Buy a T-shirt and help Japan – Japan Relief benefit project by Mighty Fine

What a better way to help with Japan Relief benefit projects, then to buy an awesome T-shirt that you’ll wear with pride, knowing that you’ve done something good? Mighty Fine has a couple of such tees for you, created exclusively for this noble purpose.

Mighty Fine Inspires is the name of a special category in Mighty Fine’s online shop. It features T-shirt designs made especially for Japan Relief projects fund raising, as portion of proceeds from all tees in that section will go toward Architecture for Humanity’s rebuilding efforts in Japan. Not only this cause is noble, but the designs themselves really look great, so we wanted to share some of them with you.

"Lucky Cat" T-shirt design by Tomi Monstre; available in juniors fitted sizes

"Big Hug" T-shirt design by Patricio Oliver; available in unisex sizes

As for Mighty Fine, the label has been in existence for over a decade but it went live with welovefine.com, selling exclusive web product direct to consumers, in spring of 2010. “We have steadily sought to create inventive, fun, smart designs for fans of our licensed brands, which include Marvel, Sanrio, Scott Pilgrim, Sesame Street, Adventure Time, Peanuts and many many more”, says Nicole Campos of Mighty Fine, adding: “we have recently branched out into consumer-built T-shirt designs with our MyTee shirt builder, giving customers the chance to modify their own designs, choose their shirt color, etc”.

Cap Against Drugs T-shirt - available at Mighty Fine

Mini Count Blah T-shirt - available at Mighty Fine

Only Date Heroes T-shirt - available at Mighty Fine

Mighty Fine also run a fun contest on their website, where they are asking you to guess the next in their X-Men Nouveau line and you can win a free T-shirt – or a three! Megan Lara, whose Nintendo nouveau designs were well trafficked on the web, is working with them on this set, so Mighty Fine is really excited for the big reveal, which they hope will be in a few weeks time.

We cannot wait to see next X-Men Nouveau design! How about you? Would love to hear your opinions on Mighty Fine’s offering, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment below. Thank you!

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BeastPop designs – an interview with Jared Moraitis

I was introduced to Jared Moraitis – a.k.a. BeastPop – back in 2008, quickly after I started Teezine. His awesome, old school comic-based art really touched an old comic fan in me. Apart from being informed on his new projects via his blog and email newsletters I would often come across some of his T-shirt designs here and there, such as very popular ZOMBAMA one. Not only that this was a great idea and much better realization, but Jared decided to do a “comeback” version of it, featuring more zombified details. That version won a gold medal in 2010 Teezine T-shirt Olympics as best T-shirt design. Being that talented and creative no wonder more and more people get interested in his works. With new projects in the works Jared also has some great new ideas, so make sure you read what he had to say when I asked him a couple off questions.

When did you find out you have a drawing talent and what were your first drawings, what did you draw in your earliest stage?

I decided, after careful consideration and planning (and lots of flow-charts) that I should become an artist at the tender age of about 3 when I broke out the crayons and cut loose with a very primitive, yet elaborate, mural on my parents’ den wall featuring some of my awkwardly-imagined creations. It was all downhill from there. Most of my earliest drawings involved the creature from ALIEN or elaborate space battles featuring the cast of STAR WARS and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

Pop Zombie T-shirt by BeastPop

Who were the artists you looked up to when developing your style and how did they influence you?

I like a lot of classic illustrators and pulp artists –Norman Rockwell, Mucha, Elvgren, Leyendecker, Frazetta, J. Allen St. John – but I also dig on a lot of gig poster art, comic book art (Mignola, Canete, Simonson, etc) and European artists. I pay close attention to their compositional skills and what they can do with line, light and form.

What else influences you in everyday life, be it music, movies, food, drinks, books or anything like that?

My life has been basted in pop-culture, Saturday morning cartoons, toys, comic books, horror and sci-fi movies, pulp-fiction and other assorted lowbrow cultural stigma. I love music of the rock/metal/punk/industrial slant, but I also dig classical, some pop, and maybe some soul or blues at times. I love reading comics and genre fiction and watching any stimulating TV or movies that interest me.

The Distillers illustration by BeastPop

How would you describe your artwork to a blind person?

Sheesh! Um… Okay, jam your thumbs into your eyes hard enough to be mildly painful. You see all those weird colors and sparkles? Imagine those colors and sparkles frozen into sharp lines and jagged edges. Now keep that thought in your mind as you gather up a handful of silverware, wrap it in tinfoil and microwave it on high for 30 seconds while pressing your forehead against the microwave door. You should get the same sensation as you would if you absorbed all of my art at once.

Can you explain what’s the usual process when you develop your artwork from the scratch?

