Perhaps you recall Joe’s post from only a few days ago, when he let us all know about Robot Attack, the $5000 kickoff prize winner at Design By Hümans? Well, hopefully you do. I mean, it was only a few days ago. If you don’t remember, then either (1) you don’t have such a great memory, or (2) you’ve only just started reading the Fantastic Blognanza. If it’s (1), then maybe you should get that checked out. And if it’s (2), then, I mean, come on—where have you been? Seriously, get with the program!
(I kid, I kid. I love all our readers, old and new!) (In a strictly platonic and wholly non-creepy way, of course.)
Upon reading Joe’s post, I ordered a print of Robot Attack for myself. It arrived in the mail just yesterday, and I’m happy to report that I’m pretty impressed with the package.
The packaging the shirt came in.
Along with my shirt, Design By Hümans threw in a trio of stickers, a pair of pencils, and a couple of advertising cards—all of which are very nice. However, what impresses me most is probably the customized mailing bag, complete with its fancy-pants partially-transparant logo-ization.
Well… maybe I’m just easily impressed.
At any rate, while I’m sure you all find my discourse on t-shirt packaging to be powerfully engaging, I must keep this review moving forward, and so let us move into…
Robot Attack, in its full glory!
What I love about this design is how you can keep staring at it and still find new things to appreciate. The attention to detail is far beyond what you’d find on your average t-shirt design. Rather than just being some one-off joke, Robot Attack has got some real meat to it. Or heft, for the vegetarians in the crowd.
I know a lot of people really like it when their shirts act as conversation-starters—Robot Attack definitely strikes me as that sort of design. Case in point: immediately upon seeing the shirt, my mom started picking out robots trying to compare them to characters from TV and movies. At the very least, your friends will probably comment on the overall craziness of the design. And in my experience, people round the world react keenly to all things robotic.
It certainly is fun to go through the various robots and try to figure out where the artists might have drawn their inspiration from. As far as I can tell, none of the robots are directly based on pre-existing characters from TV or movies or anything like that. Instead, a great many of the bots on this shirt seem inspired by more generalized robot stereotypes; for example, you’ve got your “Brain-in-a-Jar” bot, your Transformers-style mecha, and your “Looks-Like-It-Was-Made-Out-of-an-Old-Tyme-Radio” bot.
Look! A severed head for some reason.
On the upside, the shiny silver metallic ink helps make the design “pop” (whatever that means), and I think it’s a really nice touch. The gold ink is apparently also metallic, and though it does have a certain subtle lustre to it, it’s not nearly as shiny as the silver.
One last thing I should mention: the design was surprisingly soft to the touch. I mean, you can certainly feel it—but I’d say they did a pretty damn good job, considering that it’s a huge print on a dark background with metallic inks. I’m guessing (though I could be way off base here) that at least a little of the brightness of the print was sacrificed for the sake of a softer-hand print.
Anyway, enough of my yammering. You get the idea: I liked the shirt. And with the 15% discount, it only cost me $20.80 (that includes shipping), which is a steal (in my opinion).
With that, I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures, a link or two, and a fond farewell. Until next time!
Link:[Robot Attack at Design By Hümans]
Expensiveness: $19 sans discount
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I have a couple of their house-tees and was similarly impressed with the packaging and overall print quality… but especially the pencils
I’m glad this print is awesome in real life.
Well that is what I call a review
nevertheless I don’t like the shirt that much, Its a good thing the printing is a little soft, It reminds me of the old guns n roses shirt I have will all bullet holes in it
Damn dude, I bet you’re glad you don’t have to write reviews every day, that’s a long one!
The packaging impressed me too, although it does lose a bit of the effect when it gets covered in airmail stickers and customs tape.
Yeah, it is sorta long, isn’t it? Sometimes I just get carried away, I suppose. But it’s nice to see that at least a few of you read the whole thing.
@ Sjors: The design certainly isn’t for everyone, since it’s so big and bold and in-your-face. But I think robots are super-sweet, so it won me over right away.
@ Andy: I suppose that’s one of the (very small) (and unforeseen) perks of living in the good ol’ U. S. of A.
Man, I really wanted to love this shirt. I adore the design, and I ordered it within minutes of seeing it here. When I received the brilliant package laden with bonus loot, I actually squealed.
While I have to agree that the print is incredibly soft and even more gorgeous on the cream and sugar colored shirt, the ladies’ shirt is just too damn long to fit flatteringly.
Were the design of the ladies’ shirts more contoured it might work, but for girls whose figures are more hourglass than rectangle the tube-like shape is awful. I’ll likely order men’s shirts as gifts for friends since that seems to be their specialty, but I don’t know any women who would like this particular style. So completely sad.
I actually find the longer style ladies tees really great… I prefer them to the usual AA tees any day
While I’m in two minds about the design, I am very impressed with the effort that has gone into the packaging. It’s true that everyone does love freebies but they certainly help create a good feeling towards the company; people are much more likely to recommend Design by Humans to their friends if they have a good feeling towards them. They are to be commended.
I just received my women’s Robot Attack and I love the way it fits. It looks amazing on the cream. I think the fit is pretty flattering to the female figure, but to each her own I guess.
Thanks a lot for the review and awesome comments on the design…
Cheers!
Willy Piva
BRC
Well, I guess there’s a little disagreement as to the fit of the ladies’ style tee. Thanks to everyone who mentioned their opinions on that here—it’s something we’d never be able spot, the three of us being dudes and all.
And we’re always more than glad to laud some excellent design work, Willy