Star Tee

An interesting piece of abstract montage. You can see plenty more of their designs at their Facebook page – in fact you can vote for which you want printed next. In the meantime help save a life and add something stylish to the wardrobe. The Star T-shirt is available on pre-order for £12 in sizes S-XL. Shipping begins mid April.

The brand definitely has promise, which is all the more reason why they should invest in a real TLD, .TK domains have a habit of disappearing on you when your traffic peaks. :/

Looking forward to what their fans decide should be the next tee!

American Pit Bull Tee

A snazzy little number featuring a silhouette of an American Pit Bull dog decorated with a traditional plaid pattern and featuring a discrete animal welfare message. A really nice idea and a good cause too! Made from 100% organic cotton and available for men and women in sizes S-XXL in beige or S-L for their Pink Ribbon edition.

Jus Animalium Culture Apparel is a new brand as well as fashion concept, dedicated to animal welfare causes, and aiming to represent a change in attitude and awareness of how the American pet is treated. All of their 100% organic cotton graphic tees are on offer at $18-34 each. See the rest of the collection at www.jusanimalium.com.

“When we started People Like Me, we had plans to use our powers for evil. Nothing fancy, just the usual stuff: money, world domination, and a rap video featuring P Diddy. But when friend to the company, Kerry Kelemen, needed help we jumped at the chance to play the role of hero. On Kerry’s 24th birthday she was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myelogenous Leukaemia). After battling the disease for about a year, she was transferred home to Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital in New York City where she received a bone marrow transplant from her big brother in October. This month we learned that the transplant was not successful. The leukaemia is back, but Kerry is still fighting.“

PLM’s designer and founder David Ayllon teamed up with Kerry to create this very special limited edition Valentine’s Day t-shirt entitled Love Like Vultures. The thinking behind this particular Valentine’s design is as apt as they come – out of all the animals that mate for life, Black Vultures are amongst the ugliest and vicious. It seems that even they have a soft side. BTW do keep an eye out for the poem printed on the inside of the shirt.

Love Like Vultures Tee

The Love Like Vultures Tee is available for presale for one week only (sale ends midnight on the 31st of this month). Every dime they make from this t-shirt will go to Kerry and her fight against leukemia. A beautiful bittersweet gesture, a perfect way for Kerry’s friends to show her just how much they love her, and for the rest of us, this is more than just another t-shirt, it’s a chance to help someone who really needs it.

Pre-order yours now for $30 in sizes S-XXL for men and women here. If you can’t afford the t-shirt then show Kerry some support by joining her Facebook group Dropkick Cancer for Kerry Kelemen. We all wish you a full recovery Kerry.

“Hey are you going to the beach?” “Yeah, are you going to a fund-raiser?” “No.”

Since the heights of philanthropism in the boom years the bust years have definitely seen charity burnout take effect. That’s why charitable causes such as CityStache are rethinking the whole charitee model, first off their site is super slick and yet still a lot of fun. And if anyone needs cheering up its sufferers of cancer, no matter what kind. What’s more CityStache are aiming for an optimistic target of 10,000 tees rather than a ridiculous one that past charity t-shirt launches have claimed, one of which wanted to sell a million.

I really like the tees too, there’s nothing depressing about the design (which is a great relief), available for both guys and girls in a range of sizes at $30 each (hey it’s for charity after all) in white. It’s actually rather beautifully drawn in an old school lino-cut style (I’m guessing with vector graphics). Probably one of the coolest light-hearted charitees I have seen in a while!

My Hairy Moustache Tee

CityStache’s scoreboard is looking a little unspectacular right now with the top city going to San Diego with 23 tees sold this week. Still let’s hope with a little help from a few bloggers (including myself) we can get this thing on the road. It’s a global event so everyone out there, no matter where you live, can help CityStache attain its target, or at least work towards it.

The sobering fact is that the charities with the most capital advertise the most and hook up with high street retail tie-ins. CityStache might not have the budget but they could still tie in with all sorts of brands, I’m thinking Gillette, Lynx, Nike, anything that might have a target male audience. Of course everyone has to deal with the PR department, but if they can be convinced of the benefits to their clients at least one of the many 100s of big agencies out there will give in… eventually. Radio might seem a dated medium but a lot of older people still listen to it in their daily grind, just one piece on a station like Radio 4 or World Service (in the UK) or equivalent in other countries would wake up the magazine/newspaper market. If enough people buy the tees then it’s time for events, everyone wearing moustaches spontaneously leaping into choreographed routines en masse in cities around the world (hey they did it for a mobile phone ad here in the UK). Who knows, I’m sure they’re brimming with ideas at CityStache.

