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.

Collect London – Artist Series Illustrated Tees

admin    T-Shirt Designers     Collect, Collect London, art t-shirts, illustrated t-shirts, limited edition tees

Collect London is a unique new T-shirt brand with a difference… What better way to support new art… Than to wear it! That’s the concept behind this highly creative label who aim to provide up and coming artists and designers with a platform to launch their work to a wider audience. They only condition being that the designs fit in to their seasonal themes. They seek out the very best in design talent the world over to create artwork to feature on their great fitting T-shirts. So far everyone from new artists to bands such as O.Children and Gold Teeth and the fashion designer Robert Cary Williams have collaborated with the label to create a whole host of completely unique and limited edition pieces.The latest theme to inspire the range is ‘Folk Fantasy’ and from this, what has emerged is a collection of edgy and individual T-shirts to suit every individual.

Boom Tee by Robert Cary-Williams

A leading designer on the British fashion scene, his ability to design clothes that are both experimental, yet have a severe design edge, and then to balance this with ‘wearability’, has become his signature. As well as winning ‘New Generation Sponsorship’ from the British Fashion Council several times, Robert has also been invited to show his work and to lecture in high profile exhibitions such as ‘Fashion in Motion’ at the V&A and showstudio.com. His collections have been worn by the likes of Roisin Murphy, Keira Knightly, Kate Moss, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor and David Bowie.He now brings his expertise to Collect London with the popular Men’s BOOM Pack Tee.

Jackalope Cape T-Shirt by Elliot Hartwell

A multidisciplinary designer with a diverse portfolio of graphic, furniture, product and interior design. Elliot now works as a freelance designer as well as at the design and communication agency, Ethreestudio which he co founded.His designs for Collect London are a mixture of bold colours and hand drawn sketches such as the Women’s Jackalope oversized T-shirt.

Great Bear Tee by William Dove

William Dove is a member of the band Gold Teeth and Co-founder of Art and Design group Holy Dove, Williams lives and works in London.His designs are inspired by alternative creative forms such as tattooing, graphic novels and skateboarding.He mainly works in pen and ink and his loose stroke style aims to create something with an intricate basis but a bold aesthetic. His Men’s Great Bear Tee has become a Collect best-seller.

A Nagy Toll Scoop Tee by Richard Fairhead

I don’t have much on Fairhead except that he’s a great British illustrator with a superb sense of humour. Just check out his blog to be sure. Here’s a very cool retro tee by him, with the weirdest name I’ve come across in a while, the Nagy Toll Tee :p

With 10% of the sales going straight back to the artists, Collect London offers a great opportunity to boost the creative careers of young designers.And with such a wide range of product – there is no better time to buy into great art and wear something truly cutting edge

King Noir

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     King Noir, London, UK, art t-shirts, illustrations, streetwear, tattoo art

Founded in 2009 King Noir are a UK based streetwear brand, the brainchild of two highly creative friends from London, Lawrence Gumm and Thomas Gilmour, expect some very funky and original designs!. Set up shortly after Gilmour (not the voice and guitar of Pink Floyd in case you were wondering) lost his job in a London based art shop, he teamed up with pal Gumm. Lawrence Gumm harks from a film industry background and is a connoisseur of  tattoo art. Having been tattooed by some of the most widely respected artists on the scene such as Frith Street’s Xam, Deno and Valerie Vargas it was obvious where their passion and inspiration for outstanding design would spawn. After a few successful brainstorming sessions in an East End boozer the concept of King Noir was born.

There following is small but highly devoted, and with a little exposure I can see King Noir emerging as part of the staple diet of underground streetwear scene of London and beyond. Here’s a few of my faves from their current collection…

Balloon Vs. Storm T-Shirt

The Balloon Vs. Storm tee is available in B/W and red in sizes S-XL, this rather hypnotic little number features a beautiful composition and perhaps a lesson or two for life. A gloriously illustrated vintage hot air balloon that would make Phileas Fogg green with envy sails through a shower of arrows, beyond them lies an abstract sun featuring another of their motifs at its centre, an equally surreal crown with a third eye. At only £15 this and all of their t-shirts are what I would class as a bargain. I can imagine their prices much entice a lot of new custom, which is the whole point after all!

Ninety Nine Anchors T-Shirt

Another slice of utterly British surrealism, I can see King Noir gathering quite a following for their delightfully weird take on fashion. Ninety Nine Anchors features just that, except for some reason they’re dropping from a giant Victorian umbrella. I am starting to wonder if Gumm and Gilmour’s local boozer is spiking their drinks with hallucinogens. No matter what they’re drinking, it’s definitely the right poison. Perhaps the strangest nautical theme tee I’ve seen in a long long while, it’s available in white for £15 in all sizes.

Red Dead Doll T-Shirt

Loving the combo of a Russian doll and Day of The Dead art, this tee is again available in B/W and red there’s as with other shirts in the collection a ‘third eye’ peeking out of the design, and a very subtle use of the logo. A love the woodcut effect in this illustration, a great confluence between folk art and post modern grit give this t-shirt a real edge. Both colours are available for £15 each in all sizes.

Black Crown T-Shirt

The Crown tees are available in black, red and grey and feature their superbly simple yet downright strange logo. If you’re looking for bold design with no messing around then look no further. I get the notion there’s more to it though, living in Britain we’re not citizens but subjects of the Crown. We’re spied on by more cameras than any other country in the world. Two popular subjects for a lot of artists in the UK contemporary scene, this nifty combination of  two major problems blend into one gloriously tribal motif. Get this tee for £15 in all sizes.

