Monthly Archive for January, 2008

100% Organic Tees from Artifex Shirts

Artifex Shirts is a new indie t-shirt label from sibling duo Tim and Chris Reagan dedicated to environmentally friendly and socially responsible clothing. All garments are 100% organic cotton and sweatshop-free. What’s more, $3 of every shirt sold goes directly to a carbon offset plan, and $6 from every Windmill goes to the Owl Feather War Bonnet Wind Farm:

Windmill - Artifex ShirtsWindmill - Artifex Shirts
Windmill for men and women NEW! from Artifex Shirts

The shirt images while browsing are too small, but once you get to an individual shirt’s page you can enlarge the design satisfactorily. Which is nice, because the thumbnails of Biodiesel and Coal Plant just aren’t enough!

Coal Plant - Artifex Shirts
Coal Plant NEW! at Artifex Shirts

This is just a small selection of Artifex’s host of organic, sweatshop-free indie tees, so be sure to browse the rest of their fine collection!

Link: [Artifex Shirts]
Expensiveness: $17

Bananalabra Bo Bana

Bananalabra - Justin Richel - Small Victory Studios
Bananalabra from Small Victory Studios $24

Not to be confused with a banana hammock (please), this is the Bananalabra from Small Victory Studios, an indie t-shirt label from Maine that prints the designs of Maine artists on organic, sustainable cotton tees. As they say, this design ‘has got a-peel!’ Banana puns aside, this is the second most delicious-looking lighting fixture I’ve ever seen. In fact, if I had to choose between eating this t-shirt and eating a real banana, I’d probably choose this shirt! And that’s not just because it’s pesticide-free: I’m pretty sure you can smell the bananas through the internet! Just lean real close to your screen and take a deep breath

Link: [Bananalabra from Small Victory Studios]
Expensiveness: $20-$24

Rock to Infinity

You’re probably familiar with Penny Arcade, seeing as it’s basically the most popular webcomic on the internet. If you read it regularly, you already know about today’s t-shirt, Petra ad Infinitum:

rock-band.gif
Petra ad Infinitum from Penny Arcade
Even though the shirt came out a few weeks ago, I was reminded of it today after playing through Rock Band. (I finished up solo guitar career on expert!) It’s an incredibly fun game, and if you haven’t played it yet, you really need to go out and buy or borrow a copy ASAP. That I can express my love for this game in t-shirt form makes it all the more sweet.

By the by: one of these days, the three bonanziers are going to form a band and take the Rock Band world by storm! Just you wait!

Free T-Shirt Promo at Sub Urban Riot

Sub Urban Riot T-Shirt Promo

The man on the rocket powered bicycle is right! Buy any hoodie at Sub Urban Riot at its regular price, and get a free t-shirt of your choice! Just specify which t-shirt you’d like in the ‘comments’ field at checkout. Might I suggest the following combo?

Roger hoodie - Sub Urban Riot
Roger hoodie (also available in white)

Lambo Luv - Sub Urban Riot
Lambo Love

No, I don’t have a Lamborghini… but I do think this t-shirt and hoodie combination would look particularly killer together, especially because they have the same colors in their respective designs.

Link: [Sub Urban Riot]
Expensiveness: $ 62-72 hoodies / $15-40 t-shirts

P.S. We’ve reviewed Sub Urban Riot before, including this in-hand review of Ruins.

Burnswell’s BIG DEAL T-Shirts Available Through Friday

UPDATE: As noted in the comments below, Burnswell the Shop doesn’t actually choose the Big Deal winners. That’s decided by users like you and me! Sorry about that, folks. Click here if you want to vote for the next round of Big Ideas!

Burnswell recently unveiled the latest trio of winning t-shirt designs for their Big Deal competition. Burnswell’s FAQ can fill you in on the particulars, but essentially, the shop chooses three “BIG IDEA[s]” bi-monthly to sell for an extremely limited period: a mere three days! That means, come Friday, these shirts will have winked out of existence. (As far as consumers are concerned, anyway.)

Burnswell ranks these winners according to how BIG—and, I suppose, valuable—they are, naming a Big, Bigger, and Biggest Winner. The middle of the threesome caught my eye rather quickly:


Create at Burnswell.com: $14.00

I should preface this by saying that I do like the design’s succinct absurdity—I guess I’m predisposed to such qualities. Nevertheless, as I mentioned a while ago, it feels as though I’m seeing too many octopi on t-shirts these days. This particular design features merely one half of the sea creature, I know, but it still qualifies. Perhaps—much like pirates, zombies, and space pirates—octopi are simply inexhaustible as a source of creative inspiration. Or perhaps designers gravitate more easily towards subjects that are both familiar to and popular among customers. I’m not sure. I do like this shirt, though! Perhaps I am part of the problem!

Anyway, while they do not feature octopuses—or perhaps because of this—you should take a moment to check out Burnswell’s Big Winner and Biggest Winner while you’re at it. You only have ’till Friday to do so, after all! After that: BAM. They are gone.

Link: [Create at Burnswell]
Expensiveness: $14.00

Do You Love Etsy?

And are you lady-shaped? If so, then I’ve got something for you! (I can’t say/think of ‘I’ve got something for you’ without being reminded of this old ad for a Chicagoland car insurance agency.)

Etsy Love - Serendipity
Etsy Love from Serendipity

What better way to show your love for Etsy than with a hand-screened and decorated t-shirt? Of course it’s sold via Etsy itself, the foremost online community for buying and selling anything and everything online, and connecting with others who enjoy handmade.

Etsy Love - Serendipity

This t-shirt has lots of little details that make it stand out, like three Swarovski crystals (if you can’t find all three, here’s a hint: look for flowers!) and appliquéd leaves that look like they’re about ready to fall from the tree. Visit the site for more pictures, including some super-close detail shots!

Link: [Etsy Love tree t-shirt from Serendepity]
Expensiveness: $24

P.S. We featured Serendipity before as the anti-designer, but none of those t-shirts seem to be available any longer!

Typographic Storytelling: After the Rain Comes a Rainbow by apy at Design by Humans

UPDATE: read an interview with the designer of this shirt, apy, here!

After the Rain Comes a Rainbow - apy - Design by Humans
After the Rain Comes a Rainbow NEW! at Design by Humans

I find this new t-shirt by apy at Design by Humans, an amazing and rapidly growing indie t-shirt design contest/label (a la Threadless), absolutely stunning on multiple levels. (My comment on After the Rain Comes a Rainbow is number six, so I’m an early adopter!) Besides being a simply gorgeous design, the way the brief story is told within typography (according to Google, I almost coined ‘typographic storytelling’) is beautiful for the mind. This t-shirt design is not only good to look, but good to think (20 points for whoever gets the reference!).

Link: [After the Rain Comes a Rainbow at Design by Humans]
Expensiveness: $19 men’s / $20 women’s

P.S. What’s that there? On the bottom of the t-shirt? In the lower right corner? Could that be? Yes, I think it is! A new custom Design by Humans exterior tag?! Very classy, and a nice touch. I don’t see it in the picture of the previous day’s print.