Innerspoken

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Innerspoken, text t-shirts, text tees, typographic t-shirts, typographic tees

Shhh! Listen, no ignore my stomach rumbling I missed lunch, I mean deep inside your mind, can you hear it? “Where can I get some great typographic tees?“. Well, you could try Innerspoken, I’m not the biggest fan of text-based t-shirts, it probably stems from being one of the only kids at school who refused to buy (and couldn’t afford) Nike, Adidas, and a bunch of other branded crap at the time. Still, it’s time to move on, and what better way than with the stylish profferings of a most savvy designer label with a penchant for getting under the hood of a message and punching it home with as little procrastination as possible.

It’s all about the detail with Innerspoken, as far as connecting with their market this label are almost like a well trained sniper team, before you know it their t-shirts are making you think, something that many people seem to have a natural aversion to these days. I love the simple messages, saying “hi” always helps, and this line from their blurb is a classic “The ampersand is the only thing I want to come between us. Can you make my wish come true?“. This is an indie label with a corporate clout, they know how to design, be it their site or their tees, they’ve nailed the concept on the head… quiet, personal, individual, emotional, true.

Hi Tee

I love the idea, great design, let’s hope it brings a few more people together or at least stop them fighting amongst themselves. Available in gold and aqua, sizes XS-XL for guys and S-L for ladies for $20 each.

Snowflake Tee

Simple but effective. Every snowflake is as individual as a fingerprint or DNA, nice idea. Although I would have made this shirt an extremely limited edition just to back up that idea of individuality! Available in blue and red, sizes XS-XL for guys and S-L for ladies for $20 each.

The Ampersand Tee

Nice detailing and it great message… aww. If you want to come over all smoochy with your other half then you could get one each and freak out all your friends :D Available in white, black and asphalt – sizes XS-XL for guys and S-L for ladies for $20 each.

See the rest of Innerspoken’s tees at www.innerspoken.com.

Boys & Co

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Boys & Co, Boys and Co, clogan tees, hiphop tops, text tees, typographic t-shirts

First off most of you are painfully aware of my aversion for typographic tees, yet I can’t help but admire the enthusiasm and all-out gusto emanating from Christopher Russell, the guy behind the fashion brand Boys & Co. Before you ask, their tees are for boys and girls. I’m not too keen on the brand name, it causes a little confusion amongst the sexes, and to be honest it sounds like a dodgy 80′s dance troupe to me :0

On a more positive note the site looks like a lot of fun, with a big, loud and friendly splash page that leads on to a very sound collection of slogan t-shirts. Unfortunately the header graphic for their Big Cartel store is too large and it really detracts from the shopping experience. Still, Chris seems to have a knack for picking the right font for the right job, the prints are generous, the tees are American Apparel so that means sweatshop free, and the general underlying message leans towards the positively kooky. Here’s a little reading matter for you… in t-shirt form.

No Riffraff Tee

If your name’s not down you’re not coming in… a rather pricey $30 in sizes S-XL. Is riffraff one word or two? Hmm…

Do You Know Who My Father Is Tee

Hilarious. $25 in sizes S-L.

This Old Thing Tee

When you just can’t take any more compliments (give them to me). $30 S-L.

I Shut It Down In NYC Tee

Who turned out the lights? $25 S-XL.

Chris has big plans for the future – with prospects for the line to include jeans, button ups, jackets and jewels – there’s even an underwear campaign in the works.

In the meantime let us end with the immortal words of the  urban Bard that is Christopher Russell… “I AM THE BIGGEST pAArty Ever, WE are the BIGGEST pAArty Ever.”

(I’ll get me coat.)

Yackfou

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     European t-shirts, German tees, Yackfou, graffitees, graphic tees, typographic t-shirts

Yackfou have been on my “to do list” for ages – I’ve no excuses why I’ve waylaid, perhaps it’s the lack of translation on the site from its native German, which itself might be an adverse reaction to me atrociously failing my German ‘O’ Level (yes I am that old). In my aural exam I sat there for five minutes with a rather attractive German woman who scowled at me as I repeated the phrase “Ich nicht sprechen Deutsch”. Still, that’s no reason to miss out on some great tees!

A great looking site with a store chock full of uniquely Yackfou’ish products including tees, sweats, prints and buttons. There’s a broad mix of graffiti, illustration, graphic and typographic offerings, although I’d ignore their “sale” link as it leads to a 404. The bio is a little vague too, even with the aid of Google Translate it comes down to a little spiel about how Yackfou aren’t really in the fashion game, they like design, they like art… don’t we all? Anyway, like it or not Yackfou – you are fashion designers now – and I’m sure there are plenty of you who will agree that they’re doing a great job at it!

