Death By Tshirt

2009-09-12T05:19:00.001+10:00

Full time work sucked. I quit. Perhaps DBT will be revived. Yeah, I think that'd be for the best

Threadles sale extended

2007-12-19T13:11:00.000+10:00

If you can't get enough $10 tshirts (who can, right?), then good news from Threadless - they have extended their holiday sale until the 19th of December - which is practically the 20th if you live on my side of the international date line. Move fast!

Urban Retro

2007-12-17T23:46:00.000+10:00

Urban Retro is a great store for tshirts, toys, gelaskins and more. Labels available include HiCalorie, Chunk, SeventySeven, Supreme Being to name just a few, and you can get 20% off everything until December 21st just by using the discount code XMASRUSH. Suh-weeet.

designgive relaunched

2007-12-17T17:19:00.000+10:00

After a short abscence, I'm happy to say that our friends and sponsors designgive are back online and have resumed kicking ass. They've got a few new designs from some great artists including Matt Owens, Si Scott and Jenna Ebanks, topped off with great prices and of course the option to contribute a portion of the sale to a charity of your choice (from the list provided). Ahh, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.

Brisbane Tee Party

2007-12-15T07:47:00.000+10:00

I hate to say it - but the Brisbane Tee Party is one of the most poorly promoted events ever. It's on today and starts in an hour and ten minutes. I live in Brisbane, work in the city, go to stores, bars, galleries etc, read the free newspapers and streetpress quite a lot, and I write a freakin tshirt blog - and I only found out about this last night!! Poor! They don't even have a website - just a myspace that doesn't even tell you who's going to be there. Slack. They say are going to have Brisbane's best tshirt designers there but I know some who won't be - cause they don't even know the damn thing is on!

Anyway, hopefully it should be a great day, and if for some sad reason you are reading a tshirt blog on a Saturday morning and you live in Brissy, head along and check it out. It's on from 9am to 4.30pm at Ahimsa House, 26 Horan Street, West End. I'm going (I'll be the guy with the skull pop shirt if you wanna say hi) and I'm sure there should be some sweet new labels there just waiting to be discovered.

Kimazo - tshirts and illustrations

2007-12-12T18:02:00.000+10:00

Oksana Kemarskaya has a nice little profile site/store called Kimazo. I'm not sure that I completely understand... but I damn well like it. This shirt comes from a series of four and are available in both short and long sleeved varieties. Ooooh, options!

TEE TEST: Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction

2007-12-11T23:29:00.000+10:00

I like long names. Maybe this is because I have a particularly long name myself - two middle names both with three syllables. Of all my names I like my surname the least, mainly due to the fact that it only has three letters.

Perhaps slightly pre-determined by my fondness for the gratiutously named, I love Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction (despite me being too lazy to type their name in full again - "aita" from here on out). When aita asked if they could send a shirt for review I took two quick looks at their impressive roster and said "I'll take two thanks."

To my joy the impressive nature of aita did not conclude with a lengthy title and a pretty website. The package I received contained the two shirts wrapped in the sexiest tissue paper I have ever seen (hell, I didn't know tissue paper could even be sexy until now) and a plethora of impressive marketing material that they were kind enough to send. Sure, it may seem inconsequential, but I think that a company that can get their marketing looking tight is well on the way to success.

The shirts continued to impress. The guys logo tee is so freaking soft it feels like underwear. Which is a good thing. In fact it's softer than my underwear... The softness comes via an American Apparel 50/25/25 track shirt - and because it's AA you know it's going to fit well. I'm also quite fond of the logo and the way it subtley humanizes the industrial subject. Deep right?

While the guys shirt is subtle, the girls shirt is straight-up crazy. Screenprinted front and back with catastrophic imagery, in an engraved style that you'd expect to see in a 19th century history book. Typhoons, volcanoes, tidal waves and even aliens destroy everything in sight. Sweet. I'm not sure as to the origins of the shirt itself but it's 100% cotton and comes from Peru. Awesome.

My only concern with these shirts was the slight twist in the seem (check the photo) on the girls shirt. I'm told that this is not common and is due to the shirts being "unique and individually printed," and it actually looks kind of cool when the shirt is being worn - although I'm sure it may bug some people.

Aita's other shirts also feature amazing art work and are totally worth checking out. They've just released some new one's too - be the first in town to grab them. A great range from a nice little label that sticks by it's name and produces some great artwork, hand prints their shirts and pays attention to the small details.

RRP: Mens Logo Tee $28 (USD), Womens Catastrophe Tee $36 (USD)
BUY THEM HERE

The Kiss Of Death - 2K By Gingham

2007-12-10T00:19:00.000+10:00

I was just checking out the oddly named yet well put together new blog Fat Seagull and saw this beauty from 2K by Gingham. It's by LA based artist Hersk and it's available here.

New People Like Us

2007-12-05T21:48:00.000+10:00

White is so stylish. Again. Is it the new black? Well I for one don't friggen care and am totally satisfied with the old black. But the new tshirts from People Like Us are all white and sure are nice. And if you've got a stylish little white iPod and are sick of being so damn slick (it's hard damn work right?) you can pick one of the sexy little Gelaskin things to make your pod less white and more protected. Kick Ass.

GraffikNoise

2007-12-04T19:33:00.000+10:00

GraffikNoise is one year old and well on their way to mastering stylish simplicity, Check them out.

NoiseBot

2007-12-03T21:07:00.000+10:00

Less is more right? Well not if you're NoiseBot - an online tshirt store that missed this basic principle, packing their store full with over 200 designs. Thankfully, they have a whole bunch of awesome, mostly funny tshirts that are beautifully illustrated - which are conveniently located above all the standard slogan shirts in their full catalogue. Designs are also available as hoodies and tote-bags, and for a limited time they are offering free shipping within the US for orders over $100 - so you can pay less for more... or something...

Threadless $10 Holiday Sale!!

2007-11-21T11:00:00.000+10:00

Heck yeah! All tees at Threadless are on sale for only $10 - and they're on sale until December 16!

There is a massive amount of new shirts to choose from and - if that's not enough - there are 3 reprints this week including Summer Wind by Joachim Baan - which I once saw poorly ripped off on a shop-a-docket ad for a hair salon...

Buy them for your friends or just buy them for yourself. Go, do it.

Smiley Raw

2007-11-21T10:19:00.000+10:00

AMP Street have released a couple of new shirts. I like this one. A lot.

Naive New Releases

2007-11-20T20:30:00.000+10:00

Naive have expanded their already impressive range with the addition of a few new shirts. Perhaps not quite as tight as their unbelievable earlier stuff, these shirts are still well worthy of a mention - especially Into The Woods which is pictured above.

