Rocket Tee by 718 Project

admin    T-Shirt News, T-Shirts     718 Project, 718project, Rocket Tee, art shirts, graffiti, street art

Chris from 718 Project contacted me recently, I hadn’t heard of the label before but was immediately drawn to one of their tees simply called ‘Rocket‘.

Damn! Ain’t they beautiful! Seriously street art influenced tees with a superb sense of humour, laid out in a cool semi-abstract composition. Seriously these tees are going to fly off the proverbial shelves – no pun intended! Both colours are available in sizes S-XL for $19.95 each, definitely one of my new faves.

You can see the rest of 718Project’s tees at www.718project.com. Whilst we were chatting I got a little background info on the label and their motivation:

Formed by a group of friends with an aversion to the countless and mostly unimaginative tattoo tees and rhinestone shirts out there. The 718 Project is founded on the love of powerful eye-catching graphic art, and printing them up as tees that really can grab the public’s attention.

I asked them about the name “718 Project” and Chris told me: “We all have some sort of tie to the outer boroughs of New York; mainly Queens. Also whenever anybody refers to NYC the first thing that comes into mind is the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, skyscrapers… in other words MANHATTAN ( which ironically is the only borough of NYC that has a 212 area code as oppose to 718 like the other 4 boroughs.) So our objective is to show the fashion world of the artistic influences the outer boroughs have toward NYC as a whole. That even though the fashion Mecca of the world is Manhattan; Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx and Staten Island also play a major role into what comes out of the big city.“

I’ve always championed the indie arts scene of NYC, I am the first to express my hatred for the B.S that comes out of mainstream NYC (a.k.a the abomination that was Sex in the City). If you want to know the real deal when it comes to New York street style, then the 718 Project is a great place to start. This definitely is a “project”, an ongoing experiment in art and fashion, aiming, quite rightly to change the mainstream public’s perception of what New York is all about, straight from the people on the street rather than the executive boardrooms of the ivory towers of Manhattan.

Their inspirations include “pin-up girls, influential pop culture, propaganda and movie posters, and of course street art and graffiti.” Here’s 718′s mission statement to seal the deal: “”Introduce yourself to the name that will bring the streets of New York home. Bred from street art and refined through fashion, this wearable art yells in the colors of the city. In an effort to bring originality to a market of recycled fashion, our company will open your minds to an innovative style.“

Check out the rest of their collection at www.718project.com.

Concrete Rocket

admin    T-Shirt Designers     Budi Kwan, Budi Satira Kwan, art shirts, art t-shirts, concrete rocket, graphic tees

I received a comment on a recent post from Budi Satira Kwan, the guy behind Concrete Rocket, and realised I’ve never featured his label, which is rather insane seeing as he knocks out such great tees. he has a really unique drawing style, simple at a glance and intense on closer inspection. There’s something spidery about his illustrations that reminds me a little of British artists in the Seventies, almost a blend of styles by quirky characters such as Quentin Blake and Gerald Scarfe although most definitely influenced by far edgier street artists of more recent times. Lovely little airbrush bursts and some very fine stencilling on offer. Don’t expect much in the abstract department, he does produce the occassional vector beauty like the Colourful Morning tee at LaFraise but it’s a rarity.

Budi also steers away from the gags and puns of designers like Glennz, sharing more in common with artists like Rob Dobi of Full Bleed when it comes to sentiment, choice of subject matter and composition. There are a few stand out classics at Concrete Rocket that having been doing a good trade for what seems like years now, and a couple of newer additions in his collection that I’d like to share with you. With a little bit of luck I’ll see if I can’t wangle a discount from Budi and add it to our permanent discount code section in the sidebar. All the tees at Concrete Rocket are available in a wide range of sizes (except the ones that have sold out!) and most in cuts for both girls and guys. Here’s a few to give CR newbies an idea of just how well Budi does what he does…

Realism Tee

We all need a little more realism in our lives, I know I do, but this tee turns the premise on its head, a life imagined can be so much more fun. Available for guys and girls for $22.90 each in all sizes.