I am constantly jotting down notes to capture some of the weird ideas that pop into my head or inspiration that is triggered from other stimuli. When I’m ready to form one of those ideas into a piece of art, I’ll do rough sketches until I get a skeletal composition then I’ll blow it up, and hang meat on that skeleton’s bones until it resembles something moderately cool and interesting. Then I’ll process to tinker and bang at it until it’s done (usually using brush, ink and pen with computer aided colors).

What were your first professional engagements?

I did some sorry shirt designs for a defunct MMA fight gear company, various low-profile T-shirt designs, and then I entered a fairly long stretch as a concept artist for an online game project that ran out of money and never materialized.

Zombie Love T-shirt design by BeastPop (for J!NX)

What were the craziest offers you ever got and what are the project you’re most proud of?

I did a design for another fight gear company that had zombies as it’s theme. What zombies have to do with mixed martial arts I’ll never know! Thematically, I haven’t had many crazy offers (my idea of crazy is probably different from the average person, though). Most of the really crazy offers involve offers of insultingly low amounts of money for valuable work. The project I’m most proud of as far as notoriety goes is my ZOMBAMA design, parodying Shepard Fairey’s Obama HOPE poster. It’s gotten quite a lot of attention and has been ripped-off and bootlegged quite a bit! I am my own worst critic, though, and I always see things I could change or improve with every design as soon as I’m “finished”.

You also like to design T-shirts. Would you perhaps develop your own clothing line and why not, if so?

Funny you should ask – plans are afoot at this very moment to launch a clothing line (with the help of a very special person) later this year. I will be incorporating prints, buttons, and stickers, as well as vinyl toys somewhere down the line. Just gotta work out the details and finances. Stay tuned.

Zombama Returns T-shirt design by BeastPop

Your ZOMBAMA design made quite a stir among T-shirt lovers. What motivated you to do it and how did you decide to make a ZOMBAMA RETURNS version? Also, what do you think about Obamas politic?

I saw Fairey’s HOPE poster being parodied all over the place, so I thought I’d put my own unique and irreverent spin on it, also poking fun at Fairey’s infamy as an appropriation artist. There is no political meaning behind the piece, however. I really don’t keep up with politics much, as it it a frustrating and often futile arena. My own personal politics are somewhat middle-of-the road. Neither side has it right.

What are your personal beliefs and standpoints? How would you describe yourself as a person?

I’m a fairly reasonable, level-headed and courteous person. I don’t allow myself to get too serious about most things, but there are things that I am very serious about, and I always study and research things before formulating opinions and solidifying beliefs. I don’t like to stir things up too much and I don’t insert many (if any) of my beliefs and standpoints into my art. My art is about fun, oddity, and playfulness, for the most part, and I like to keep the personal stuff reserved for people I have a personal relationship with. I’ll let some of that stuff slip in the occasional blog or Facebook post, though.

What are you working on at the moment?

Right now I’m working on a personal DONKEY KONG tribute design, as well as some character designs for an iPhone game, and a few other miscellaneous commissioned t-shirt designs. Also chipping away at plans for the launch of BeastPop as a brand of merchandise later on.

What are the projects you would like to work on in future?

I want to do more skateboard deck designs. I would also love to do some album covers and/or T-shirt designs for some of my favorite bands. I’d love to design vinyl toys and animated characters. There are also a couple of old pop-culture properties from my youth that have not yet been reinvented that I’d like to be involved in redesigning. I also want to do the cereal box art for this year’s seasonal reemergence of the General Mills monsters cereals (Count Chocula, Frankenberry, Boo-Berry), but I want them to include Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy this time!

T-shirt design for Thrown To The Wolves (band)

You can check Jared’s art here:
BeastPop blog

Did you like this interview? What do you think about Jared’s artwork? Would love to hear your opinions, so make sure you leave your comment here. Thank you!

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Setting up brand basics – with Beau (guest column by Ryan Kovach)

Ever wanted to start your own clothing brand, but didn’t know where to start from? Worry no more! Ryan Kovach, one of the founders of freshly-brewed clothing company Beau is giving excellent tips to all of you beginners, so this article is enriched by their own experience.

Without change, the world would do nothing but sit still. Change is important and, in order to create a powerful brand that you and your customers are proud of, change is essential.

If creating your very own brand is something you want to do, a change must occur. You have to stop playing Nazi Zombies and Super Smash Brothers and finally start learning towards creating your own line. Don’t get too scared though, you will still have a little time to kill a few zombies because Beau is here to help organize some of the load. Last summer, I was in the same boat and I came up with a massive list of things to accomplish in order for Beau to launch. I broke up everything I needed to accomplish and learn into 3 sections: brand, website, and legal. Each one of these sections also had subsections, and most of the subsections had subsections. To put it simply, there was a lot I needed to learn. Now I am here to help break each of these sections down.

