Archive for the 'Design by Humans' Category

Design by Hümans in Barcelona!

Well, sharing their passion for t-shirts and octopus trees I feel very nicely honoured to have been asked by the fantastic guys from the Blognanza to write a guest post about how some of the t-shirts from Design By Hümans made their way to Europe. So first let me briefly introduce myself: My name is Sven Palmowski (aka a.mar.illo) and I was born and raised in Germany. I have worked as a freelance illustrator for more than a decade, which allows me to make a living from my passion for drawing. In 2004, I made a new home in Barcelona, Spain.

The shipping of our shirts only took 7 days from California to Spain, which is a very short time for a package like that, and fortunately I did not have any problems with extra customs expenses. The package arrived in good condition and had even some trinkets in it like pencils and stickers.

These are the shirts my girlfriend, Carmen, and I ordered:


I Did by skaffa might be the cutest girl’s t-shirt at Design By Hümans, and it’s Carmen´s favourite too; the very first day wearing it she was asked about it by shop assistants in one of the countless little indie/alternative fashion boutiques in the gothic quarter of Barcelona. Simply cute with its pocket appliqué:)


underwaterdeer by fawnfruit was my favourite illustration in the Kick Off Contest. When I first saw it, I was convinced I had the winning design before me. It did not win, but it made Shirt of the Day and it’s an absolutely fantastic shirt. It’s also printed on a thicker and softer fabric than the others.


Chaos came from the Ocean by Steven is my personal favourite of the men’s shirts we ordered. The shiny silver highlights makes it just perfect.


Rescue by ckoelle is an impressive print. We only have it in the women’s version, but Carmen is very happy with this one too.


The Adventure by dwgagner is a design I love very much, but it’s the only one of the shirts that disappointed me a little bit at first sight. The ‘Large’ shirt is larger then the other ‘Large’ shirts (all the others fit me perfectly), and I´m not totally convinced about the reverse seams (which is a good idea but in this case it means just being printed on an inside-out t-shirt).
But after wearing it a while, I liked it too.


I don´t want to comment on the last of the designs, treepeople by a_mar_illo, because it’s my own ;) I will say this much: the soft prints and the shirts are just perfect… love!!!

Link: [Design by Hümans]
Expensiveness: $15-$24

Sven Palmowski’s Treepeople at Design by Humans

Remember Sven? Well, now he’s gotten one of his terrific submissions printed over at Design by Humans!

Tree People - Sven Palmowski - Design by Humans
Treepeople by Sven Palmowski NEW! at Design by Humans (also available for women) $15/$16

Pretty strange, but also pretty awesome! Congratulations, Sven!

Link: [Treepeople at Design by Humans]
Expensiveness: $15/$16

P.S. Use coupon code VKMHBC for 15% off your order (expires October 13th)!

New Site For Design By Humans

Just a quick note to let you all know that those slick shirt sellers at Design By Humans have redesigned their website as a shining beacon to the future!

Well, maybe that’s not quite right. But the new site layout is definitely cleaner and better oranized than the previous iteration. (Its designers were only human, after all!) They’ve also simplified the voting system, replacing three voting options (something to the effect of “I Like It/It’s O.K./I Don’t Like It”) with a single “Vote For Me” button. I’d imagine that this simplifies contest psephology quite a bit!

Speaking of which, I nearly forgot to mention that you can also check out the most popular submissions in DBH’s t-shirt design competition! Just look for the subsection titled “Popular Submissions” in the lower right hand corner of the main page.1

So whaddya waitin’ fer? Give DBH’s new site a test toast! And if you’re feeling especially adventurous, you might consider purchasing their latest Shirt Of The Day:

The Adventure
The Adventure by Dwgagner: $24

The shirt certainly casts an expeditionary vibe. Magellan and Colombus fans — fans of their romanticized, mythologized personae, anyway — should definitely give it a look! Also, if you place an order within the next ten days, you can use coupon code XEEA4W for 15% off your entire order!

Link: [Design By Humans]

1You have to wonder if the inclusion of a “Most Popular” category only serves to gain more votes for the popular designs, since more people are inclined to see them. It is a vicious cycle! Or maybe I’m fabricating voting phenomena.

I Wish I Were a Sky Pirate

Freedom - Dwgagner - Design by Humans

This design, Freedom, isn’t a t-shirt yet. But it should be, because it’s really awesome. To make it so, you should vote for it on Design By Humans. While you’re at it, check out the shirts that are already for sale at Design by Humans, like this one by Danger Russ:

Tales - Danger Russ - Design by Humans
Tales NEW! at Design By Humans

Link: [Design By Humans]

Robots Keep on Attacking: An In-Hand T-Shirt Review

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.
Continue reading ‘Robots Keep on Attacking: An In-Hand T-Shirt Review’

$5000 Prize Winner at Design By Humans T-Shirt Design Competition: Robot Attack!

Yep, the winner of the $5000 kick-off contest at Design By Humans (which in concept is somewhat similar to Threadless) is Robot Attack, which just happens to be the Design By Humans submission that I featured a couple weeks ago. Coincidence? Not really, considering the overwhelmingly positive feedback the design received during scoring. And it’s only $19!

Robot Attack - Legion of Doom - Design by Humans
Robot Attack NEW! at Design By Humans

Because everybody’s already talking about it, I’ll just point you in the direction of three great links:

  • a brief interview with two of the designers in Legion of Doom, Jeff Battocletti and Phil Tseng
  • an entry from the blog of Olli, another of the designers in Legion of Doom, that has some slick looking pictures of the actual printed shirt
  • a couple coupon codes for 15% off at Design by Humans
  • Link: [Robot Attack! at Design by Humans]
    Expensiveness: $19

    P.S. Congratulations to all the Legion of Doom designers! Awesome work there.

    Fantastic Submission at Design By Humans: Robot Attack

    UPDATE: Robot Attack is now available for sale!

    This has to be one of my absolute favorites of the submissions for Design by Humans‘ ongoing t-shirt design competition. I only wish there were a close-up image with more detail! Here is a close-up image with more detail!

    Robot Attack - Legion of Doom - Design by Humans
    Robot Attack in the running at DBH

    Unfortunately, they missed the deadline for the Robot Attack in the future. Nevermind; they made it in, but only barely! So far, the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. It’ll probably end up being pretty expensive, though, because this collaboration of over 20 artists is an 8-color print, including two metallic inks. It’s only $19!