I like this design. The illustrative style is, fun, free-wheeling and evinces feelings of pirates and looks straight out of Curse of Monkey Island.

Which is really why I enjoy it so much. Perhaps its title is some sort of Methadone reference, but I’m tired and not quite getting it. Maybe freedom from addiction? Wings? Nothing at all?

Either way, it’s a brilliant design, though I wish there were a bit more to it.

Verdict: 4 (View Submission)

This plaintative design scrawled in the margins of an AP study guide succinctly puts together the greatest and most deranged minds of the early 20th century. The facial expressions completely sell it, from Churchill’s subtle frown to the beaming smiles of Stalin and Hitler. No stick figure bodies to get in the way (because, frankly, one of them would need a wheelchair) of this brilliant design, no, just happy dictators and champions of democracy, side by side, in posthumous harmony.

Fantastic, but I won’t buy it if it’s in black and white. Anything else would work, though.

Verdict: 5 + Would Buy (View Submission)

Firefox thought it’d be a good idea to crash before I saved this post, so here we go again:

Threadless kept things light and breezy this week, with just three new shirts and—*gasp*—no reprints.

Hypotamoose is first out of the gate, with its whimsical, triangle-scaling moose, though I find it a bit too Northern Exposure for me to actually wear, ya dig?

Next up is the cheekily bipartisan Everyone Poops. Perfect for your local-disaffected-college-youth-
during-an-election-year, I personally have a bit of a predisposed aversion towards the scatalogical. On my shirt.

Threadless closes up the week with Happiness, a design which is all sorts of crazy and finds itself in a color scheme I just cannot see anyone I know wearing. I’m sure it’ll do well, but I liked the brown submission, and the day-glo-on-white is just screaming 80’s to me. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…

And though there weren’t any reprints this week… well, there’s not much of anything left, really. That last $10 sale seems to have cleared out the top-most of the catalog, so we’ll see what Threadless delivers within the next week or two, won’t we?

Three New Shirts, If It Pleases Our Dear Reader:
Hypotamoose
Everyone Poops
Happiness

Still Available, For The Most Part:
Hipster Doll (For non-hipster-sized boys, only.)
Ashkefardic Ultra Refoconservadox (For most-sized Jewish girls and boys.)
And, um… this stuff. In moderation.

You know, the concept of a scoop of ice cream, drizzled in chocolate to represent the world is pretty damn cool. But things quickly go downhill.

A) The tongue looks like… Well, it looks like a Dicentra Spectabilis (aka the Bleeding Heart flower) And it doesn’t look quite like it’s licking, so much as it’s sprouting. It really puts off the entire design.

B) It’s on banana. If you read my thoughts on =rand() [enter], you’ll know just what I think of banana. That’s changed easily enough, though.
C) More definition in the chocolate. Just a bit more, so it looks more like… the earth, I suppose. Oh, and make the whole thing just a titch bigger.

I’m usually not into giving itemized lists of different things the design could improve on, but I really do like the concept. It’s the execution that falters.

Verdict: 1 (View Submission)

These hapless marshmallow souls know that something is out there. They just don’t realize it’s right behind them.

I love this shirt, mostly because I love Peeps. A few things I’d love to see, though:

Make the far right bunny look down at the remains of his friend.

Oh, and fix the monster. He just needs to be cleaned up a teensy bit.

Either way, they’re adorable, and it’s another sadly-ironic design, reminisce of Bad Teddy.

Verdict: 4 + Would Buy (View Submission)

This is actually really cool.

The “elements” are grouped together pretty well, and though it lacks water (which I believe to be a bit fundamental in the making of even the most basic drink and the numbers don’t match up with a “real” periodic table, as one commenter pointed out, the concept is pretty damn fun.

I think it’s also a testament to how much time and brainstorming had to go into this design, along with the requisite added effort of ensuring no duplicate symbols exist and grouping them, somewhat, by type or category. Very cool, indeed, though I do question how well it would function on a shirt. One commenter suggests the back of the shirt would work best for this design, and I’m inclined to agree, but if that’s the case, I think the front of the shirt should be emblazoned with a large, single “element,” most likely Alcohol, perhaps with a proof, or some other numeric details right beneath it to round out the concept.

If nothing else, this design makes for an absolutely brilliant poster, and the colors could easily be tweaked to suit any need.

Extra tasty, yet again, indeed.

Verdict: 4 (View Submission)

R2 as a vacuum cleaner is almost certainly something that’s been done before, but maybe not with Luke operating him… and maybe not on a shirt.

That said, the art is pretty rough on this design. I think Chewie (assuming, you know, that is, in fact, Chewie) needs to go completely. Right now, it looks like a bear in a Hefty bag. Luke’s feet look… off, and the design looks too jagged. Throw it into a vector, smooth out the curves, clean up the “grumble bubble™” (oh yes. that’s mine.) and we might have a pretty fly design.