Peanuts Tee

“Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love” ~ Charlie Brown. I love this shirt, especially the idea of adding some realism to a cartoon character. Something along the same lines was doing the rounds on the Net a few years ago, it was a hand drawing of the kids from South Park as real kids and not imagined characters. I’d love to see Budi’s “real-life” interpretation of Charlie Brown ;) Peanuts is available for girls and guys at $19.50 each in all sizes.

The Great Plunge Tee

I might be one of the only people who never cried whilst watching E.T – everyone else at the local Odeon blubbed their eyes out for some reason. I loved Close Encounters as a kid and definitely wanted to see a sequel, this was about as close as you’re gonna’ get, packed full of sap and corny feel good moments, the E.T character sucked, even the fake Roswell video guys could have done a better job. For those who do believe (and happen to be carrying an alien on their handlebars) make sure to give the Moon plenty of space when you’re doing your wheelies. Get The Great Plunge Tee for $19.50 for guys and girls in all sizes.

Balloon Man Tee

Loving this one, a classic as far as I am concerned. It kinda sealed Budi’s fate early on as a top t-shirt designer. It’s almost like the “Banksy that got away”. Great piece of surreal illustration nicely presented on a t-shirt for all your delectation. Get this shirt for girls (S-XL) and guys (M-XL).

If you fancy seeing more checkout Concrete Rocket, and if you want to keep up-to-date with all Budi’s art then you can find him at Twitter, Facebook and at his blog.

Resist Today

admin    T-Shirt Designers, T-Shirt Reviews     Brandon Dunlap, Resist Today, art shirts, art t-shirts, limited edition tees

Resist Today is a small & independent, artist-run company. When you buy a tee, a print, stickers, pins or any item at ResistToday.com the profit goes to the artists and not (yet another) corporation. Expect originality, quality and limited editions as the order of the day. The line-up of artists include Dave Rau; Josh Bertrand who runs Red Labor with Dave Rau, Brandon Dunlap, Eleanor Grosch of Push Me Pull You Design, Ian Keltie of IKCA, Jay Giroux and Billy Tamplin of Rejected Robot.

All of their tees are superbly screen-printed shirts and the inks “feel nice & soft” (I’m hoping this means water-based?), using slim-fitting and sweat-shop free American Apparel tees. Some of their designs are way out there in cuckoo land, which is just fine for me, it’s where I belong ;p Right now there’s a $10 Summer Sale on so if you fancy sprucing up your wardrobe with some highly original limited edition art then take a look at this lot:

Skulls and Kittens Tee

I’m sure I’ve featured this one somewhere before, if I haven’t it’s a crime, this design is awesome, kinda creepy but it hits the perfect tone of sarcasm. If you’re fearless in the face of death and love cute animals you’ll be glad to know this shirt by Brandon Dunlap is available in pink (M-L), grey (S/L), blue(L) and yellow(S-XL)! Yep everyone of them is just $10 in the sale.

Bureaucrat Tee

The faceless corporate drone gets his 15+ minutes of fame due to the highly creative mind of Josh Bertrand. Simple, powerful and highly effective design, you can get the Bureaucrat Tee for $10 in XL.

King Rhino Tee

Years ago Chris and I went to a country park in Sussex, they kept Rhinos there, one of them suddenly began to bolt towards us, it looked like it was about to charge through the fence and over the ditch. Then it stopped, and sort of whined and simpered. We picked some grass nearby, fed it, and then patted its head. I love rhinos. I also had a ghetto blaster as a teen, I painted crap all over it and took it everywhere then some sod at a party “borrowed it” like 20 years ago hah. So, King Rhino has a lot of personal connections for me lol. No seriously, love this one, it’s groovayyy. Get it as a tee (s/L/XL) or polo (S) for $10 each.

Two Guys And An Octopus Tee

Don’t ask, I have no idea what’s going on, the general idea seems to be “steam punk gone awry”, all I know is that it’s weird and that’s good for me. If you have a penchant for Victorian freakery, and want something a little more spectacular than The Elephant Man, then meet Two Guys And An Octopus – available in sizes S/M for $10.