Brand

Assuming that you are making your own brand, you probably have an idea of what your brand is going to be about. It is key that your brand fills a niche, or offers something that is not already offered. I broke down what I needed to do regarding my brand into a few different components: logo, planning, and shirts.

Logo – when making a logo, you want to create something that depicts your brand, but also incorporates what your brand is about. With Beau, our logo was created to show our minimalists designs and the simplicity behind it all. A logo is a key part, it’s what people recognize and what they tell their friends. By having a memorable logo, your brand will stay fresh in the consumer’s mind;

Planning – for Beau and most indie start-up lines, the finances behind everything are limited. Personally, Beau was brought to life by the two of us working all summer long. A sacrifice has to be made. Currently we are college students and are making ends meet financially out of our own pockets. We put all of our funds towards bringing our fans and customers the best possible product we can. Don’t let it scare you though, it’s a very rewarding feeling to have somebody enjoying what you put a lot of hard work and time into. The key is to create a plan, like I am drawing out here, with your finances. Microsoft Excel is a great tool to keep track of everything. The best tip I can give you is to be as organized as possible;

Little Birdie Told Me T-shirt by Beau

Shirts – you may want to have people loving something you made but, without being able to put your brand goals into designs, it is going to be pretty hard to achieve that with clothing. Neither of us at Beau are Picasso; hell, we can barely color inside the lines. But that doesn’t have to stop you. There are countless resources available to help put your ideas into .psd’s ha ha… We were lucky enough to have a buddy of ours, Cameron Hagedon, aka one hell of an artist and designer, help us. Places like mintees.com (successor of now defunct emptees.com) are places where you can find talented artists. If you don’t know any artists personally, they can help you create your clothing’s art. Just remember that there are always resources out there to utilize;

Printing – do your research, our biggest tool was google. We lived on sites like bandwagonmerch, and t-shirtforums just asking questions and gathering information. Prior to Beau, I knew nothing about plastisol inks. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Email anybody and everybody whom you think would have valuable information. God knows how many emails I wrote just acquiring information on what material went best with what inks and what tagging sizes were recommended for each size of shirt. One tip for everybody: American Apparel. It is just gold made of fabrics. Everybody loves it and, frankly, if you are selling to somebody who doesn’t know much outside of Gildans and Hanes, they will put your shirt on and fall in love. Most likely, they will never take it off;

Numbers T-shirt by Beau

Shipping – if you plan on shipping out shirts, which most indie’s do, packaging is the last chance to make a positive impression. If financially possible, make something amazing and memorable. However, for most cases, including Beau, that is hard to accomplish. Just remember, with every penny you earn, put that penny back into your brand. Including packaging. But, until then, make sure your shipping does not hurt your image. Make sure it’s secure, doesn’t fold, and makes it there quickly. Uline.com provides a lot of products for packing, folding, and shipping your shirts nice and neatly.

Website

The first thing a consumer will see is the quality of the site. Bigcartel.com and Storeveny.com provide a great template and a cart. If you know web design at all, you know that building a fully functional cart is kind of a hassle. For Beau, we were forced to pick up a CSS book and learn from scratch in order to make our site stick out from the cookie cutter bigcartels of the world. Jquery is no fun, but there are plenty of tutorials online that help teach. Sohatonaka.com is one of my personally favorites. Soh is a genius and very helpful as well. As for CSS, check out this site; again a lifesavior. If possible, we advise that you leave it to the professional and shell out the dough.

Domain – as far as domain names go, try and purchase one that is unique and memorable. If that happens to be your brand name, perfect. For Beau, we went with thebeautee.com as a little play on words to create the ”beauty” in a sense. And if you do decide to use a bigcartel, the folks over at indielabs are very helpful at providing setup to link your new domain name.

Legal

At first we thought this would be one of the most difficult parts, it turns out it was the opposite. Make sure to get a hold of people who know something about business law. Local/family accountant, lawyer or, in our case, your business professor ha ha…

Third Times The Charm T-shirt by Beau

You can figure out a lot of the basics via google and forums, but legalities are not something you want to mess up on. It would be the biggest buzz kill to have to shut down everything you have worked so hard for just because you didn’t fill out the right paperwork. From our experiences we have learned a little. You should be alright with just a DBA, but you’re much better off filing for a Limited Liability Corp. (LLC). But again, check with a pro.

The biggest thing to take out of all of this is to sit on your computer and do hours upon hours of research. Become an expert in your niche and field. We are not saying we are, but we are striving to be. And another thing, there are tons of people willing to help you. When you tell anybody in your community that you’re going on this adventure, they will do almost anything to help along the way. Don’t waste that help, it’s a life saver. Never be afraid to email and ask questions!

