It looks more like a “Mandela” t-shirt than a mandala tee, still it’s a great design, very tribal, almost African, and some nice cuts in the tone and line. Designed by Matt W. Moore who is the co-founder of Glyph Cue and the founder of MWM Graphics based in Portland, Maine. Matt exhibits his artwork in galleries all around the world and works across disciplines, from colourful digital illustrations in his signature “Vectorfunk” style to free-form watercolour paintings and massive aerosol murals… If you fancy knowing more then lap it up at Addicteed’s interview with Matt here.

For those out there scratching their heads and asking “what the hell is a glyph?” you’re in luck. Before I introduce you to the wonders of Glyph Cue’s tees take a look at their simple but informative explanation for the name:

def. GLYPH
– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
– A graphic symbol whose appearance conveys information.
– A symbol for referring to a planet, zodiac sign, or other esoteric concept.
– A visual in the form of a symbolic figure carved or incised in relief.
– A symbolic figure or character, usually a picture, that gives information.

Phew. So you can take your cue from that :p Anyway, all that asides, if you like your t-shirt artwork on the abstract side, with plenty of interesting details to keep eyes glued in your direction then check out these beauties…

12 Hour Truce T-Shirt

This is a weird one, I mean that in a cool way, almost designed to mess with your head, here’s what GC have to say about the design “Within this interlocking 12 point star lies many visual narratives. Two 6 point stars join to create the clock formation. Unfinished Tic-Tac-Toe game says it all.” Screen-printed on a heavyweight cotton tee (they all are), the 12 Hour Truce tshirt is available for $33 in sizes S-XL here.

Dilated Grid T-Shirt

Loving this one, the design is inspired by a Hip Hop breakbeat loop, hovering between the abstract and the literal, this tee has a superb “vibe”. Very mellow indeed. Available in all sizes for $33 here.

Big Bang T-Shirt

Pretty and trippy, if you stare long enough you’ll space out, or so I am told, obviously I can’t, I could never do those Magic Eye posters either. Cool t-shirt available in all sizes at $33 here.

Mosaic Mucho T-Shirt

Another very cool abstract tee, one of the best logo tees I have ever seen, the designer actually makes you “work” to see their branding. Lovely old retro and particularly “Atomic” motifs, gridtastic! Only available in L-XXL sizes for $33 here.

See the rest at www.glyphcue.com. If you fancy getting a limited edition box set from Ltd. Tee then hurry there’s only (as I write) 6 days left for their Mandala shirt!

Woot! If you’re after a bargain and are one of the first five people to read this post then do I have a bargain for you! Totally mad t-shirt label Tolky Monkys have done it again, here’s the thinking behind the offer in their own insane words…

“When last year the Tolky Monkys sent the Resales, Sally and Sally, back home, they thought that these naughty twins would never come again to make a visit. They were wrong. Surprisingly, they have knocked at their door and in only 10 minutes they have destroyed the whole studio. How naive they were… After that, they have created for us a special coupon with a 50% off.“

I know once again the reasoning behind Tolky Monkys‘s wisdom has been lost in translation, still, all you need to know is this…

The first 5 readers to use this coupon code: REBUYTEES can buy any adult tee at just 50% of the usual price. The offer doesn’t include posters, metro-wallets, but does include boys t-shirts, girls t-shirts, hoodies and polos. You have from Wednesday 23rd till Thursday 1st of October to use this coupon: REBUYTEES. But be quick, only the first 5 readers will take advantage of it.

If you need a recap on the madness of TM then check out this past review, but hurry, the first 5 to order get a real bargain!!

Anyway, you can say it with flowers, but well she’s probably sick of the sight of daffodils. You could say it with chocolates, but hey, she’s probably sensitive about her weight these days. So say it with erm… a Spreadshirt t-shirt? Well maybe, I don’t know your mother, she might be that way inclined. I sometimes think Spreadshirt resemble Hallmark more everyday, at least they have a sale on to mark the occassion. Roll on T-shirt Review Bloggers Day, in case you’re wondering what I’d like, it’d have to be a manual flatbed screen printing press for my art (A0 and up). They seem to be rather thin on the ground in this part of the world.

Anyway they’re offering 10% off all women’s gear from the 7th to the 13th of March.