Dawn of The Dude

2007-11-19T23:15:00.000+10:00

Dawn of The Dude tshirt by Cloxboy available from Go Ape.

If you need to ask, you'll never know.

Well ok, maybe you could just watch the movie...

Gorilla Riot

2007-11-17T15:21:00.000+10:00

I'm not sure what a Gorilla Riot would be like, but in my head I imagine an awesome meeting of Gorilla-esque masculine rage and uni-student-esque passion as the enraged beasts protest violently over the destruction of their native habitats whilst harrasing business men, burning shops and tossing over hotdog stalls.

But that's just me...

I've been following the progress of the Gorilla Riot site since they announced their first Beta version on t-shirtforums.com quite some time ago. It's great to see a company who has a put as much time and effort into producing a great site as they have with their tshirt range. Testing and constant refinements means that the finished Gorilla Riot site provides an excellent shopping experience - enabling the salivating tshirt enthusiast to easily navigate between the label's 6 different launch collections. Sure, it's awfully annoying that you have to click on each thumbnail before you can see what colours each shirt comes in (no they don't all come in white!) but the site loads quickly, and getting a bigger look at the tasty illustrations (and models) makes it bearable.

With artwork from the likes of Digital Three, Bagger43, Eyekaps, LambShank (Kyle from D3 and IMario), and Matt Morris (aka Cool Vader), this is one riot that even the most ardent pacifist may want to check out.

Monsieur T fall/winter line

2007-11-16T09:53:00.000+10:00

In case you haven't checked it out already, the fall/winter line from Monsieur T is well worth checking out. As well as a range of tshirts, their are some sweet hoodies to keep you warm. Artists including Andy Rementer, Bwana Spoons, Martin Ontiveros, Fernando Elvira, Emil Kozak, and the Berkley brothers have contributed their talents.

For The Bloggers

2007-11-10T09:42:00.000+10:00

If you're a nerdy blogging type (or even an uber-cool blogging type) you may be interested in this handy little widget I found. BlogRush goes anywhere on your blog and displays links to similar blogs - but the good thing is everytime someone looks at your site, you earn the right to a link on someone elses site. Plus if you refer new users (like I'm obviously trying to do now) you get link credits from their activity too. Basically, you end up with loads of links to your blog all over the place. It's free, so give it a try... if you want.

RE*generation t for youth homelessness

2007-11-10T09:26:00.000+10:00

Here's a nice tshirt for a great cause. From the press release:

Diego Mosco, a graphic designer who has spent years creating graphics for underground cult label Supreme has created a limited edition t-shirt for the Re*Generation charity art auction to further promote awareness of the homeless youth crisis. The 100% cotton t-shirt is emblazoned with a bold three-color, pop art-inspired print depicting a spark setting off an explosion - illustrating the way in which small acts of giving can set off greater movements of positive change.

There are only 500 of these shirts in existence and a lot of those would have gone at the RE*generation event held in New York City this week - so if you want to get your hands on one and support youth homelessness quickly head over to the RE*generation store.

Threadless goes specialised

2007-11-07T19:07:00.000+10:00

Threadless, the reigning juggernaut of tshirt design competition sites, has just announced that they will now be offering a whole range of specialised printing techniques for wannabe tshirt designers to utilise. Are Threadless feeling the pinch of Design By Humans? Or is this a pre-emptive strike, kind of like McDonalds offering salads for sale before everyone sued them for making them fat? Well, maybe nothing like that at all... But, just like the fast food industry (as it's multitude of puke-inspiring documentaries stands testament to) the online tshirt battle sure is about to get interesting.

Hopefully the new plethora of design possibilities may drag Threadless away from their predictable winning selections as artists explode in a fit of creativity. Only time will tell.

Trick or Treat

2007-10-31T18:52:00.000+10:00

Buy this. Happy Halloween.

The Humans Keep Designing

2007-10-31T11:11:00.000+10:00

Design By Humans continues to release some of the freshest shirts on the net, with some seriously talented artists reveling in DBH's ability to use specialised print processes - and pay them fat wads of cash.

Plus, apparently for the next 20-something hours you can get 25% off using the promo code silversnow

What about the profits??

2007-10-30T21:35:00.000+10:00

Ten Bills are having a sale with tshirts from an insane $5 and hoodies from $10. Crazy right. But it only goes until Sunday. I think these guys might have missed a few classes at business school...

Jordan Atkinson

2007-10-30T20:50:00.000+10:00

Jordan Atkinson makes me want to be an artist. His bold, musically influenced style is something to behold, and indeed many would agree with me judging by his impressive client list. If you can't shell out the required coin for a print why not opt for the useable - and affordable - alternative, a tshirt? These beauties are screenprinted on American Apparel Tshirts and pay homage to pop sensations from the past and present. Too freakin' awesome.

TEE TEST: Custom Industries

2007-10-26T01:13:00.000+10:00

Custom Industries is an interesting label, choosing to stay away from popular trends but instead creating a line that is influenced by artwork from many traditional cultures. The brand's aesthetic "reflects the quest for adventure and discovery of the obscure." And as someone who has been around the world a few times visiting over 45 countries on the way, Custom Industries founder Matt Taylor should be the right person to do the job.

The range from CI includes jackets, hoodies thermals and tank tops for guys and girls, as well as your everyday tshirt. Each is decorated by art from many different countries including China, Indonesia, Egypt and India, to name just a few.

Matt flicked me one of his new Dragon shirts to check out, and I'm happy to say that it gets a big, cheesey DBT thumbs up. The shirt is well made and the grey colour has just the slightest hint of lavender to it - not enough to decrease your masculinity, but just enough to be different. Also the exposed stitching - which I'm not usually a fan of - is really good quality and definitely suits this style, adding to the rugged global traveler feel. The quality of the screenprinting is great, with two tones of red adding depth to the illustration of the bad-ass dragon. (Am I allowed to say bad ass about a dragon?) To pop a cherry on top the material is nice and soft and the fit of this shirt is particularly good.

So if you want to express your love of the orient, wear a mean looking dragon, or pretend to look well travelled to impress a certain someone, then Custom Industries is the place to fulfill your culturally-influenced attire needs.

RRP: $30 (USD)
BUY IT HERE

Want your shirt reviewed? Get free publicity and a link in our tshirt stores section. Email deathbytshirt@gmail.com

New Threadless

2007-10-23T09:38:00.000+10:00

Contrary to my little rant last week, I actually think Threadless have released some pretty cool shirts this week. Top of the list for me though is a reprint, Star Men in Moon's Milk (top) by the irrepresibly creative Christopher Buchholz. Star Men is one of my favourite Threadless shirts of all time, and I didn't buy it first time round so I'm stoked it's been re-released.