The prices are a little steep ranging between €24.90 and €34.90 each (ouch), although they are for the main part screen printed and on super soft tees. Prices seemsto be a common problem these days, the currency markets are making a mockery of international trade, no matter what you want to sell – and seeing as the Euro is riding so high the rest of us will have to save a little more than usual I suppose. Anyway don’t let my petty gripes put you off, there’s so much going on at Yackfou it’d take hours to feature all my faves individually, so instead here’s a gallery of the best of the best – including some cool shirt dresses for the girls…

Great stuff. See more at www.Yackfou.com.

Hungry Lifestyle

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Australian tees, Hungry Lifestyle, text tees, typographic t-shirts, typographic tees

For a typographic t-shirt brand Hungry Lifestyle is a rather super cool label actually. They’ve even helped me a little towards curing my prejudice. The thing is that I don’t appreciate all the emails asking me to review logo obsessed brands, but to be honest HL do it with a lot of style and definitely deserve a break in my eyes. It’s all a fashion hangover from the 90s, I just saw so many Nike and Adidas logos on a Saturday night out it felt more like JB Sports than a club. But if Hungry Lifestyle are the way of the future for logo/typographic tees – all in all – it ain’t half bad!

Founder Andrew Anderson, who I’m guessing is the designer too, really takes care and attention when it comes to producing his products. All the tees are American Apparel and printed in Australia, and nicely printed at that. The coverage is generous too, not a small and fiddly print in site. As usual with many Oz brands the prices are a little steep, the four tees available are available at $30 each, but you can buy the lot in one bundle for $100 which is a little more bearable.

What I will say is that HL definitely have “a feel for fonts”, they’re choices are smart as they come and in certain aspects remind me a little of typographic street artists like Eine, bold vintage and retro type that stands the test of time. That said their ‘Bubblegum Tee; looks a little drippy for my liking, I think someone might’ve left the packet on a radiator or something :p

Rad Tee

Classic Tee

All Stars Tee

Bubblegum Tee

To learn more visit www.HungryLifestyle.com.

Banging Tees by Boom!

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Boom, British t-shirts, indie tees, typographic t-shirts, typography tees

Boom! T-Shirts are a quirky British label who’s “about page” breaks down the ridiculously high odds of finding their site on Google. Their finesse for design and typography equally matches their gently pithy brand of humour, which lies somewhere  between Douglas Adams and Monty Python in the tradition of quasi-existential parody of life, (if the aforementioned were born 40 years later and loved the geekier side of the graphic arts). Asides the beautifully constructed Flash site, which literally oozes design savvy from every pore, they offer a compact range of t-shirts that deliver a powerful conceptual punch. Of the five designs available, one will most likely be lost on the international crowd, unless the fame of national treasure Stephen Fry has spread beyond our shores. Although the majority of Boom’s tees are typographic, their slick choice of colour and font certainly gives them a graphic edge sorely missing in similar lines.

All their products are organic and made by SAF Clothing which means no starving kids in sweatshops contributed to this particular fashion brand. Take a look at nearly the whole collection:

I’m Being Followed T-Shirt

A very British tee and one that made me laugh. Stephen Fry is probably one of if not the most popular Brit at Twitter, and it’s all down to the plain and simple fact that he’s a mainstay of our culture, there are probably more of fans of his wry sense of humour and highly intelligent witticisms than for the royal family, however unintentionally funny they may appear. Joke. The fact is Britain loves the guy, long may he reign. If you are being followed by Stephen you deserve some kind of prize, perhaps this t-shirt for instance? Then again you could just lie :p The I’m Being Followed T-Shirt is on sale for £12.50 in sizes S-L.

Lorem Ipsum T-Shirt

If you’re a blogger and you’ve managed to install WordPress in the past you’ll recognise these two words. Traditionally used by the printing industry (what’s left of it) as “dummy” or filler text, it’s actually an excerpt from an Ancient Greek treatise on ethics. I bet you didn’t know that? If you did there’s no hope for you lol. I used to get A’s in Latin at school, I decided to give it up in the 3rd year, turns out it isn’t a dead language after all. Any  British doctor, scientist, barrister or politican could tell you that. Get the Lorem Ipsum T-Shirt for £12.50 in sizes S/M.