Check out all their work including tees, badges, stickers, hats and limited edition posters at www.KingNoir.com and make sure to follow all their graphic exploits at Twitter.

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.

The Hermit Returns!

admin    T-Shirt News     Concrete Hermit, art t-shirts, concretehermit.com

Concrete Hermit are back bigger and better than ever with a fabulous new selection of quirky art shirts designed by top artists from around the world. For those not in the know check out my past review entitled Solid As a Rock – Concrete Hermit. For the rest of us I think we should just on and check out what goodies the Hermit has brought back from his travels to the back and beyond of t-shirt inspired revelry and delirium, in that order… read more

Delete Toast Tees

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Delete Toast, art t-shirt, art t-shirts, art tees, designer t-shirts, photo montage, surreal tees

Here’s a brand new label, and I mean so fresh off the press it’ll burn your fingers. Delete Toast, which must be the strangest name for a t-shirt brand I have come across so far, are offering a slick batch of super fine tees to kick things off. Recently started by Joyce Kim, a professional graphic designer with an advertising/art direction background from NY’s Pratt institute, you can expect quality over quantity.

I asked Joyce about the name, “it’s simply a happy accident, a random blending of two words to form a new oxymoron.” Much like her t-shirt designs which are for the main part collages/photo montages, peppered with rather funky typographic and abstract experiments. Joyce lists her influences far and wide, being inspired by the fine arts, abstract graphics, nature, music, streetwear, and high fashion, her tastes and style are indeed eclectic.

There are only a few tees on offer at the moment, but rest assured more are to come, still what there is on offer is top quality so… let’s get toasty ;)

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Solid As A Rock – Concrete Hermit

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     British fashion, Concrete Hermit, UK art, UK t-shirts, art t-shirts, concretehermit.com, illustration tees, urban art

First off if you’ve already discovered the visual exuberance and style of Concrete Hermit then head on over to www.ConcreteHermit.com where they’re offering a 10% discount – just enter HERMITCHRISTMAS at the checkout – it applies to all their products in the run up to Christmas. If not, read on. I’ve only just discovered Concrete Hermit myself after receiving a friendly email from Charlie Hood who works at their East End London shop and gallery regarding the pre-Xmas sale and a forthcoming new season of tees for 2010. However let’s begin at the beginning, CH are all about the art, that’s a fact, if you’re like me and like your art with an urban slant then you’re in luck. CH’s store offers a salubrious feast for the eyes including t-shirts, sweatshirts, screen prints, posters, original art, books and even vinyl toys. There’s also limited edition CDs and postcards on offer, plus regular exhibitions at their gallery in Club Row that have featured such luminaries of the graphic design, illustration, fashion, and urban arts scene as Anthony Burrill, Lazy Oaf, Jeremyville and Eskimopush.

There are t-shirts on offer by many of Concrete Hermit’s past exhibitors as well as their Tate Modern series, and all I can say is expect eclectic, the styles vary from artist to artist, and every one of them shines with that street savvy East End style you’d expect from the British urban arts scene. Time and time again I come across street, graffiti and urban artists and galleries online, people I can visually and creatively connect with on so many levels, and more and more I am convinced I am seriously missing out on what maybe the most exciting explosion in visual arts in London for quite some time now. It’s difficult for me being based way out here on the coast to really keep up with all the goings on there, but thankfully sites like Concrete Hermit keep me up-to-date and I’m grateful for it. Who knows, if my proverbial ticket ever crops up perhaps I can one day afford to relocate to the heart of the street art community, but for now, as I say, it’s good to know that sites like this can provide me and many others in my position with the cultural lifeline we so desperately need!

So, let’s get back to the point of this post, the t-shirts, and here we go with a few of my favourite picks at Concrete Hermit:-

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Two Tees From Infinite Now

admin    T-Shirt News     The Infinite Now, art shirts, art t-shirts, art tees, designer tees, infinite now, infinite-now-com

The Infinite Now are a brand new t-shirt label, they’ve only two t-shirts on offer right now, which as far as I can recall isn’t exactly infinite, although I have an inkling the reference is more to do with image and design, repetition, the abstract and perhaps even potential. Sean of I-N seems a friendly guy, he’s keen, he’s motivated and he’s already built himself a rather smart site.

I’m always receiving emails from new t-shirt designers asking for my critique regarding everything from website design to t-shirt ideas. When it comes to presentation www.Infinite-Now.com go a long way to offering a perfect example of content over concept, a concept is great, branding is essential, but great products tied with great presentation go far further. If you’re proud of your designs you’ll offer up large and clear photos of your products, Sean’s site does just that.

What’s more I-N are bang on when it comes to quality, with some extremely subtle imagery, good quality printing and a nice line in unique printed labels, this is certainly a brand to watch for the future. Hook up with The Infinite Now at Facebook to learn more about I-N. read more

Simplified Sale!

admin    T-Shirt News     Simplified Clothing, airplane t-shirt, airplane tee, art shirts, art t-shirts, discount tees, simplifiedclothingdesign, t-shirt sale

Here’s a quickie to let you know that SimplifiedClothingDesign.com are running a weekend sale starting lasting until Sunday night at midnight. All of our t-shirts are now $10+ off including free domestic shipping (USA). If you don’t remember our review of Simplified Clothing’s cool tees click here

Here’s my personal fave at SCD’s store right now:-

Airplane Tee

Just $15 for the weekend sale so get down there and grab this classic (and others) dirt cheap! To stay updated on future sales hook up with SC at Facebook and Twitter.

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