New shirts include Hello Dave by Robert Gould, Where The Watermelons Grow by Brian Walline and New World Order by Tony Aguero.

Of course there are more to view on the website. Check em out here and use the coupon code rubberdanpants at the checkout to get $3 off.

Supermandolini

2007-10-21T10:01:00.000+10:00

There's a couple of sweet shirts on offer from new a new online store called Supermandolini. The site itself is pretty good too, with detailed views of all their products (which also include prints, posters and accessories) and 360º movies of models wearing the shirts.

Ten Bills

2007-10-18T16:01:00.000+10:00

Hey, remember when a Paddle Pop cost like 50 cents, gum was 20 cents and you could get 5 gummy bears for a two cent coin? These days a Mars Bar almost costs as much as lunch and you can only afford a Slurpee if you don't have a car. Thank goodness Ten Bills have a great range of tshirts from a variety of artists all available for only - you guessed it - ten bucks. They've got a new range that's just come out, and they're celebrating by giving you a further $10 of any order of $50 of more. With the money you save on clothes you might be able to lash out and grab a pack of nerds!

Threadless - predictable?

2007-10-18T10:30:00.000+10:00

Here's the latest bunch of awesome tshirt designs dropped this week by Threadless, who continue to release and sell a massive amount of tshirts at a great price.

However, I have a small gripe - I think Threadless are becoming a bit of a one trick pony. Ok, a two trick pony. The cutesy puns and prettiness are becoming a bit predictable. By no means am I taking away anything from the amazing work of the artists, but the designs that win week after week all seem to be of a similar style and are very "Threadless."

Sure, some may argue that this is a good business plan - Threadless becomes known for their style, and obviously they are getting a lot of traffic and doing extremely well.

Threadless's competition may benefit from the apparent reluctance of Threadless to stray to often from their preferred style. Sites like Design By Humans and A Better Tomorrow, whether conciously or not, are releasing some bolder, sharper designs (admittedly some look similar to the stuff Threadless used to put out).

Don't get me wrong, I still love Threadless and think it's a great community and a great platform for emerging artists. Perhaps it's just becoming a great platform for a certain type of artist...

What do you think? Agree? Think I'm full of shit? Let us know in the comments.

Oh, don't forget you can get $3 of your purchase by clicking here and using the code rubberdanpants at the checkout :)

Green Tees

2007-10-15T23:13:00.000+10:00

The environment - it's a big issue at the moment, and, well, let's be honest, if you aren't recycling, reducing, reusing or off-setting something it's about time you pulled your head in and your finger out before you wake up one warm winters day choking on a cloud of smoke with a pile of rubbish outside your window.

Anyway, today is Blog Action Day and this years theme is the environment. If you want to learn a bit more about the environment and how to save it I'd recommend looking at one of the other 15 squillion blogs that are participating, as I don't want to get too preachy, and I'm sure that others have much more wisdom to share.

My advice however is to not underestimate the difference you can make. One of the best ways to contribute to any cause is to raise awareness - if you can get 5 people to change their attitudes, actions or contribute in some way, you've done a great job, and hopefully they in turn will pass it on to 25 people and so on.

Here are some sweet shirts that I've found that look great, tell people you have an enviromental conscience, and can help trigger interest and spark conversation.

Ok, so this particular shirt is out of stock, but Tobi has a great range of eco-friendly labels so you can revel in consumerist conservation.

Ban t-shirts have a range of shirts with environment-themed designs including this anti GMO one, that comes printed on an organic shirt. Delicious.

The perennial classic and perhaps one of the best logos of all time (different versions available in different countries - this one comes from Canada and is made of organic cotton).

Monsieur T sale

2007-10-15T17:52:00.000+10:00

Monsieur T are having a sale - go there now to get 30-50% off their spring/summer line. Sweet.

Funkrush

2007-10-15T09:07:00.000+10:00

Sometimes I feel like the internet is like a giant maze, a labyrinth that you have to navigate through to in order to find what you are looking for. But unlike your traditional maze, the internerd can have a million different outcomes, and sometimes you're not even sure what you are looking for. Del.icio.us acts like clues to get you through the map, and Google is like a teleporter, but sometimes the results can be unexpected (especially if you're feeling lucky). Sometimes when I'm browsing for new stuff I end up getting nowhere, following link after link to crapsville until i reach a dead end. Alternatively, sometimes I end up finding something truly extraordinary, completely justifying (to me at least) my wasted hours of net travel.

Recently, on one of my geeky adventures, I somehow ended up at Funkrush. This awesome site has an unbelievable range of tshirts from some of the biggest names in contempory illustration (Jon Burgerman, Peskimo, Tado, Olly Moss, Dalek and many more). How I have not come across this outstanding label sooner amazes me, but if you are also unfamiliar with Funkrush click here to warp to their site. Post-haste!

Fresh Cakes

2007-10-14T11:30:00.000+10:00

Johhny Cupcakes seems to be an unstoppable juggernaut - with people going crazy for him and his "cooler than free booze" tshirts, apparel and accesories. Check out the new JC website where you can see photographic evidence of cupcake mania, and spy some fresh new lines.

New Design By Humans

2007-10-13T17:08:00.000+10:00

Design By Humans is quickly climbing it's way to the top of my list of favourite tshirt stores. The newest releases are awesome, and if you don't like the ones I've shown here have a look anyway because there is quite a variety available.

If that's not reason enough, you can get 15% off if you use this coupon code - 01VLNT. Yay!

Freakin Entrepreneurs

2007-10-13T16:35:00.000+10:00

A quick congratulations to our sponsor defunkd and more specifically founder James Applegath who placed second in this years' eBay Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year awards. The defunkd store is a temple of retro, specialising in authentic vintage music, movie and pop culture tshirts. Gold Star

Go Ape//Olly Moss

2007-10-13T16:04:00.000+10:00

I spotted this awesome design on Olly Moss' site a couple of months ago, and am happy to say that it is now available for sale from Go Ape. Also, check out Olly's impressive collection of tshirt designs and excellent work for Threadless.

Reconstructed

2007-10-12T22:12:00.000+10:00

Ok, so apologies to anyone who has stopped by in the last couple of days to check out fresh new stuff and has encountered only three day old, stale stuff. I've been in hospital for a couple of days getting my knee reconstructed and enjoying the porridge... But I'm back in front of the computer now and will of course be on the look out for new awesomeness.

A.M.P. Street

2007-10-08T11:36:00.000+10:00

A.M.P. Street have been emailing me for a while, and to be honest I have found some of their stuff a tad on the boring side. Lately however, they have been releasing more and more completely awesome shirts, with a real "street-art" feel to them and a really good illustrative style.

Straight out of Bangkok, A.M.P. Street release a range of streetwear in limited editions and have a very "hands-on" philosphy. They even have an inhouse tattoo studio in their retail store.