Check out the Summer Sale at www.ResistToday.com.

Artcotic T-Shirts

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     art shirts, artcotic, illustrated tees, limited edition, limited edition t-shirts

Artcotic.com offer a wide range of highly artistic limited edition tees created in collaboration with new and established art talent from around the world. Usually the t-shirt print runs are limited to 500 each and once they’re gone they’re gone. At Artcotic a far greater variety of styles on offer, there’s no particular “house style”, some are hand drawn, others superbly executed with a retro graphic aplomb, even a few montage pieces too. They work  very closely with their artists and interview every one of them, after all where would they be without them?

They’re usually open for submissions, but I think they must have their books full as they’ve closed the doors, at least for the immediate future. Still they do like to collaborate, helping the indie music industry on the side by giving out a few shouts to their fave bands and artists at their Turntable Archive – which is full of interviews and music clips to keep your brain occupied for a while. Whilst you’re they’re you really should check out their t-shirts though, after all that is what they make. Anyway as the store is loaded with Javascript I can’t link to their products directly,  so you’ll have to do a little hunting for yourself. Here are some cool picks from the store:

Artcotic Traditional T-Shirt

Designed by Shawn Conn from Rochester, NY, a part-time tattooist and talented artist who’s exhibited at several shows, as well as designing art for t-shirts, skateboards and more. I’m always a sucker for a good tattoo tee, and this one’s a beaut. ust $14.99 for men in all sizes.

Happy Pointer T-Shirt

A fine example of Trent Call‘s work. I love this guy’s art, his cartoon style illustrations are like taking an acid trip through the early age of animation, when Mickey Mouse was neither beautified nor a mascot for an evil corporation (as Bart from The Simpsons would say). You’re either a fan or not, I definitely am. Trent works from the Captain Caption Studios in Salt Lake City, he’s done illustrations for the likes of Newsweek and he even runs his own zine called Swinj. Get this limited edition tee for men/women in sizes S-XL for a piddlin’ $14.95.

Running Operative: Final Mission T-Shirt

This tee is by Derek M Ballard (aka the line tamer) currently resides in Gainesville, FL. He’s created art for Giant Robot, Wonkavision, SCREW, Escort, The Drama, Faesthetic, Circus Punks, SEIBEI, Eros/Fantagraphics, Tinymeat, Go Ape tees, Royal Flush and tons more. Top notch t-shirt by a top notch artist. A total Ninja Kama Sutra in glorious retro toon style. Get it for just $14.95 in S-XXL sizes.

Untitled T-Shirt

Here’s a rarity, it’s a t-shirt design by the rather famous artist Dalek (as opposed to the Dr. Who frenemy), what’s more it’s figurative! Well kinda – in a cartoon stylie. This guy creates an amazing array of technicolour abstract paintings, he’s probably one of my favourites in the genre, I’ve never seen him do anything like this, still it’s rather cool, and mad (as usual). Again on sale for a pittance at $14.95, especially when you think how well known the artist is and that the tee is limited to 500. Available in all sizes.

See the rest at www.artcotic.com.

LVL Go South

admin    T-Shirt News     European, French, French T-Shirts, LVL Clothing, art shirts, fashion tees

French t-shirt label LVL Clothing have a new collection out for the Summer, it’s called “Sud” which means “South” if you’re not au fait with your Franglais. Anyway, a pretty spicy collection if you ask me, perfect for baffling your less well travelled contemporaries on the beach. All these are available at €29 each in various sizes, but if none of them take your fancy then don’t worry, there are still a few stragglers left in their CRAYON and Bon Appétit Collections! As usual they’re all limited, with the Sud Collection offering just 50 tees for each design…

Check ‘em all out at www.lvl-clothing.com.

