Tees and Tats - Where East Meets West

Tattoo T-Shirts have always been a firm favourite in the graphic art t-shirt scene, and Tees and Tats (TeesAndTats.com), a relatively newcomer has recently released its first offerings, all of which have been designed by one of the world’s most celebrated tattoo artists, Marco Serio. Marco Serio began tattooing in a small town on the outskirts of Lisbon, Portugal. He always had a dream of building a reputation as a world class Japanese-style tattooist, before long Mario relocated to New York where he perfected his style further, garnering the admiration of both the global tattoo community and eventually the arts world as a whole.

As word spread throughout the close-knit New York arts scene, two forward thinking and highly ambitious modern Jewish Orthodox cousins (Jeremy and Ben Parker) hooked up with Marco and convinced him that his work was what the fashion industry had been waiting for. Mario spent considerable time designing each exclusive print at the prestigious Invisible NYC art gallery and tattoo studio on Orchard Street. As soon as the artwork was completed for the Parker brothers’ seven original and licensed t-shirt designs, commissioned specifically for Tees and Tats, Jeremy and Ben soon launched and began to promote their tattoo print collection of signature contemporary art shirts.

Jeremy in particular was proverbially ‘over the moon’ at the formation of the label ‘Tees and Tats’, having been fascinated by the intricacy and superb illustrative style of Eastern tattoo art. Soon the two fashion entrepreneurs continue to build the brand and showcase their revolutionary collection of high-art streetwear, setting a new standard, previously unseen in the industry. Every shirt is as I have stated, an original design, forming a fabulous and unique limited edition (700 numbered shirts for each design). Each tee is signed by the artist, printed to the most impeccable standards, made from the softest 100% combed ringspun cotton, and as you would expect, centred around Serio’s glorious Japanese tattoo artwork Read more

More Dirty Laundry!

DirtyDirtyLaundry.com have just released some photos of the processes of design and production their weird and wacky designers go through to create their t-shirt art. You can see all their photos at Flickr.com

If you’re not sure what the hell I’m talking about here, check out The Art of The Stain at Dirty Laundry - all of their shirts are 100% cotton American Apparel, and 10% of their profits go to the Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii. The exhibition is Jesse Arneson and Chris Thomas of Seeing Red, and they welcome enquiries from anyone who wishes to exhibit their work in their own city! I’m guessing they mean your local gallery as opposed to the nearest launderette - then again I’ve seen an art exhibition held in some Victorian public conveniences in London, or was that just graffiti? Lol. Read more

The Art of the Stain at Dirty Laundry

Dirty Laundry: The Art of the Stain in Modern T-Shirt Design. Yes it’s true, I’m not pulling your leg! Shortly after my post on t-shirt staining, Mariko Merritt of the Hawaiian Nuuanu Gallery contacted me with the aim of plugging their latest exhibition, and for all intense purposes it features dirty t-shirts. They asked designers to stain t-shirts with a medium of their choice (grass, wine, lipstick, etc.) and then design custom artworks that use the stain as an integral design element. They’ve gathered an impressive group of artists to be in the show (Mike Perry, Damien Correll, Frank Chimero, Kris Chau, April Lee, Alan Konishi, Andrew DeGraff, Christopher David Ryan, Jason Laurits, Wyeth Hansen and Ryan Dunn, Kate Bingaman-Burt, Keetra Dean Dixon, Nikolay Saveliev, Nathaniel Russell, Roanne Adams, Rosemarie Fiore, Roland Adams, Steve Kibayu, Alan Konishi, Roland Adams, Simon Ruby, Topos Graphics, Travis Stearns & Tim Gough) and they are expecting a great collection of unique limited edition t-shirts. Read more

Full Bleed Ahead With Rob Dobi

I knew it wouldn’t be long before I’d have to bring your attention to Rob Dobi and his Connecticut-based designer t-shirt label Full Bleed. Last year Rob focused a lot more on band tees and commissions, however now he has his own label up and running, although I’d ignore the home page - it says ‘Summer collection ‘08 Coming Soon’, and to be honest I think we’re already there, although you couldn’t tell by the British weather :/

I love the simplicity of Rob’s t-shirts, almost every one of his designs offers a pithy pun and a surrealist sidelong glance at the world, something I’m sure Threadless would dress down, (I know that from bitter experience), however I’m giving this guy full marks for a great collection of unique and individualistic tees. I suppose I do lean towards his kind of style whenever I’m scouring the net for originality and purpose in the world of t-shirts, Rob has it by the bucketful. I’d love to create a collection as cohesive as this, I do come up good ideas (honest), but stylistically I dart about depending on the topic. That isn’t the way to create a long lasting collection (as does Glennz for instance), Dobi has an immediately recognisable ouevre and he capitalises on it. I don’t, I chop and change, I feel that different subjects deserve different treatments, though Glennz’s ideas and angle on the world are immediately recognisable, Dobi is more subtle, producing ideas from a slightly askew view of the world. I’d say that Dobi must be one of the best at what he does, a subtle design with an even more subtle message. Read more

The Best of the Best: Outstanding T-Shirts (Designed by Humans)

I need to purge all that negativity from my last post and focus on some of the greatest t-shirts available on the net right now. I could just vegetate in front of the TV, or argue with the neighbour about controlling his wayward dog and teenage son, or spend the remainder of my weekend inputting data at my new t-shirt printers directory. Sounds like another awful weekend, I’m sure one day I’ll be able to afford such luxuries, however until then I’ll turn to one of my favourite obsessions, great t-shirt design, and thought you’d like to see a selection of tees that have caught my eye from this legendary t-shirt label. Read more