Definitely a label heading in the right direction, and one to keep an eye on.

A Better Tomorrow

2007-10-07T21:38:00.000+10:00

Man, I wish I had've kept going with the German lessons at school. Then I'd be able to understand what's going on at A Better Tomorrow - and perhaps order a thing or two. The site is pretty big, with stuff from a big range of labels, as well as A Better Tomorrow's own line (pictured), comprised of design competition winners and contributions from guest artists such as Koa (bottom). I think ;)

As seen on: Shirtspotting

GAMA-GO Yeti Cannons

2007-10-05T22:19:00.000+10:00

GAMA-GO release awesome new stuff constantly and I'd have no chance keeping up with it all, but I do particularly like this sweet design called Yeti Cannons. Their bags, wallets and jackets are also worth a look.

Escape Escape

2007-10-05T21:56:00.000+10:00

There are so many musical genres (and sub-genres) these days. What happened to the days when it was just punk or hip-hop, just rock or disco?

My friend Josh is a great designer and also the lead singer of neo-awesome, transient new-wave, post-modern pop-punk band Escape Escape. He just set up a Red Bubble store for their tshirts which he created.

Check out their tshirts here and their music here. I don't like genres - just listen to it and give it your own label.

Threadless Picks

2007-10-02T11:58:00.000+10:00

Great new releases this week at Threadless, with my favourite this week being the Threadless Select release Away From Home (top) by Ryan Lin (who coincidently was a competition winner last week). The space colonisation themed shirt glows in the dark and looks pretty flippin' cool.

Other standout winners include Runnin' Rhino (middle) by Allan Faustino and Piggy Bank Heist (bottom) by Jason LaRose.

And don't forget, you can get $3 off your order by clicking here and using the coupon code rubberdanpants at the checkout.

Lifelounge 22 Flavours

2007-10-02T11:33:00.000+10:00

Lifelounge has launched the 22 Flavours project, utilising the skills of the "who's who" of the art and design world to create a stunning range of limited edition tees. 22 artists were each given a flavour as a theme and the results are fantastic. Even more impressive is that proceeds from the sale are being donated to help the homeless. There is only 22 of each design printed, so if you want one be quick - they may sell out as fast as Rage Against The Machine tickets.

YWFT Limited Edition Tees

2007-10-02T10:58:00.000+10:00

As mentioned a little while ago, YWFT are in the process of releasing a range of new shirts. The two that I wrote about earlier are now available, along with this number entitled Pie in the Sky. All are printed on American Apparel and are a limited edition of 70.

Shirt.Woot!

2007-10-01T15:41:00.000+10:00

Shirt.Woot! is a pretty unique site that sells a different shirt design everyday. Shirts are still available after the first day (if not sold out) but the price goes up. They also have a design competition and a really good community. Click here to check out my entry (pictured at bottom), and if you have bought from any of the woot sites before you can vote for it if you like it :)

Concrete Hermit Shop/Studio/Gallery

2007-09-29T12:15:00.000+10:00

Concrete Hermit, who have been bringing us great tshirts, art, books and more for a while now have opened a shop/studio/gallery at 5a Club Row London. To kick it all off they are having an exhibition and book launch by frequent Concrete Hermit collaborator Ian Stevenson. The exhibition is on from the 5th to the 21'st of October (for more info see their site).

Also, there is a new Concrete Hermit t-shirt out by Berlin based JuJu's Delivery called Betty Ford.

2x4-25%

2007-09-29T12:03:00.000+10:00

I mentioned the radness that is 2x4 tshirts before, but now they are having a sale. Get 25% off everything, but it only goes for two weeks. Do the sums, this is good.

The Affair

2007-09-29T11:35:00.000+10:00

Express your literary intellectualism! Represent your stance on social acceptance! The Affair is yet another start up label, and at first glance their tshirts just look like... well, really cool tshirts. Look a little bit harder though, and you will see that they are actually inspired by topics of substance, and convey a good deal of social commentary. Ok, they only have two shirts at the moment, but they sure are nice. And if you're of the nerdier persuasion and find cool web design more impressive than cool shirt design, check out their website anyway - it's pretty freakin good.

As seen on: Lost At E Minor

TEE TEST: Lamstok

2007-09-27T19:04:00.000+10:00

You may have seen Lamstok already if you check out some of the other tshirt blogs. Well they contacted me too, and because I have a big desire to help out Australian designers, and an even bigger desire to own really cool tshirts, I hit 'em up for a tshirt to review. How would this newborn label fair? Well the tshirt, and the results, are in.

What can I say....? Lamstok dominates. They pretty much do everything right. In fact, Lamstok could be used as the manual for how do start a successful label.

1. Cool designs. The designs, such as the banana they sent me, are cool, quirky and unique.

2. Quality. American Apparel tshirt (I'm not necessarily promoting them but they have a good reutation and fit so well), quality printing, swing tag and packaging.

3. Well promoted. Get your stuff out there and if it is cool enough, and you are nice enough, every tshirt blog under the sun will be giving you free promo.

4. Good website. I cannot stress how important this is. The shopping experience should reflect the mood of your brand and be easy to navigate. A good website encourages buyer confidence too, while a bad website makes people think you may be a bit dodgy. Right?

5. Little extras. How sweet is it when you get a badge or a stylin' sticker or something for free? Lamstok packaged this shirt in a pretty nifty printed zip-lock bag. Now my sandwiches look shit-hot too.

Ok ok, so Lamstok gets a tick in every box. This shirt is great. It's original, well made and fits great. I wore it to a party on the weekend where I knew hardly anyone and had 4 random strangers comment on the shirt, which I think is a sign that they've done the job well. The rest of the range is awesome too and each shirt comes in a range of colours. Things are looking good.

RRP: $45 (Australian)
GET IT HERE

Want your shirt reviewed? Get free publicity and a link in our tshirt stores section. Email deathbytshirt@gmail.com

Commune Tshirts 2007

2007-09-26T10:03:00.000+10:00

These days productivity is key. Although the digital age promised a reduction in human workload and more time for leisure, we now work, on average, more hours a day then anyone in the last 100 years. As a result many of us end up working several jobs, participating in assorted projects and squeezing our recreational pastimes in between. Labels release new lines of clothing every season, month or even week as time pressed customers vacate the pavements and hit the internet for a massive selection and to save precious minutes.

But there are exceptions. New Zealand label Commune releases only one series of tshirts per year, so when they do we get excited. Sure Commune founder Jeremy Bennett knows as well as anyone the stresses of multi-tasking, splitting his time between Commune and fulltime employment for architectural firm JASMAX. But when your label puts out stunning shirts by top artisits such as Catalina Estrada, Adam Cruickshank, Josh Gajownik and Ronald Kurniawan I guess you only need to release new stuff once a year.