Win An Oliver Hibert Ouroboros Box Set

admin    T-Shirt News     LTD TEE, Oliver Hibert, art shirts, box set, contest, limited edition t-shirts, limited editions, screen printed tees

This is the second box set I’ve written about in a week, and to be honest I think it’s a great leap forward. I’ve always upheld the notion that t-shirts are art, and involving more and more prominent artists for commissioned art and t-shirts is a great combo. If we love to wear it why wouldn’t we want it on our walls? LTD Tee have collaborated with the fabulous psychedelic artist Oliver Hibert for their latest offer, an outstanding box set entitled Ouroboros. Based on the mythical self-consuming creature that is Ouroboros or Uroborus, a fantastic vintage pop design that extends this Ancient Greek symbol into something trippier than ever before.

What’s really exciting about this release is that you can enter enter to win an Oliver Hibert ORIGINAL Sketch, and will receive a set of free LTD Tee stickers and t-shirts. Yes, you read right, to celebrate their launch LTD Tee is giving away a free box set which includes an original sketch by Oliver Hibert!  Everyone who enters to win the set will also receive free stickers by JThree Concepts, MCA / Evil Design and Oliver Hibert and will be entered into their weekly drawing for free t-shirts! Even better than that you can get a generous 10% off the full price by including the code “buy-tees” at the checkout!!!

Ouroboros T-Shirt

Even the custom screen-printed box is gorgeous

The Ourobros box set includes the following:

• High quality, screen printed t-shirt
• 8” x 10” art print
• Custom screen printed box
• Artist bio on both the box and neck label
• Sticker pack

It is available for men and women in all sizes at $24.99, which I have to admit looks like a major bargain to me considering all the work that has gone into it! You will have to hurry though, it’s first come first served as far as LTD Tee are concerned and the offer ends in just another 12 days.

LTD Tee is a brand new online pop art clothing company which pays a great deal of care and attention to its products. They feel very much as I do that t-shirts are a medium for artistic expression and inspiration and they have backed up their ideology by handpicking only the best in contemporary artists including future design releases by the likes of David Flores, Camilla D’Errico, MCA / Evil Design, JThree Concepts and MW. This is most certainly a label to keep an eye out for, exciting times are ahead.

The countdown is ticking, if you fancy owning an Oliver Hibert tee, print and sticker set rush on over to www.ltdtee.net today.

In The Eye Of Eio

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     British, EIO, abstract shirts, art shirts, art t-shirts, art tees

Eio Clothing remind me a little of Das Monk, perhaps a little bigger and fancier, but they seem to hold the same sensitivity for design, with plenty of original art shirts on offer. The big difference is they’re a British brand, a good British brand, which must do a little something to bail us out of the economic slump we Brits are in. Right now the General Election is taking place here, I was going to vote but my postal vote never arrived, so I’m stuffed… anyway on with the tees. Their shirts are worn by a wide spectrum of fans including skaters, the famous, surfers and musicians, rakes and reprobates and as they describe “all beings of superior taste”.  I have to agree, there is definitely something Mark Weaverish about their style. Eio Clothing t-shirts are stocked in countries worldwide and offer an off-the-wall range of designs you won’t find on your local high street, unless that is you live somewhere very very cool!

All of their tees are organic and fair trade so no worrying about putting fashion before doing the right thing here. Eio Clothing is based at the Cultural Quarter in Lincoln, not known as a mecca of haute couture, it’s great to see that the Internet can springboard so many independent brands into the big league. I’d say their house style is something like a post-psychedelic sci-fi, not the sort of sci-fi you’d see in blockbuster movies from the USA, but more like the strange and wonderful TV experiments of Britain in the 1970s, ecologically driven sci-fi made by intellectuals for the pleasure of middle-class intellectuals waiting for the revolution to start, it doesn’t, they vote in Thatcher instead. Shame, shame…

Damn I am straying today. Eio have even given birth to a fledgling label Rakes & Strays who definitely deserve a review of their own in the near future. Anyway check out these retroish, mostly abstract, absolutely arty t-shirts in Eio’s latest collection “Excess is Ok”.