If you fancy helping a great cause get started by visiting their site at www.CityStache.com.

The global team behind the label hark from all parts of the world and all creative sectors, illustrators, photographers, music and fashion bloggers, a Californian style icon, designers, graphic artists and more. There’s definitely a buzz about this label, what’s more their shirts are cool, which is always a relief when it comes to charity tees. You can have a conscience and look good! Top designer tees with prices ranging between $24 and $28 each are digitally printed on lightweight, organic bamboo/cotton jerseys and v-necks.

Sugar Skull

I am always a sucker for a sugar skull, this one’s by the highly talented illustrator Sam Bevington and is available for guys and girls.

The Eye Tee

Again designed by another great illustrator, this time Indonesian artist Doeasembilanpro, love the steam punk style details, I’m suprised it isn’t available for women too, crosses are popular with both guys and girls.

The Heist Tee

I love this typographic spree by Tokyo Candles, I can’t find any more info on the artist, but as far as toon violence goes he/she/they’re a maestro!

Pentagram Love Tee

If you’re a little bit evil and a little bit lovely this one’s for you… created by “style icon” Krystal Simpson, from Salinas, California. She’s heavily into 60′s and 70′s rock stylings. Krystal was a contestant on MTV’s 2007 reality show, I’m With Rolling Stone and has tried her hand at modelling, designing and all-round fabulousness.

Space Cat Tee

This has to be my favourite, just for way out wackyness and imagination, a lovely idea and definitely deserves to be snapped up by Nickleodeon as the next big kid’s toon series. Designed by the London based fashion and lifestyle blogger (and fabulously named) Mademoiselle Robot.

See more cool tees, help the kids, and look the business at www.wiloh.com. Keep up with all their latest news at Twitter and Facebook.

Hype Industries has teamed up with Susan G. Komen for the Cure and will donate 25% of all sales that take place in the month of October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Each purchase will be immediately followed by an official confirmation by the Susan G. Komen organization showing that a donation was made on your behalf through your purchase and the total amount donated. After a long hard fought struggle against breast cancer Susan G. Komen’s heartfelt wish to improve the situation for all sufferers was continued by her sister Nancy G. Brinker who promised her that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. That promise is now Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the global leader of the breast cancer movement, having invested nearly $1.5 billion since inception in 1982. As the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, it organises events, provides support and funds the research for a cure.

A great cause I am sure you will agree, plus some great tees to help you shell out a little to help women across the world.

We all like a good cause, t-shirt designers seem to be exceptionally charitable when it comes to helping organisations and charities do their good work. The Choose Schools T-Shirt Design Contest is being run by the P.O.D (print on demand) site Fibers.com. As with most companies of their ilk there are two options, either customise one of their own designs or upload yours and get your tee printed and shipped. The theme for the contest is a “celebration of teachers”, which is rather sweet, my mother was a teacher for years and has worked with remedial kids so I know how hard she tries to give them a leg up the ladder of life. As for myself I was almost a permanent fixture at our headmaster’s office, I was constantly reproached for asking pertinent questions, most of which were nothing to do with the subject at hand.

Still, it would be nice to think that the teaching profession has reached the level when we can all celebrate their sterling work. If you’d like to express your admiration for teachers then here’s what’s on offer:

Vote for your favourite design or submit your own ‘teacher’ themed design for the chance to win over $2500 in prizes.

Win $2500 in DonorsChoose.org gift certificates!

Grand Prize: $1000, 2nd place: $500, and 4 others win $250 in any category including Students, Humor, Teacher Pride, and Inspirational Submissions.

Winners also earn profits from sales in the form of gift certificates to use at DonorsChoose.org to continue funding their projects for a year after the contest ends.

If you want to see how Fibers is helping schoolchildren then check out their page at Donors Choose or see their photo gallery here.

So get cracking and help out 100s of schools today at www.fibers.com/contests/choose-classrooms.

Dear Hunter Tee

A great concept, I’d love to see this design as a street art mural to be honest, now that would be an exciting viral campaign, even a few stickers would draw in attention around N.Y.C, L.A., London, Paris, Berlin… (for starters). You can get this tee in black and grey (guys) for $21 in sizes S-XL and a baby-doll tee in white for girls here. You can get 10% off this tee or any alternative available at Arm The Animals by using our exclusive discount code ATA10 at the checkout.

Here’s Arm The Animals mission statement: The mission? Simple: Create killer T-Shirts and raise money for cash-strapped animal care organizations! We can’t save every abused, unloved or unwanted animal, but we can save some! We are dedicated to making witty, high quality designs that truly MAKE A STATEMENT, raise awareness and generate funds for animal care organizations in need of assistance.

