you think would have valuable information. God knows how many emails I wrote just acquiring information on what material went best with what inks and what tagging sizes were recommended for each size of shirt. One tip for everybody: American Apparel. It is just gold made of fabrics. Everybody loves it and, frankly, if you are selling to somebody who doesn’t know much outside of Gildans and Hanes, they will put your shirt on and fall in love. Most likely, they will never take it off.

Shipping: If you plan on shipping out shirts, which most indie’s do, packaging is the last chance to make a positive impression. If financially possible, make something amazing and memorable. However, for most cases, including Beau, that is hard to accomplish. Just remember, with every penny you earn, put that penny back into your brand. Including packaging. But, until then, make sure your shipping does not hurt your image. Make sure it’s secure, doesn’t fold, and makes it there quickly. Uline.com provides a lot of products for packing, folding, and shipping your shirts nice and neatly.

Website: The first thing a consumer will see is the quality of the site. Bigcartel.com and Storenvy.com provide a great template and a cart. If you know web design at all, you know that building a fully functional cart is kind of a hassle. For Beau, we were forced to pick up a CSS book and learn from scratch in order to make our site stick out from the cookie cutter ‘Bigcartels’ of the world. Jquery is no fun, but there are plenty of tutorials online that help teach. Sohatonaka.com is one of my personally favourites. Soh is a genius and very helpful as well. As for CSS, check out this site; again a lifesaver. If possible, we advise that you leave it to the professional and shell out the dough.

Domain: As far as domain names go, try and purchase one that is unique and memorable. If that happens to be your brand name, perfect. For Beau, we went with thebeautee.com as a little play on words to create the”beauty” in a sense. And if you do decide to use a Bigcartel, the folks over at Indielabs are very helpful at providing set up to link your new domain name.

Legal: At first we thought this would be one of the most difficult parts, it turns out it was the opposite. Make sure to get a hold of people who know something about business law – an accountant, lawyer or, in our case, your business professor. You can figure out a lot of the basics via Google and forums, but legalities are not something you want to mess up. It would be the biggest buzz kill to have to shut down everything you have worked so hard for just because you didn’t fill out the right paperwork. From our experiences we have learned a little. You should be alright with just a DBA, but you’re much better off filing for a Limited Liability Corp. (LLC). But again, check with a pro. In the UK this would be a Limited Company, check other countries for legalities.

The biggest thing to take out of all of this is to sit on your computer and do hours upon hours of research. Become an expert in your niche and field. We are not saying we are, but we are striving to be. And another thing, there are tons of people willing to help you. When you tell anybody in your community that you’re going on this adventure, they will do almost anything to help along the way. Don’t waste that help, it’s a life saver. Never be afraid to email and ask questions!

Ryan Kovach,
Beau (http://www.thebeautee.com/)

Frit People Tee by Bourdi

admin    T-Shirts     Bourdi, French T-Shirts, Frit People, funny t shirts, funny tees

French artist Bourdi has released his latest tee via RueDuTeeShirt.com and it’s a cracker. You might be familiar with Bourdi’s work, he’s a regular contributor to the French t-shirt community Mr. Poulet. Now that’s a site I need to feature again sometime, nice shirts! Anyway, check this out…

Frit People Tee

For those who need a translation ‘Frit means fries’, so essentially they’re French Fries, haw he haw he haw. Love it. Not keen on the store though, looks like a print on demand site which means you can get the design on just about anything you like, but the t-shirts seem decent enough and start at €16.90 each. Here’s the Google Translate link if you need it.

See more of Bourdi’s funny t-shirt designs at his blog.

Customize Your Old Tees

admin    T-Shirt Articles     Francesca Menichelli, Italian fashion, customise your t-shirt, customization, customize, designer fashion, recycled tees, street fashion

This post is for the ladies out there who’d love to simultaneously rid themselves of a few tired old tees whilst making a big bold fashion statement on a seriously low budget. The idea came from Italian fashion designer Francesca Menichelli.