Now if only I could get away with writing only one blog entry per year...

Tshirt Flipbook

2007-09-26T09:23:00.000+10:00

I was just checking out the HipHipUK thsirt blog (as I do) and saw this neat little video. In the age of digital everything it's pretty cool to see the iron, ruler and projector getting a run.

Latest Threadless Releases

2007-09-25T10:32:00.000+10:00

Some great new shirts out at Threadless this week. My pick of the bunch would be La Gran Reunión (top) by Matheus Lopes Castro (whose portfolio is spectacular and definitely worth a quick peek), and the mystical Northern Ice Pilot (bottom) by Ryan Lin. Get in quick before they sell out. There are five more new shirts to take a look at, and if you want to get $3 off your order click here and use the coupon code rubberdanpants at checkout. Sweeeet.

Paths 2 // ISO50

2007-09-23T22:29:00.000+10:00

Iso50 (aka Scott Hansen) has released a beautiful new version of his Paths tshirt, aptly named Paths 2. Perhaps even more exciting is his new blog-like website. This definitely gets my vote for one of the best looking new sites I've seen lately, especially in the often cluttered blog format (as my site may demonstrate...) If you're not already familiar with Scott's awesome work you have to check it out, and if you are familiar with his old site, well, you have to check it out. Get my point??

DBH - Seed, Luchador Mask Rejects and more

2007-09-21T08:55:00.000+10:00

There are four great new tshirts available from Design By Humans, adding to their already awesome lineup. These tshirts offer just a bit more than your standard screen printed tshirts, making the most of specialised processes such as extra soft water-based inks, gloss and glow in the dark highlights and suede effects (such as the suede leaves on the "Seed" design above. "They must be expensive," I hear you wonder. Well, no, they aren't. Grab 'em now for only $19.

Prpl Nrpl

2007-09-20T10:22:00.000+10:00

Kids. Aren't they great? They eat and spew and burp and fart and crap and snot all the time. But they're just so damn cute and innocent no-one cares. In fact we even think they are all the cuter because of their limited control over what comes out of their assorted orifices. The crew over at Prpl Nrpl have decided to celebrate the bodily functions of little people (amongst other things) with their collection of onesies and tshirts. While this formula generally ends in lame and tacky kids apparel that is best suited to dodgy market stalls, Prpl Nrpl have successfully used clever puns and beautiful design to create this quality collection. And if you think it'd be funny to get around in a "I'll have the boob du jour please" tshirt, they are only available in baby sizes, thank goodness. Tshirt sizes are available for kids up to six, but boob related designs are tastefully omitted.

Want My Font?

2007-09-18T14:54:00.000+10:00

Here's a sweet new shirt for fontophiles and designerds alike. A Girls Want My Fonts shirt is also available for the guys and both are available from the Chop Shop.

New Jon Burgerman Stuff

2007-09-18T13:39:00.000+10:00

Jon Burgerman has some great new stuff on his site including his own range of toys, some limited edition slip mats, and this Pumpkin Horse tshirt. It is printed on a 70% combed cotton 30% bamboo blend, which is apparently extra smooth, and uses environmentally friendly, water based inks. Goodness on so many levels.

Jordan Mattos

2007-09-17T19:16:00.000+10:00

If you're sick of seeing people all over town in the same shirt as you, or you just don't want to risk it, why not get a customised tshirt? Jordan Mattos creates custom, hand drawn, one off tshirts that are sure to be as unique as your fingerprint. You even get to let him know what you want on your shirt - all for a casual $150. Just don't wear it when you're sticking up a bank.

Mike Cina/You Work For Them

2007-09-16T23:19:00.000+10:00

Following up from the post I wrote about You Work For Them's first tshirt release, Anthropomorphotosynthesis, I got an email from YWFT co-founder Mike Cina, letting me know about a couple more new tshirts that are coming soon. Mike is a somewhat iconic designer. With a background in typeface design, he went on to co-found the design collective We Work For Them in partnership with Michael Young. WWFT has an impressive clint list touting such names as Adobe, Bacardi, Coca-Cola, DC Shoes, Emerica, Etnies, Es Shoes, ESPN, HP, MTV and VH1, so you've probably seen some of their work somewhere. Cina and Young have yet again flexed their creative muscle with these new shirt designs for YWFT, which I'm told should be released some time in the near future. Stay tuned.

TEE TEST: Filthy Panda

2007-09-14T01:06:00.000+10:00

Filthy Panda is a small, mysterious Australian label that was started by the enigmatic Billmund. They have a range of shirts on offer at their store, that mix bright colours with strong imagery that is influenced (not so subtley) by popular 20th century cartoonery. The result is a wonderful, unique style that is instantly recognisable and gives a dirty, electro vibe (dirty, electro vibe??... Who am I?) despite it's older influences.

The shirt they sent me for review is entitled Pure Filth and, as you can see, they aren't pulling any punches.

The illustration work is fantastic and very true to the Disney style (perhaps this is what Mickey would've looked like if Fantasia was made in 2005 and had a dirty house soundtrack) and the colouring is sensational.

The American Apparel shirt ensures that the quality is top notch, and in my opinion these are one of the best fitting shirts on the market.

It's hard to find something bad to say about this shirt - design-wise it's awesome and the garment quality is great. The only downside would be that you'd have to wear this tshirt selectively (definitely not in front of your Nan) unless you're a complete prick and don't care what people think. Sure some people will hate the dance music references and mild profanity, but I'm not a huge fan of either (well dance music is good) and I love it. Grab one now before they get too popular and Disney sues.

Filthy Panda will also be attending Shirty 07 this Saturday - say hi from me!

RRP: $39.00 (Australian)
BUY IT HERE

If you would like you're tshirt reviewed, drop me an email. You will get some great free exposure right here and get a link in our t-shirt stores section.

Shirty07

2007-09-12T23:24:00.000+10:00

I could spend a few minutes telling you about Shirty - the new not-for-profit one day only t-shirt market that is being held in Sydney this weekend... or, I could spend a few seconds copying and pasting from their highly informative (and very cool) website.

Hmmmm... I'll go with option B

About Shirty
Shirty07 is a new not-for-profit design initiative - a market selling only t-shirts.
It's an event that fuses fashion with art, music with culture; where guests can purchase unique t-shirt designs direct from independent designers, enjoy live music and chill out at the bar with a drink.

Prices are capped at $69 so everything's kept accessible.
SHIRTY will run from midday to midnight the first in an ongoing annual event - a yearly shindig to kickstart the spring.

Why?
To create a new platform for up and coming t-shirt designers to reach a mainstream audience. Celebrate the power of the humble tee, believing that while a t-shirt slogan or design may not change the world, it can sow the seed of thought.
p.s. why not.

