FeraFera.com

They’re having a clear out in time for the summer season (looking out the window it looks a long way off in the UK), but hey we could all do with a little cheering up, seeing as I’ve got a force 8 gale outside and the world economy is still suffering.

It’s good to see Fera Fera looking forward, and we were glad to have featured them recently in our reviews section, if you fancy grabbing hold of a Fera Fera tee for a measly $8 simply visit www.FeraFera.com and take your pick!

We’d like to feature more of them but in all honesty we think the label needs a little work all round, starting with the site/store/shop – it’s a real plain Jane and it’s crying out for some graphic finesse. That asides there are at least a few t-shirts that need to be abandoned pronto, it’s hard for every designer to get off the ground, but take a look around our blog, you can all see what the competition are up to, and for the main part they are masters of the tee universe. Essentially great fashion design (which is in all honesty what t-shirt design is) relies on two main factors. Concept and Conception. You can’t just have a good idea, you have to deliver it too. That is most likely why at least one of their designs has some appeal.

Lip Service by Fera Fera

I’m not sure how much it will appeal to guys, perhaps the gay market, but I know at least one female of the species that likes the concept through and through. It follows all the rules of a successful design, it’s a pun I know, but a play on a saying not so everyday as some out there. The detailing in Lip Service is for the main part great, although I have to admit I don’t like the edge of the shadow under the top lip, it doesn’t look wet, it looks like the beginnings of some sort of skin reaction to me, tiny spots of some kind. Still the tongue is very well designed.

I’m being cagey here I know, I don’t like to trash the hopes of a new designer but sometimes it’s better to avoid mistakes that can prove the downfall of a label sooner rather than later. Remember this is the best design there, I’d get rid of Trucker right now, which I’m afraid to say is a terrible design, the others need a lot more work except for Hello Hello which is sweet but rather obvious and Sookie La La which simply lacks originality. When you’re falling back on emoticons there’s definitely a problem in the creativity department.

Yes Nature’s Resilient is quite well drawn but there’s no twist, no awe inspiring composition, I’ve seen bears, stags, lions, apes, all kinds of animals on t-shirts that can make an impact, but usually it’s one figure, close-up, overpowering the whole front and even back of the shirt, jam-packed with detail. I know Shawn could do this, it just takes time and the right printing equipment to achieve it.

Still, let’s hope Fera Fera have a rethink and come up with more Pop Art style tees like Lip Service for the future, and please, jazz up that site!