Das Monk T-shirts. Das ist sehr gut!

Das Monk was born of the union of t-shirt love by two t-shirt fanatics Marc Hendrick and Anna Lunoe almost a year ago. They are currently in the midst of selling out their second collection of tees right now. They plan to showcase a new and limited edition collection of t-shirts every 3 months and offer a unique homespun style informed as much by the Arts and Crafts movement as by the modern life and modern street culture of Europe and beyond.

The two members of Das Monk came up with their label’s name one starry night, as Marc and Anna ran through all the possibilities they found themselves favouring the word ‘Monk’ because it’s short and succinct and represents a figure of deep contemplation using simple means to communicate something more. The German word ‘Das’ (meaning ‘the’) was added by Marc who is of German descent. Read more

Glennz - aka Glenn Jones - A Bona-fide Genius of T-Shirt Design!

Glennz - The T-Shirt Design Genius.

Even if you don’t think you’ve heard of Glennz (Glenn Jones) the t-shirt designer, you have, and if you haven’t, this is planet Earth and the year is 2008. I doubt any person alive with a love of t-shirts hasn’t seen one of his works. I’m sure we could debate whether this is art or not for years to come, but, as far as fulfilling all the requirements of classic t-shirt design, Glennz has to be the man.

I know this review will come across as a total creepfest, but I really don’t care, Glennz has to be one of the few t-shirt artists that made me believe I could make it in this industry. His works are some of the most memorable I have ever seen, sure they aren’t grunge, they’re not eroded, they’re not filled with vector shields and gothic text, or experimental photo-montage techniques, but those are all fads and fashions that will pass and eventually return again.

The world of design like the world of art follows some very basic principles in order to maintain their essential position in our culture. They enable us to visualise that which cannot be understood, or has been misunderstood. They must create a new iconography for each generation, they must speak to both the mass and the individual. Yet beneath all the diatribe, each artist, each designer, has to have their own distinct vision and a wealth of skill and technique to achieve it. Read more

Invisible Friends, Broken Icons and Dead Rock Stars.

Invisible Friend is the kind of friend I’d like, as long as it’s not the crazy kind that will end up putting you in a safe ward for a few months until it’s decided to leave. Nor the kind my sister had as a child either, we were both only a few years old and she’d spend most nights nattering on to her invisible friend, she’d named it “Witch”, and whenever I’d pretend I had an invisible wizard, she’d insist her witch had killed it. I couldn’t see the point of continuing so I let her have the monopoly on fantasy friendships. Things have turned round now, I’m the crazy sibling, she’s the respectable one, I rant all night about t-shirts, whilst she waits for daylight and only talks to people she can actually see.

Invisible-Friend.co.uk first caught my eye when I spotted their sponsored link on Google, I don’t normally follow paid-for links, past experience has taught me that most Google Ads lead you on a wild goose chase, resulting in a page of search results from an inferior search engine. This time it was different, I can’t remember the link text, but the name drew me in, and I wasn’t disappointed. Now I have to be cruel to be kind but I do think the web-site needs a little work, I’d rather get straight to the collection on the home-page, but I can understand why they’d want to prepare you, they have an incredibly strong and graphic style that might scare the pants off the more lily-livered t-shirt punters out there. Read more

Despair.com T-Shirts - The Party’s Over - Let’s Get Down…

The world is on a downer, it’s true. The world economy is breathing its last breath, all vital resources are running out, our post-war capitalist dreams are turning into one great big nightmare, we haven’t got long to play before the whole of society will have to take stock and cut-back and get real. In the meantime there are a few bright sparks out there spreading the word of misery, accounting the disappointments we all share and feeding them back into the loop. Some of them can be found at Despair.com

I only discovered this site two days ago, if you have a blindly chipper outlook on life Despair isn’t for you. If you always prefer to talk up a situation, if you enjoy spinning positivity for the common good, don’t choose despair. Their t-shirts don’t offer a pessimistic outlook on life, but they are realists, Despair’s focus is precise and brutal, down-to-earth and matter-of-fact, yet always tinged with that bitter-sweet humour that only the wonders of irony can provide.

You won’t find anything pretty at their site, this isn’t a visual parade of fantasy and craft, this is all about functionalism and delivering the message. Demotivation is not such a bad thing after all, it can help you slow down and take stock of reality as it is and not as the media portrays it, or your greatest wishes command it, or what you’d simply like to hear. Just plain old ugly truth. Read more

Latest Goodies From Threadless.com

I have to work on something for Threadless.com soon! In the meantime here are a few new arrivals at the Grandaddy of all T-Shirt Voting Sites.

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Option-G and Cole Gerst - T-Shirts to Perfect Life’s Imperfections.

Option-G Apparel is an extension of the design firm Option-G based in Los Angeles and headed by artist extraordinaire Cole Gerst. You may have heard of him already, or seen one of his many designs on posters, paintings or prints. He has been particularly successful in the music world, where you’ll most likely recognize his works. Gerst even produces his own monthly comic strip in the LA Weekly called “LaLa Land” which features his two dogs roaming the streets of Hollywood.

Gerst has a prestigious arts background with a string of successful art shows behind him, having shown his work across had shows all over the USA as well as a retrospective show in Glasgow, Scotland of his rock posters. The t-shirt line was started as a mere sideline, simply another medium to explore his unique view of the world, and experiment with different ideas, whilst having fun with his audience. The instant feedback provided by t-shirt fans helps many creative minds in their quest to hone their skills and find perfection in their art. Option-G’s started selling to the public 4 years and since expanded into a variety of products, even wallpaper would you believe? Cole has a truly unique style, I’d describe him as the Jasper Johns of the T-Shirt World, take this design as a clear example:-

Ghetto Signage

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The Best of the Best: Outstanding T-Shirts (Designed by Humans)

I need to purge all that negativity from my last post and focus on some of the greatest t-shirts available on the net right now. I could just vegetate in front of the TV, or argue with the neighbour about controlling his wayward dog and teenage son, or spend the remainder of my weekend inputting data at my new t-shirt printers directory. Sounds like another awful weekend, I’m sure one day I’ll be able to afford such luxuries, however until then I’ll turn to one of my favourite obsessions, great t-shirt design, and thought you’d like to see a selection of tees that have caught my eye from this legendary t-shirt label. Read more