Where and When
September 15th 2007
Midday - midnight...
Newtown Neighborhood Centre
Town Hall
1 Bedford Street (opposite the train station)
Newtown, NSW

Who?
The designers: (In alphabetic order)

2x4tshirts, Bill Chen Meet Tyrone, Bill Ross, dj Jose, emShop, FunkdUP, Imok, Lethal Clothing, Marion Hertford, Nicholas Martin, Nipple Cripple, OKTOKIO, Once smitten twice shy, People Like Us collective, Salad Days, Sweatshop Productions, Thirteen Army, Two salty, Zoe Sadokierski

Alexandra De Bonis, Alyson Pearson, Anna Pigott, Ellen Williams, Glamourpuss, Glen Martin, Mark Iaria, Monique, Natasha Hammond, Pat Grant, Peter Strong, POFO, Stefano Lentini , Sylvan Doyle, Tara Bennett

Sounds Good doesn't it? Visit the Shirty 07 site for more details.

YWFT: Anthropomorphotosynthesis

2007-09-12T22:29:00.000+10:00

You Work For Them has for a long time been a great resource for the artisticly inclined, stocking art and design books, posters, stationary, typefaces and, in particular, vector stock images. Now YWFT have released a tshirt entitled Anthropomorphotosynthesis, designed by Eric Carlson and Maddy Nye. Yes it's a bit mental, but sometimes that's the most fun right? It's printed on an American Apparel Standard T and is available for $19.95 here.

TEE TEST: Chor Bazaar

2007-09-10T23:19:00.000+10:00

"Through the act of Chory and appropriation, we initiate a Desi phenomenom." Don't worry, I'm not exactly sure what it means either

This is the mission statement of independent Brooklyn based tshirt label Chor Bazaar. While it may not make a lot of sense to most of us, it refers to the company's aim to create clothing items that are relevant to, and inspired by Desi (south Asian) life.

To be honest, I didn't expect too much when the guys from Chor Bazaar said they were going to send me a shirt for review. Their website seemed a little clumsy, and while graphically some of their designs are ok, there are some that really aren't so great.

However, when the package arrived from the states I was very pleasently surprised. What this company lacks in flashy websites and ground-breaking graphics they more than make up for in quality. Shirt, print and packaging quality are all top notch.

Product presentation and packaging was up to retail store standards - wrapped in plastic and beautifully tagged with printed card and string. Once i ripped the plastic off I noticed a whole bunch of nice little extras including a logo printed on the back of the neck and a sewn label on the bottom front.

The shirt itself is printed on an Alternative Apparel blank which has a great cut to it and is 100% cotton (and made in Honduras if you're interested). The quality of the screen printing could be a bit better, but I've seen heaps worse. My only real problem with the shirt is the sewn on Chor Bazaar logo on the bottom of the shirt - it's a really cool logo but the positioning is all wrong. When I put the shirt on it is almost right in the middle and, well, it just looks weird. It needs to be moved over about 6 inches...

All said and done, this is quite a nice shirt. While Chor Bazaar isn't going to be your first stop for amazing artistic tshirts, they do have a unique and interesting range that is worth checking out, especially if you want to celebrate Desi-ness.

RRP: $25 (US)
BUY IT HERE

If you would like you're tshirt reviewed, drop me an email. You will get some great free exposure right here and get a link in our t-shirt stores section.

Changethethought

2007-09-09T23:15:00.000+10:00

I love emails with surprises. I got one from a label I'd never heard of called Changethethought, and the shirts looked sweet so I investigated to find out more. Turns out Changethethought is a triple treat extravaganza of a website, consisting of the Changethethought apparel store, a really good art/design blog and the jaw-dropping online portfolio of the man behind it all Christopher Cox (who also blogs for Design Is Kinky).

Surprise me

Threadless $10 Sale

2007-08-31T00:58:00.000+10:00

I never buy towels until they go on sale. Why pay full price for towels, right? Threadless on the other hand often requires some speedy purchasing because the good shirts tend to sell out really quickly. But, $10 sale time is here, so head over and see if there is anything left that you like. 14 new shirts out this week (over acheivers) with my pick of the bunch being The Unseen/Unheard by Ed Pincombe (top) and Everybody Loves A Yeti by Scott Bartlett (middle). If 14 shirts isn't enough, there's also a bunch of reprints available too. Buy heaps and you won't have to go shopping for a year - until the towels go on sale that is.

Sale ends September 3

Design By Humans

2007-08-30T10:40:00.000+10:00

Design By Humans is a new player in the tshirt competition game, and they have come out swinging. To get the ball rolling DBH held a $5000 kick-off competition, which was taken out by The Legion of Doom, with their design Robot Attack.

Design By Humans seems to have more full on, in your face arty shirts than it's most successful adversary Threadless. Relying less on the visual pun or hidden meanings and more on intense illustrations and specialist printing methods, DBH has managed to offer up a system that is similar enough to Threadless to work but different enough to succeed. Bold, beautiful, interactive and affordable is surely a winning formula. Check it out.

Sir Freelancelot

2007-08-28T01:23:00.000+10:00

It's late. About 1.30 am. I should be sleeping. My body is tired but I have had coffee so now I have that weird combination of absolute lethargy and annoying buzziness, neither tired or awake, hanging in the limbo of sleepland. Why? Because I am a freelancer. Freelancing by nature forces you to work when you can, and the more you work the more you get paid. Inevitably this leads to more and more working - which leads to more late nights, canceling on plans with friends and eating meals that take 3 minutes to cook in a microwave.

Does that sound like you? Well then this new shirt from the Chop Shop is for you. Sir Freelancelot rides high on steed in front of a foil-print shimmery sun.

At least being a freelancer means you get to sleep in sometimes.

Concrete Hermit - better than lotteries

2007-08-23T23:04:00.000+10:00

Spam, ain't it wonderful... I reckon I'd get on average about 10 emails a day saying that I have the EU lottery, the UK sweepstakes or the Portugese chicken raffle. Do people actually fall for this? Unfortunately yes, and the sad part is that they are probably the people who have to work the hardest to get the money that these jerks are going to steal off of them. If only I got one email telling me I'd won a Concrete Hermit prize pack I might actually open it - just to make sure. Because seriously, their stuff is awesome (and I'm not just saying that because they are a sponsor - have a look for yourself!)

The good kids over at CH have just released 4 new shirts, one of their own and three to add to the artist series, delightfully decorated by Will Ainley, JuJu's Delivery and Dan Has Potential.

Now excuse me while I go claim my lottery winnings so I can purchase a remedy for my prostate problems and pick up a cheap copy of Adobe CS3.