Ryan Kovach,
Beau

Did you like what Ryan had to say here? Have your own experience? Don’t hesitate to inform us by leaving your comment below. Thank you!

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Cute funky T-shirt designs – Aaitski!

How to create T-shirt designs which are both looking good and are easy to sell?  T-shirt market is flooded with tons of different designs, targeting specific customers, but not many lines find “the secret formula”. Luckily, seems like Belgian indie label Aaitski! found theirs.

Aaitski! cutees

Aaitski! was founded when two creative minds by the names of Kingseys and The Knight Writer transformed their animals and children based ideas into cute and funky iconic designs. Add a bit odd name – and there you have a cool clothing brand! Upon it’s conception Aaitski! was very well received by rockers, rollers, all those feeling happy or blue and especially their offspring. Today it’s the ever-growing family of tees, hooded sweaters and kids clothes, spreading their cutees across the world, operating from Belgium, Europe.

Triple Mushroom hooded sweatshirt by Aaitski!

Brand concept & designs

As already mentioned – Aaitski! creates cute lil’ icons based on various animals, different boys’n’girls appearances and a whole set of vehicles, including bulldozers,  submarines and jets (not to forget spaceships, too). All designs have unique, easy-to-recognize designer signature, which sets Aaitski! apart from other players in the game, no matter how good they are. I first saw their icons couple of years ago when I’ve started Teezine and I immediately loved the brand, admiring the fact they can turn  a panda, a robot and a ninja into such simple, yet distinct designs.

Printing method

It would be a pity if such great looking designs weren’t printed the proper way. All Aaitski! designs are manually screen-printed, which is perhaps the most popular method of printing. If done properly, screen printing ensures long durability and resistivity of colors. You can’t tell a lot just from looking at the photos, but I’m sure folks at Aaitski! really pay attention to printing, as much as to designing.

Offering & pricing

Aaitski! offer is one of the most diverse out there, including men and women styled T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts and kids style tees. Their website also contains a very detailed info on their items, which explains exact sizes, textures and styles, as well as maintenance methods. Prices are  a bit higher, but still reasonable – they charge €25.00 for regular T-shirts, €50.00 for hoodies, €22.50 for kids tees and €27.50 for kids rompers.

Pussy Catsy shirt designs by Aaitski!

Unique clothing for unique people

With such a profiled and deliberate approach Aaitski! represents truly unique, one-of-a-kind independent clothing label that offers much, both in quality of their designs and wideness of items in their online shop. Big plus is they produce clothing for your lil’ ones, too. If you order something from Aaitski! no question you’ll be noticed by everyone, whilst wearing something unique, produced the indie way. I’d only like to see more professional model photos of Aaitski! actual items on their website. Oh, and an actual shop would be cool, too 🙂

What do you think about Aaitski! designs? I’d love to hear your opinion, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment below. Thank you!

 

Tigerboy! hoodie by Aaitski!

Roadspeedah shirt by Aaitski!

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Eco T-shirts – bringing green and peace together

Ecology aspect in T-shirt industry is getting more and more important as the industry evolves.  Many clothing companies do care about printing their designs with eco-friendly inks on organic garments, whilst spreading “go green” messages with their designs.

T-shirts for a good cause

Greenpeace organization – as I’m sure we all know – have a long and successful history of increasing ecological awareness. One of the best ways you can make people aware of caring about nature is creating T-shirt designs that can spread eco-friendly messages. Estudio Notodovale – a design studio from Bareclona, Spain – embarked on  such noble task, designing T-shirts for Greenpeace that not only look great, but also make us think of important ecological problems in our lives. Not just Greenpeace – they’ve recently contributed to Medicos Del Mundo (Doctors Of The World), an independent organization which provides medical help to those in need, often in undeveloped countries around the world (they collaborate with Greenpeace on some of their actions).

Since fine folks at Estudio Notodovale are doing such great job in our opinion we wanted to share some of their latest T-shirt designs with you, so feast your eyes!

Comprometidos T-shirt for Medicos Del Mundo; design by Estudio Notodovale; €18,00

Injusticia T-shirt for Medicos Del Mundo; design by Estudio Notodovale; €16,50

Henna T-shirt for Medicos Del Mundo; design by Estudio Notodovale; €18,50

Combatimos T-shirt for Medicos Del Mundo; design by Estudio Notodovale; €21,00

As you see, you can have these shirts for yourself and by ordering them you can also contribute to the good cause, cause money from sales go directly to Medicos Del Mundo.

Like some of the designs presented here? Are you paying attention to eco-approach when you’re buying your shirts online? We would love to hear your comments, so don’t hesitate to leave them below. Thank you!

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