Mountains To Molecules T-Shirt

This tee is designed by the head honcho James Lee – the creative director of Eio and Rakes & Strays. You can see what I mean about obscure British sci-fi, like a graphic from a hippyish UK cold war propaganda movie, this image explores the microscopic and macrocosmic. Who knows if there’s any real science in the design, still, it looks cool! Available for guys in L & XL for £34.95 and there are only 4 left in stock! Get Eio’s Mountains To Molecules T-Shirt here.

Prism T-Shirt

Here’s the explanation for Eio’s Prism T-Shirt… “We took it upon ourselves to disregard science and the actual way light separates and just make up our own interpretation. Made from the broken shards of light and refracted colours, this T-Shirt is the Eio prism, together with the excess is ok spectrum of colours.” I am sure there is logic in their madness. I love this deceptively simple geometric design, it relaxes me like no other. £34.95 in XL, just two left!!

Diamond Fission T-Shirt

Here’s a fascinating subject, the Diamond Fission T-Shirt deals with how volcanoes not only create international chaos for airports, they also create diamonds. Beautiful abstract too, stark, neon, and ever so sliced. Designed by James it’s available for guys in S-M for £34.95 here.

Stars T-Shirt

I should love this one but the cropping is rough, the Stars T-Shirt really deserves a full front panel print or even an all-over print. Hate rectangular borders, love stars, I’m torn. Still it’s on sale for just £19.95 in Small and just one left in Large.

See the rest at www.EioClothing.com or become a fan at their Facebook page.

Art Shirts by ARDT

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     ARDT, ardentees, art shirts, graphic t-shirts, graphic tees, illustration

ARDT @ www.ardentees.com is the culmination of the vision and hard work of Curtis Liau, Benjamin Loy and Donovan Casey Mathews who aim to blur the line between art and t-shirts, which personally I’m all for. I’ve written quite a few posts heralding the change in public opinion towards t-shirts, both as a fashion item and art form, and it’s always nice to see new recruits to the cause. ARDT work with a large selection of talented artists to produce their highly particular style, right now there are a few available designs, buy I have an inkling with their army of talent waiting in the wings it won’t be long before they’ll producing a whole lot more.

They generously provide full profile pages with links for each and everyone of their artists and actively encourage interaction with their visitors who are free to comment on any t-shirt at the store. The site is superbly laid out, simple, clean and subtly slick, it’s obvious that Ardentees have really thought through what they’re doing. In general I like the t-shirts on offer although I have to say if I was running the show one of the first designers I’d feature is the German artist Pearpicker who has produced this superb illustration of a tattooed sailor.

Who knows, maybe this one is already on the cards? In the meantime here’s a few tees that are for sale right now!

Is This Truly Wonderland T-Shirt

The Is This Truly Wonderland T-Shirt by German designer Hansomoto and it offers a venerable bounty of flamboyant hand and vector illustration work (I’m guessing it’s a blend due to the style). I like the central motif, a letter “A” that’s reminiscent of a lot of antique embroidery panels, which I assume stands for the name “Alice” as in “Alice in Wonderland”? Again, I am guessing here. Still it’s a lovely decorative design, highly detailed and expressive in style. Get this unisex tee in white for $35 in sizes XS-L. As with all ARDT’s shirts, this tee has been screen-printed on 100% cotton, would be nice to see them shift to organic in the future. Still one thing at a time.

CMYK Inside T-Shirt

I’m always keen on CMYK tees, essentially the building blocks of all printing, just four colours (cyan, magenta, yellow and key which is black) and halftone shading can create infinite colours. As for CMYK Inside, it’s a nice t-shirt with an appeal for the more expressionist of tastes, but in all honesty it doesn’t either make the most of or even celebrate the wonders of CMYK. I’d like to have seen something far more complex, I’m surprised that the artist hadn’t incorporated halftones which would bring this design to life, and conceptual fruition to boot. Get this unisex tee in white for $35 in sizes XS-L.