TEE TEST: Share Peace Initiative

2007-08-21T23:29:00.000+10:00

I've got a bit of a soft spot for companies that combine fresh graphics with a social conscience, whether it be by promoting or donating to worthy causes. The Share Peace Initiative is a new company based in Sydney, who donate 10% of all their t-shirt sales to organisations supporting peace iniatives around the world, inlcluding Kiva, Oxfam and Peace Child to name but a few.

The first offering from The Share Peace Initiative got sent to me for a review, and it is entitled Electro Evolution (available in mens and womens sizes). Apparently it is targeted at electro fans due to the "tremendous popularity of electronic music and the vibrant and quirky fashion sense of its devotees," but it is currently hard to tell if future offerings will follow the same path.

That aside, the design of the shirt is quite striking, and indeed would definitely look in place on the dancefloor at 3am on a sunday morning. The print is large and eyecatching and the juxtaposition of the electronic and organic matter in the design makes for an interesting composition. The typeface could be better but it does the job. The only downside in my opinion is the colour of the print - it is very pink, and unfortunately that will probably turn a lot of guys (and maybe some girls) off. But if you're down with pink, electronic music and helping people out you can't go wrong with this t.

The shirt itself is a midweight 100% cotton shirt, nice and soft and seems to be quite well made. It fits well, slim, but not so slim that you have to be tall and skinny for it to look good - it's just right.

While this shirt won't do it for everyone, it definitely has niche appeal. I'm still not sure why a company promoting peace has ended up promoting dance music, but it will be interesting to see what direction this fledgling label takes. Share Peace will be releasing a new shirt monthly, and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

RRP $30 (Australian)
BUY IT HERE

PS - if you have any shirts you would like reviewed drop me an email

New GAMA-GO

2007-08-18T19:07:00.000+10:00

GAMA-GO have been busy of late - on top of their recent release of winter gear, they recently just dropped 12 new tshirts - 6 for the guys and 6 for the ladies. Equality, music and angry robots. Cool right?

We Kill You

2007-08-15T21:35:00.000+10:00

We Kill You don't really want to kill you. The Ghost, The Bat, The Sasquach, The Bunny, The Bear, and The Ape derived the name from the saying "you kill me" which means "you're funny as hell." They share joy by decorating the outside world with collages and sweet designs. Now you can also spread a little joy yourself, cause We Kill You have just released a line of shirts which you can grab from their store along with accessories, toys and art - Brilliant.

Threadless Kids

2007-08-13T22:09:00.000+10:00

About two or three years ago I thought it would have been a great idea to make really cool kids clothes with great designs that were kid friendly but not too childish. Now it seems there are a bunch of companies doing just that, and Threadless is one of the better ones - some of their designs seem to work even better on kids shirts.

Last week (yes, I'm behind the times) Threadless announced seven (yes seven) new shirts with 3 of them being available in kiddy variations. From top to bottom they are The Young Explorers Society by Brett Weber, There's No Crying In Breakfast by Philip Tseng and Never Take Your Abilities For Granted by Andrew Knapp.

Check out the rest of the winners and adult versions here.

New B/D

2007-08-11T17:54:00.000+10:00

Ok straight up, 5 - yes 5 - brand new tshirts from Beautiful/Decay have just been released. Personally, I don't think I could actually wear some of these myself, but I am a massive fan of the awesome artwork. But if you are the kind of person who is into full shirt prints in bright colours with some fine illustrations by leading artists Sentimental Soy Cheese, Tooth Juice, Evgeny Kiseley, Matt Yerman, and James Callahan, well, um... you better click here.

back on deck

2007-08-09T23:57:00.000+10:00

So we got into Splendour ok despite my girlfriend having her handbag stolen the night before. All her photo id, all her money and all her makeup (oh no!) was gone. Even her phone was gone. However once we had managed to gather enough proof of identity to get into the festival and forget about it all it was freaking awesome. Unfortunately, the exposure to thousands of sweaty, dirty people (and perhaps many public toilets) was apparently to much for my immune system. Within hours of our return I started getting an itchy throat and by the evening I was suffering from a hallucination-inducing fever - hence no posts for the last few days.

But heaps has been happening in the world of tshirts so stay tuned over the next few days as I catch up on stuff I should have already written.

Splendid

2007-08-03T00:33:00.000+10:00

No posts for a few days because I'm off to Splendour In The Grass. Or on a small holiday at worst... long story. Back Monday or Tuesday

More Freaking Threadless

2007-08-01T11:08:00.000+10:00

When I started this blog I decided that I, unlike many other blogs, would not write about Threadless every week. But when they keep releasing shirts as good as Wanted by Jean-sébastien Deheeger, Pretty World Inferno by Attila Szamosi, and See You At The Show by Eli Horn, it makes it very hard for me to restrain myself.

Hey at least I'm not writing about every single shirt...

LaFraise

2007-07-30T23:50:00.000+10:00

Is it possible to write about an online design contest without making comparisons to Threadless? Well, yes. Of course it is. But I'm not about to start doing anything crazy now.

Although LaFraise is somewhat similar to Threadless, the shirts available on the European design contest site have a certain aesthtic that differs from their American counterparts. Like Threadless, LaFraise can be a bit hit and miss, but when they hit the mark the results are fantastic shirts with incredible illustrations. The above is just a small selection of some of my favourites.

Unfortunately LaFraise doesn't ship outside of Europe, which I think is crazy. But if you are in Europe and you're in the hunt for a new t-shirt, LaFraise is definitely worth checking out.

The Skull Dezain

2007-07-29T11:43:00.000+10:00

We all know that ninjas are masters of stealth and lethal assasins. Well what about a vector ninja? Huh?

The Skull Dezain is a self described Mouse Geisha / Vector Ninja (huh?) and well he sure has got the stealth thing mastered because I don't know a thing about him except that he's from Japan and has done some incredible work. His style sneaks up on you and then smacks you in the face assasin style with bold colours and strong imagery.

Links to places to find some of these tees can be found on The Skull Dezain website. Watch your back though...

ISO50 - 25%

2007-07-28T22:23:00.000+10:00

Scott Hansen makes beutiful pictures and beautiful music. He has made the most of these fabulous talents by putting some of the said pictures on tshirts and posters which can be picked up from his shop. Even better it's all on sale with 25% of everything right now.

To see more check out Scott's amazing portfolio site ISO50 - if you haven't already. Bam!

*THE SALE IS NOW OVER

Darkroom

2007-07-27T20:50:00.000+10:00

Remember the artwork on the Alien Workshop skateboards when they were cool? Well if you do you'd be familiar with the design skills of Don Pendleton (the designer, not the pulp fiction/mystery author). Don moved over to Element last year but has just released his own label of clothing called Darkroom. Darkroom enables Pendleton to do what he does best - create stunning images and build a brand - however, this time he has a little more creative freedom I guess. The web site is coming soon (ah come on - let us at it!) but for now you can grab these goodies at the excellent Umbrella store.