You know… if it weren’t on orange. (Actually, it’s not so bad.)

As for now, Verdict: 3 (View Submission)

Few submissions warrant me changing my normal title convention: Sub name, (Submission, Verdict: X).

This design actually made me scream “MY EYES” just as I was writing the title. It was something of an aftershock.

Dear artist: Please to learn about the definition of “irony.” For instance, irony is attempting to be ironic by creating a shirt focused around irony and failing miserably because you only succeeded in conveying your lack of understanding at what’s really a simple, eighth grade english concept.

No no, I get it. It’s ironic that shirts are usually (most times) decent drawings with some modicum of time and effort put into their design and creation. What would really be ironic is if Threadless printed this shirt and charged $100 for it.

Irony or not, it’s ugly and there are so many better ways to pull off “minimalistic-half-assed-irony-get-
what-I’m-going-for-hah-
I-crack-myself-up” than this.

Just sayin’.

Verdict: 0 + MY EYES! (View Submission)

Rock ‘em, Sock ‘em Robots at their finest!

While it’s true that I should be writing my few pieces (on video games) for entrance to E3, I’m instead bringing you the best and brightest of available Threadless designs.

Wrath is part of the Seven Deadly Sins concept. Something which I’ve seen before, but can’t find the other design I saw (because, I assume, a) I’m not searching and b) it might have gotten pulled down, per Threadless policy). I think it’s great, but it further shines through by going the extra mile—a kick-ass, themed Flash submission, complete with Rock ‘em handles to switch between shirt vs. design and red vs. blue. Awesome.

Kudos, grayehound. Solid design, well-executed and fun. For the family.

Verdict: 5 + Would Likely Buy (View Submission)

You know, the concept of this shirt is solid. All things that we hide ourselves under to mask our self-consciousness. It’s well-executed, and though vaguely similar to the “collection of stuff on a shirt” concept we’ve seen once or twice, it’s original enough.

Why am I giving it a 3?  The lack of contrast is to extreme to work well. The pinks are… different, but the browns are too close together to make the shirt really stand out. Even if that wasn’t the point, the contrast thing might work if only there were a little bit more of a difference. Definitely a great concept, though.

Verdict: 3 (View Submission)

Just a quick and friendly reminder to all of you that Threadless is still running their $10 sale. No catches!

Just head over to Threadless and start shopping today!

Threadless has gone all out March-Madness crazy this week, with three newly printed designs, 10 reprints and a special 48-hour, $10 sale, which, as you all know means you can expect their servers to be rather rightly swamped.

We’re talking Midnight Snack (Jan Avendano), =rand() [enter] (The FIRST ♥’s Threadless-reviewed shirt to be printed! See the original review here!), and even 99 Luft Balloons (Ross Zietz).

I’m so depressed that =rand() [enter] was printed on banana-yellow, because I just simply can’t pull it off, and thus, won’t be buying it. I’m honestly wanting to pre-emptively request a reprint in the hopes that it will be reincarnating on that gorgeous brown or, well, any other color. (Almost. Not white.)

Meanwhile, while you were sleeping, Threadless reprinted 10 whole favorites (including 2 I already own) for your to feast your $10-fists on. Fantastic time to use your gift certificates, XIV & india! (Edit: india informs me that she purchased Midnight Snack and Flowers In The Attic with her gift certificate!
Here’s the skinny:

Three New Designs! Midnight Snack =rand() [enter] 99 Luft Balloons And OMG 10 Reprints!!! Caged Till Death Do Us Part Chance Loch Ness Imposter Pandamonium Death By Music Nuts! Afternoon Delight MP(3) And the utterly macabre, fantastical favorite: Flowers In The Attic (Which I *just* bought!)

I’m not quite sure what I’m looking at, but I like it.

That’s all I have to say about it.

Verdict: 5 (View Submission)

This design is one for the “has a lot of potential” bin. It’s a strong concept, but the “vacant” door lock just screams “airplane lavatory.”

I do like how regal the whole concept feels. I’m not sure what spin to put on the text, and I think that it leaves just enough room to be completely misinterpreted. Of course, versatility can be a total strength here, too.

I think the artist’s own blurb about its potential meaning redeems any misgivings I have, though:

steven218, at 10:04am on Mar 9, 2006

A two themed idea. First is about being a bit dumb and unaware and the second is about being open to new ideas.

Cheers,

Steven

I was about to give this design a three, but I think it gets a four. It’s well-executed, and a completely original concept.

Verdict: 4 (View Submission)

You know, I’m supposed to be writing some code to properly display invoices and credits for my client.

But no. I’m watching Black. White. and writing reviews on here.

Extra Nice Tasting is a cute sketch of what’s effectively a girl blender. You mix the sugar and spice and such. And occasionally, everything nice. And then, apparently, you end up with a chocolate smoothie. Mmm… Extra Nice Tasting indeed.

I like my girls “pureed.” *stare*

Verdict: 4 (View Submission)