“A” T-Shirt

Uniquely combining typography and the human form, I particularly like the “A” T-Shirt by British freelance designer Jack Crossing. It reminds me a little of 60′s fashion photography, especially in the Swinging Sixties of London with models like Twiggy, The Shrimp, designers like Mary Quant, and a deep respect for the power of composition. I’m not sure if I like the slight introduction of colour in this piece though, would be nice to see it in solid or halftone black and white. Get this unisex tee in black for $35 in sizes XS-L.

Check out their art shirt collection at www.ardentees.com or hook up with them at Facebook.

The New Standard

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     art shirts, concrete rocket, graphic t-shirts, the new standard

I received a comment from Concrete Rocket the other day and thought I’d check out this Singapore-based freelance designer out, and I’m glad I did. CR offers up a fine selection of graphic tees, exuberantly designed and highly stylized tees that take a sly wry look at the world we live in. Taking influences from both traditional art and urban/street art Concrete Rocket’s style reminds me a little of graffiti artist Banksy from time to time, which is no bad thing! You can check out his store at www.ConcreteRocket.com where there are currently 7 shirts available for both men and women, reasonably priced at between $19.50 and $21 each. My favourites have to be the intriguingly titled Bouncing Off a Satellite T-Shirt and Balloon Man T-Shirt.

I love the style of these two tees, and the reference to American Gothic in the Bouncing Off a Satellite T-Shirt is a very cool touch. Whilst attempting to do a little research about Concrete Rocket I found more examples of their work at a rather intriguing artist’s collective called The New Standard, which as you’ve guessed by now Concrete Rocket is on their books. I couldn’t resist featuring a few fine examples from other artists at The New Standard. They make some rather bold statements of intent such as “New Standard is more than apparel, and more than an art movement….New Standard is art moving. New Standard has arrived.”. Fortunately the t-shirt art on offer, for the most part, definitely stands the test of scrutiny.

Check these out:

Le Chief  T-Shirt

A lovely piece of montage, very silly and just the way I like it. The Le Chief tee is available for men (S-XL) and women (S-XL) for $28. Yes, yes, this one’s by Concrete Rocket too :p

Hungry Like A Wolf T-Shirt

Inspired by the classic Duran Duran track? Who knows, but love that style. Very Fairey! Great colours and a clean cut design. This shirt’s by artist and designer Leon Vault and is available in sizes S to XL for men for $28.

Tree of Hands T-Shirt

Beautiful woodcut style t-shirt design by highly talented illustrator Lydia Oritz. A beautiful olde-worlde look to this one, it probably has some deep spiritual meaning to it but I just like the style. Very Aboriginal art for a Manila-born American artist? Get The Tree of Hands Tee that’s unfortunately only available for the guys right now for $28 in all sizes here.

Beautiful designs, the artists are top notch at TNS and the site reminds you that buying one of their tees will support an artist which is always a good thing. There’s some kind of CSS/Javascript pop-up that really annoys me though. It keeps making sure I know my cart is empty, not sure if that’s bad programming or a pushy sales technique, but it doesn’t work. Despite that one minor technical qualm I have a lot of hope for the future of  The New Standard. Definitely a label to keep your eye on, and of course all the artists on their books, including Concrete Rocket, who are doing such sterling work!

Earth-Rise T-Shirt by Public Domain Clothing

admin    T-Shirts     art shirts, cool tee, earth, public domain, public domain clothing, rise, surreal, urban fashion

Earth-Rise T-Shirt

“Houston we have a problem…”

OMG I love it. Isn’t this the best piece of paranoid NASA conspiracy bad trip fashion you’ve ever seen? Well actually it’s the first I’ve ever seen and I love it. If there’s one thing we could all do with it’s more scary astronauts. Seriously though Public Domain Clothing, the auteurs of kook and wry cynical humour in the world of t-shirts have really upped their game with the Earth-Rise t-shirt. A phenomenal piece of trompe l’eoil and a superb tee. I love the the thought that with just a little Photoshop jiggery pokery you can subvert reality as we know. One for the record books in t-shirt weirdness you can get this superb shirt in black for $25 in sizes S to XL.