If you want to replicate the above effect all you need asides a little time and some basic sewing skills is a pair of old tights and some elastic. Form tiny balls and attach them together with elastic then arrange them on the inside of your tee in a pattern of your choice; harlequin, grid, or even random and get sewing! It doesn’t sound like much, but with these simple materials you can end up with something rather stunning! If you like the effect then why not go mad and do the same to some leggings too!

Check out Menichelli’s sketches if you have the time… www.francescamenichelli.com.

Inkvasion

admin    T-Shirts     Inkvasion, graphic tees, ink, sci-fi t-shirts, zombie tees

Don’t worry the world isn’t about to be destroyed by black blobs of ink from space, in fact Inkvasion hooked up with me at Twitter and so I checked out their site and found a couple of really sweet tees there, one is a juicy zombie shirt in a nice ‘n’ slick comic art style and the other looks like a lost poster for 2001 or any sci-fi movie of the same vein, very ominous! I’m keeping this brief as I really need to get a Sunday in once in a while, so take a gander at these two while I make sure there isn’t any black smoke bellowing out of the oven…

Eclipse Tee

A beautifully simple abstract design, a tad spooky with some dark sci-fi pretensions, love it. Get the Eclipse Tee for guys and girls in heather grey or purple at $29.95 each in sizes S-XL.

Zombie Tee

Another great shirt, this time featuring zombies, I’m always a sucker for zombie tees. Great illustrations too. Get the Zombie Tee Tee for guys and girls in white at $21 each in sizes S-XL.$21 each.

All Invasion’s tees are limited edition, hand printed and come with a lifetime warranty!?! Honest, it’s true, with just a few stipulations… “If your shirt is destroyed in any way whether Tornado, Laundry Mishap, Lightning Strike, Shark Attack, Alien invasion or even burning your threads saving babies from burning buildings, We will replace it for free.“

See ‘em all at www.TheInkvasion.com.

Xraylibra

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Xray Libra, Xraylibra, art shirts, comic tees, illustrated tees, lucha libre

Sean Bahrpart owner and designer for Xraylibra contacted me recently and something that caught my eye was this “we believe in the craft of design and screen-print“. He had me sold on that one line, and you can tell, with just 6 black and white tees it’s obvious there are big things ahead for Xraylibra! To avoid any confusion make sure you visit their Big Cartel store and not their main domain name as that doesn’t seem to be completed. Let’s hope they get their act together on the marketing front, it would be a shame to see these shirts disappear into the ether of obscurity.

Sean is part owner and graphic designer at Xraylibra, he creates and prints every tee in-house by hand, top quality too! Let’s take a look at some goodies, all of these shirts are on sale at $17.99 each in unisex sizes S-XXL.

El Luchador!! Tee

If you love lucha libre masked wrestling, you’ll love this tee. Actually I’m not a fan of wrestling, Mexican or otherwise, but for some reason art featuring Luchadors always rocks. Maybe I was a fighter in a past life lol.

Billy Ray Satan Tee

Sean definitely has the gift when it comes to titles, I’m sure plenty of self proclaimed bad boys out there will fight over this tee. Now all you need is the leather jacket, the chopper and the girl and you set will be complete.

Zombie Killers Tee

I am a big fan of great zombie and infection movies, but I’m fussy, I can count less than ten I really love, and it’s always bugged me that at least one zombie blockbuster hasn’t been set in the Old West. You’d think all those Hollywood players would have come up with a decent pitch by now. In the meantime you’ll have to console yourself with this cool shirt.

Luchador War Tee

The sequel to ‘El Luchador’, there are some phenomenal Marvel/D.C elements to this design, check out the robot in the background and the lovely grunge/distress effect. Let’s hope for more adventures from the masked avenger!

See two more tees and a great sticker at www.xraylibra.bigcartel.com.