We’re not here to preach, we’re simply doing what we are capable of to try and help a horrible situation… 4,000,000 – 5,000,000 animals are euthanized every year because people simply don’t do the basics for their pets. It really isn’t an option to spay, neuter, feed, water and love your pets – it’s a requirement! If you make the choice to own an animal, at least have the heart to make sure they are healthy and cared for – pretty simple, right?

A great cause that seriously deserves all our attention. ATA donate 15% of net proceeds to a number of different rescues/shelters.  They will initially be sending donations to the “Good Dog Animal Rescue” based in Venice Beach and “Strangest Angels” in Los Angeles.  However they are also getting set up with the SPCA, but feel that  smaller rescues are much more in need of assistance at this point. If you fancy this tee or any of their others visit www.armtheanimals.com.

The name Farofa Nation comes from  a popular dish in Brazil called a ‘farofa’ which is a manoic flour usually in a mix of salted and smoked meats, olives eggs and spices, however the term also means ‘eclectic blend’ in Brazilian culture,  which is the design ethos behind the label. To produce their inimitable tees they procure the talents of some very interesting designers and artists including Brazilian artist/art director Jamie Tao, hilarious artist Luis Aguilera, and Miami artist Juan Patino.

If you’re looking for something a little different and would like to help the abandoned street kids of Brasil in some small way, check these out:

The Mind of Tao T-Shirt

A lovely hand-drawn tee for the girls, it almost looks like a moleskine sketch torn from the book, rather hypnotic in its own way. Perfectly fitting for the ‘eclectic’ theme for Farofa Nation, you can buy The Mind of Tao tee for $26 (only small sizes left!).

Royal Monster T-Shirt

Designed by Luis Aguilera, if you’re a fan of cute monster toons then this must be the king of them all. Funny, irreverant and rather hilarious the Royal Monster tee is available for $26 in sizes S/M.

Abduction T-Shirt

Most definitely my favourite of the lot, the Abduction tee features those pesky greys sizing up yet another cow to slice up for what I can only guess is an off-world gene bank to re-introduce life to the planet when we humans have screwed everything up beyond repair. Still, enough of the conspiracy theories, get this ultra cool shirt for $26 in sizes S/M.

See the rest of Farofa Nation’s quirky t-shirt collection at www.farofanation.com and maybe help a few kids in Brazil improve their lives at the same time.

StupidHurts.me have developed a revolutionary way of offering an alternative to charitable donations to the most deserving across the world, not only have they opened their doors to budding t-shirt designers on the net, but they’re offering $1 to each artist and $2 to the micro credit organisation Kiva.org on every sale of every winning tee. So for all you t-shirt designers out there, old and new, come and help the world by submitting your own designs here.

If you’re not sure what micro credit is, well let me just spout my personal opinion for a moment here, it’s a system that will most likely save the world one day, or at least provide a real safety net for billions of people living in capitalist democracies across the world. What much of the West forgets is that charity alone will not provide all the solutions, or at least not effectively in the long term, to help the poor and needy around the world. It might buy them some food, or help them grow it, or a pump for a regular water supply, or even clothes and shelter, but what it doesn’t do is deal with the underlying problem of poverty and inequality.

This is a two way street by the way, imagine if an African bank or an Indian corporation had the wealth to buy out failing banks and companies in Europe or America, imagine if there was far more trade across the world, a higher income for every inhabitant of the planet, a thriving geo-global investment market that could self-repair from the ground up. Well with micro credit and micro banking it might just happen. Lending to the poor never made so much sense. Businesses start small, all businesses, relatively speaking, have to start from scratch. If I’d had the funding a few years ago to set up my own t-shirt label, I’d most likely be employing staff by now, who would be paying their taxes, buying products, paying bills and generally contributing to the world economy. Yet I am from a relatively wealthy Western nation.

Try and imagine the same predicament for a farmer, engineer, merchant, artisan, or in fact anyone of any skill in the poorest regions of the world. It’s even more difficult getting a business off the ground when one has to worry about how to feed one’s children, or repair the roof of a home many in the West would consider squalid. The fact is that in the poorest countries, the most infitessimal amount of finance can change a region from a 3rd World to a 2nd World economy within decades, the trickle-down theory actually can work, given the right circumstances, an appropriate vision, and patience. Micro credit has proven that.

Read more about how Stupid Hurts t-shirts might just help save the world by contributing to Kiva here. Sign up for Stupid Hurts’ newsletter and get previews of their latest t-shirt submissions (when available) here. Stupid Hurts, not so stupid after all.