Lomosexual T-Shirt

Perhaps the ultimate in geek love fashionwear, the Lomosexual T-Shirt proclaims its undying passion for a cheap and badly made Soviet camera that is capable of performing miracles in photography. The Lomo phenomenon has been around a while now, but the fact is that digital technology did exactly the same for photography as it has done for music, it sucked the soul out of them. Lomo cameras let the light in where it shouldn’t, the randomness of photographic quality is what it’s all about, chance, and if you’re lucky, now and again, pure visual genius. Show your love for the Lomo with this superb tee for £12.50 in sizes S-L.

Sorry T-Shirt

A design so simple it verges on the brink of abstract, the Sorry T-Shirt features a Stormtrooper (The Star Wars kind not the Nazi type) with a pink (for some reason beyond me) tear rolling down its cheek. It should be corny, but it’s not, it’s very very cool. I suppose it comes down to taste, some people hate Pop Art, Andy Warhol in particular, or the 80s conceptual scene with characters like Jeff Koons, but I don’t, I love it, and this tee belongs on a wall in a gallery… and on my back. Unfortunately it’s all sold out, so we’re all sorry now :/

Check Boom! out at their blog, their store, their Flickr and Twitter page,

Fontastic T-Shirts at Type Tees?

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     T-shirt Hell, Threadless, funny t shirts, funny tees, joke tees, jokes, slogan shirts, slogan t-shirts, slogan tees, text t-shirts, type tees, typetees.com, typographic t-shirts

Threadless.com have spread their wings, expanded their empire, and generally made their next play for dominion over the t-shirt market with their latest venture TypeTees.com (along side The Select Series and Threadless Kids – yes yes I will get around to them one day). I have to admit I’ve been holding back on this review, the fact is I’ve had some crummy experiences in the past with Threadless, it’s quite a brutal place if you’re thinking of submitting a design, I’ve seen some rather similar ones to my own scrape through when mine have hardly made it past the first stage.

What’s more a lot of their best artists have naturally come to the conclusion that if their work is making enough sales to support the staff and directors of a multi-million dollar operation why not set out on their own? Plenty have, plenty more have been ‘poached’ by the competition and literally treated like artistic royalty, sure they’re not exactly riding around in limos (yet) but those with the business savvy to make the grade have managed to get a far fairer slice of the pie when it comes to profits.

The fact is that for most of us humble designers it’s more a case of who you know (and how many) rather than what you do. It’s become a numbers game and that’s no surprise considering the size of the operation. If you have an army of friends and fans on Twitter or Facebook you might just make the grade – I mean – you’ll still need to create something stunning but a legion bigging you up will always start a wave of positivity given the right conditions. Timing, markets, originality, it all comes into play… but this isn’t another griping review of Threadless, it’s a feature on Type Tees, and seeing as the ballpark is wide open on this one, if you have a flair for one-liners you might just be in with a chance at this still relatively early stage of the game. You don’t need to be a typgraphic expert, you don’t need to be able to draw, you just need to make wise cracks until the sun goes down and all will be well with you and the world of Type Tees!

So, the other reason I’ve been slow off the mark is that text t-shirts aren’t really my favourite things in the world, perhaps it’s trauma brought on by a branding burn out, at school and college so many kids wore Nike and Adidas that if an alien had landed and walked in the canteen they’d have assumed all our parents had very little imagination and called us all by the same names. But these aren’t sports brands, these are, for the main part, jokes. There’s the other problem, once you know it you don’t usually want to hear the same joke twice – unless you didn’t get it the first time – but hey some people like to make strangers laugh, so who am I to get in the way of a few anonymous chuckles? No one, just a miserable git with a graphic t-shirt fetish that’s all.

Moving briskly along here’s the low down if you have a joke burning in the back of your mind and you fancy making a few spare bucks. A very healthy $500 in fact, not bad if you’re a pub bore with a few hundred corny jibes you can knock out – one of them is bound to grab some attention. Okay that’s unfair but when I think of all the worst t-shirts I’ve ever seen they’re nine out of ten times a dodgy joke like “I’m With Stupid”, the only idea I’ve ever had for a slogan tee was way back when fashion casualties were wearing big bold lettered print tees with the words “Rave On” in the UK – we are going way back here. I was s**tfaced with a mate at an illegal rave in South London when two of them walked through the door with red faces, soaking in sweat, necking vodka and cokes at the bar like it was free – anyway I made a joke that the tees should have said “Brave On’. Cruel I know, but I doubt they’d have preferred my alternative anyway.

So to cut a long story short – let’s see if we can have a larf at Type Tees :p read more