Lucky Dragons Tee

admin    T-Shirts     Lucky Dragons, Musicians as Designers, Soundscreen Design, music t-shirts, music tees

Before all you dragon lovers out there get too excited, this post has nothing to do with dragons, it’s a simple typographic tee designed by Lucky Dragons who are an experimental band from LA, who are also behind the drawing collective Sumi Ink Club. The shirt is part of a series by Soundscreen Design called ‘Musician as Designer’, which theoretically is a great idea, unfortunately most of the tees look a little amateur asides this one called Edition 09 available in black and natural…

Lucky Dragons Tee

Officially known as ‘Series 09′ of the Musician as Designer series, it’s big, bold and (at first glance shiny), most likely a big hit with the fashionistas, or it will be now! Get this tee in two colours for $34.99 each in unisex sizes XS-XL. The fantastic thing about this design, especially in black, is the fact that using an intricate jungle/graffiti style abstract pattern it manages to look a little like metallic ink. In fact I’d reprint a new metallic version just to hammer this one home. Then again I have no class :p

Here’s the blurb on Soundscreen Design:

“Soundscreen Design is a product design company inspired by music, based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY. We design, produce, and distribute music related products to both wholesalers and retailers. We aim to advance the concept of music merchandise through meticulous design coupled with a fan’s appreciation for and obsession with the ‘thing.’ We make products that can be categorized as books and prints, apparel and housewares.”

Geisha Tee By Equilibrium Clothing

admin    T-Shirts     Equilibrium, Equilibrium Clothing, Geisha Tee, Japanese t-shirt, UK designers, UK t-shirts

Here’s a real bargain from a brand new UK label Equilibrium Clothing. Just £10 for this very cool Geisha Tee in royal blue.

Geisha Tee

A nice traditional etching never goes amiss on a tee, this one is no exception. You will love this tee long time at £10 each in sizes S-L.

I’d recommend that E.C do some work on the main website though, Flash is really off putting if it isn’t done well. Keep it simple and slick I’d say. Anyway see one more t-shirt at their site www.equilibrium-clothing.com.

$7 Last Chance Spring Cleaning Shirt Sale at Seventh.Ink

admin    T-Shirt Discounts     Seventh Ink, t-shirt discounts, t-shirt sale

Seventh.Ink are having a $7 Last Chance Spring Cleaning Sale to make room for the upcoming spring line. All of the shirts that are on sale will be retired after March 31st, so this is the last chance for people to grab them before they’re gone! The sale page URL is here. S.I have finally took my advice and bought another domain (besides FuryShirts.com) called SeventhInk.com which should clear up a lot of confusion!

The Simple Things

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     The Simple Things, UK tees, graphic shirts, text tees, type t-shirts, typographic

I’ve tried looking up the exact quote but essentially it’s The Simple Things that count, at least when it comes to fun, and you guessed it, simple graphic tees. Based in rather idyllic Cornwall and run by Adrian Blake, a guy on a mission to escape the dreaded 9 to 5 and spread his fun and quirky view of the world via his online store. There’s a nice selection of mid-priced tees and buttons on offer, leaning on the typographic but they work. What’s more no sign of generic fonts, nice hand rendered text and a good choice of colours.

Each of the following are on sale from £17.99 to £22.99, most available in sizes S-L. However ladies will miss out on my fave as there are only medium sized Add Colour tees left :/

Add Colour Tee

As mentioned only men’s mediums left for this one, obviously a popular shirt, very funky.

Love The Simple Things Tee

Very nice hippy styling, reminds me of something off a psychedelic record cover. Groovy. On sale now at £17.99 for girls and guys in sizes S-L.

And Found Tee

A slightly cryptic title for a nice little piece of semi-abstraction spelling out the word ‘lost’ in a rather pleasing safari-style cut-out font. Sorry girls this one’s just for the guys in sizes S-L for £17.99 each.

See more funky British tees at www.TheSimpleThings.co.uk.