Anyway here’s the code:- GREATESTMUM

Here’s the site:- www.spreadshirt.net

Here’s a banner in case you didn’t read any of my verbiage (garbiage more like):-

Here’s the end of the news…

The only way to describe Kowtow’s style is uncompromising, if you have any antipodean assumptions floating around your head then Kowtow is most likely the best place to shake them up and leave them in a thosand tiny pieces. When I first came across their work I expected their studio to be based somewhere in the gritty underbelly of New York, artistically they lend a lot to the late 1960s Pop Art movement, names like Warhol and Rauschenberg are just two that come to mind. Their bold and upfront iconography has to be seen to believed, and their subject matter, well eclectic would be an underestimation. Furthermore all of Kowtow’s products are 100% organic and fairtrade, they even send a FREE CD with every order – anyway let’s take a look at a few of the goodies they have on offer right now!

Now this one has left me flummoxed, I’m not usually short of an informed opinion or two, I could cop out and say that Kowtow’s Ganesha Tee is merely an update on a traditional Eastern spiritual icon, but for me there’s a clue in the graphically styled aura surrounding the figure, and that is it’s remarkable resemblance to an asterisk chopped in half. Now at first it reminded me of something like a Kimberley Clark logo, but then I checked the meaning of “asterisk” and came up with a very strange alternative name for the term at FreeDictionary.com – The Kleene star – (Or “Kleene closure”, named after Stephen Kleene) The postfix “*” operator used in regular expressions, Extended Backus-Naur Form, and similar formalisms to specify a match for zero or more occurrences of the preceding expression. Nah I’m pulling your leg, it’s their logo, still it is a great tee all the same!

Einstein Tee by Kowtow – well here’s a cracker of a t-shirt, I love almost everything to do with Einstein, I still can’t remember the movie with Einstein and Marilyn in, of course I don’t mean they actually starred in a film together, it was made in the eighties I’m sure, strangest movie I never did see, that’s what comes of trying to watch TV when you’re drunk at a New Year’s Eve party. so, Einstein, yes an iconic figure if there ever was one, I’ve been desperately trying to work out how to include him in my own art series but we’ll have to wait and see. I love the 3D glasses, is it a comment on his genius, did he see in three dimensions whilst we all see in two? It’s most likely he saw in four whilst we all see in three, but where the hell are you going to get some 4D glasses, I suppose you could stick a couple of digital watches in a Rayban’s frame, but I doubt the resulting image would be quite so iconic. The first moment I saw this I thought of Warhol, I’d have thought he’d have made this image first but no, so kudos to Kowtow!

I’m sure there’s no great meaning behind the Panda Suit Tee by Kowtow, but it’s beautifully illustrated and rather hilarious all the same. This image takes me back to a few near disastrous parties as a child, one where I was forced to dress like a scarecrow was perhaps the worst, I’m sure it was one of those last minute panic attack creations that mothers will insist on making if all else fails. An old hat with straw poking out, an old school jacket with straw poking out, an old pair of shoes with straw poking out. The straw really itched, and so being an intelligent kid I removed it all and then I merely looked like a boy in old tattered clothes. The other kids kept asking what I was supposed to be and I’d point at the pile of straw under the table and tell them, “erm, that”.

There are plenty of fantastic designs on offer at a whopping 25% discount in Kowtow’s February sale, so get down there now, and whilst you’re at it, check out their music section, yes they’re a music label too! If you’d like to keep up with all their exploits try their Myspace page ;)

10% OFF ALL TEES – JUST QUOTE COUPON CODE “BUYTEES”.

I’ve just had a real friendly mail from Roy Lanadio of TeesForAll.com – now as you’re probably aware I don’t feature merchandise tees and major brands here, they get enough attention elsewhere, but seeing as Roy is in such a generous mood I will be too!

TFA offers a flat rate of $5 for US shipping and even has a preferred members club that offers promos and extra discounts if you sign up for their newsletter.

TeesForAll.com is a smart and well designed t-shirt superstore offering a wide range of old favourites from every era, they’ve made it easy for you all with a simple list of tee categories as follows:-

Beers / Liquors / Toons / Movies / Music / TV / Political / Video Games / Soft Drinks / Sports / Superheroes / Humour

If you fancy something reassuringly familiar and retro then this is probably your best bet, remember you can get 10% off any of their tees if you mention this coupon code buytees at the checkout.