GAMA-GO Goodies

2007-07-26T21:12:00.000+10:00

It's cold down here in the southern hemisphere at the moment. And if you're on the other side of the world enjoying (or enduring) the warmth, you'll get cold soon enough. So why not be prepared for any cold shiver that may inevitably head your way with some stylish limited edition tracksuits and hoodies from GAMA-GO. They feature beautiful printing and embroidery - click the pics above for close ups.

These winter warmers are strictly limited and available for pre-sale now - so if you want one don't dawdle.

And if you're enjoying the art on the GAMA-GO site have a look at Tim Biskup's site here. Good stuff.

Good Threads

2007-07-25T11:30:00.000+10:00

Threadless has the ability to amaze and to disappoint. Fortunately this week we get the prior.

There's a whole bunch of great winners this week including submissions by (top to bottom) Emery Greer of Individualtee (again), Aaron Hogg of Moa Design (again), Michael Blaine Myers Jr (again) and Bradley Randall (1st win - Yay!).

Amtrea

2007-07-23T20:52:00.000+10:00

I love simple things. Too often people mistake grandiosity with quality - and in the process over look the good that can be found in the slightly understated.

Amtrea illustrates how a tshirt site can be small and simple and still work really well. While there may only be 5 shirts, the site has a very pleasant feel to it - with nice design, easy navigation and, of course, cool shirts. A great example of how a small business doesn't need all the bells and whistles to make their mark.

2x4

2007-07-22T23:23:00.000+10:00

2x4 is a collection of great tshirts compiled by Damien Aistrope who's known for his involvement with Australian INFront. Oh and the work he's produced for some big names including Monster Children and Mambo. Talented huh? Well now he's gathered a bunch of other creatively gifted people together and asked four artists to create two shirt designs each. Only 200 of each shirt will be printed.

For the first series 2x4 is featuring the work of Adam Cruickshank, Emil Kozak, Noah Butkus and Jeff Canham, which is a pretty damn tidy lineup.

And yes, I'll spare you the lame math puns.

It's the new style

2007-07-20T23:26:00.000+10:00

People Like Us have released a new range of iPod covers called Styles. They are covered in some seriously sweet art by some great designers and illustrators and are definitely worth a look if you want your iPod to look cool as hell and not get scratches and crap all over it. Sounds good to me.

Also released is a stunningly colourful new shirt (pictured) by JP33.

Bad Teeth

2007-07-18T13:49:00.000+10:00

I'm sure a lot of Brisbane locals will be familiar with Fat Boys in the Valley and their $4 all day breakfasts. Sure you may have to line up for half an hour to order and wait even longer to get served, but sausage, bacon eggs, tomato and toast would be cheap at twice the price.

Anyway, it was during one of these half hour waits that I first came across the work of local Brisbane artist Glenn Manders. Glenn, also known as Bad Teeth, is an artist, designer and the publisher of the Bad Teeth zine. He has also decided to sharpen up some totally boring tshirts by covering them with his totally awesome artwork. Visit the Bad Teeth Store Myspace for more info.

7.00 Reprint

2007-07-18T11:10:00.000+10:00

Good news at Threadless this week - the delightful 7.00 design by serial winner Budi Satria Kwan, aka: Letter, has been reprinted. What's also great is that you can go to Blik and get this design as wall decals. Awesome

Beautiful Sale Decays Prices

2007-07-17T04:10:00.000+10:00

If you're still reading despite my increasingly corny post titles (it's actually funny when you're sleep deprived, I promise) you may be interested to know that Beautiful/Decay are having a clearance sale. 42 items from their massive range have had their prices chopped and are just begging for you to buy them. It's not just t-shirts that Beautiful/Decay have offered up for your retail pleasures either - there's also hoodies, jackets, very fetching scarves and delightfully moody bottle openers with 'tude to boot (pictured).

Zoo York

2007-07-16T23:03:00.000+10:00

Remember when everyone used to skateboard? Or at least almost everyone. When I was about 17 you couldn't walk down the street without someone whizzing past you on a board, and most of us never walked anywhere anyway. But for some reason people stopped. For me it was a combination of not having anyone to skate with when I moved and just getting old and sore. I still have a push every now and then - but I suck. Bad.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that skateboard companies had to undergo a bit of a metamorphisis to stay afloat when the sales of skateboarding paraphernalia started to decline. Many made the subtle progression from skate-lords to fully fledged streetwear brands, and one of the most successful at this transformation was Zoo York. Their stuff is cool and always has been. And they are still a skate brand at core, but have a range as big as any brand that has their roots in streetwear.

I haven't bought any of their merch for a while so I was pleasantly surprised when I visited their site and realised they were still pushing out incredible stuff. I did buy a Zoo York shirt back in early 2003 and it's still in good condition - and I wear it a lot. Hopefully the quality is still that good. If only all t-shirts had that kind of longevitity - I'd have thousands. But I would need a bigger room and a new wardrobe...

Monster Children

2007-07-14T14:46:00.000+10:00

Who'd want to work for a golf magazine? Boring! A mad-keen golfer is the obvious answer right?

If I started a magazine I'd want to write about stuff like skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, hot chicks, cool clothes and sneakers, designer toys, art, photography, music and travel. Unfortunately the clever buggers at Monster Children have already done that, with a good dose of humour and swearing added to the mix. The result is one of the coolest magazines in Australia right now. Oh, they also have a gallery and a shop - from which you can purchase skateboards, tshirts, posters and more - all by leading artists including Natas Kaupas, Campbell Milligan, Andrei Molodkin and one of my all time favourites, Evan Hecox.

Damn over-acheivers.

designgive SALE!

2007-07-13T14:21:00.000+10:00

Designgive are having a crazy sale - everything is $10 including hoodies and they are still giving $1 from each sale to a charity that you get to choose. To top it off they have released the brand new limited edition designgive shirt - Global Saturation. It's available in guys short sleeve only and will only be printed once! Oh the delightful rarity. But it's only on for 3 days so be fast.

Good News and Bad News

2007-07-13T11:51:00.000+10:00

Death By Tshirt has joined the Myspace revolution!! It's a great place to say hi, meet our friends and post your tshirt designs or art and illustrations.

Oh the bad news is for me - i ruined some knee ligaments last night and have to go get an MRI later this afternoon. The good news is that I will be at home in front of the computer quite a bit, so stay tuned for heaps more hot new tshirts.

This week at Threadless

2007-07-11T11:49:00.000+10:00

Oh yeah, some sweet stuff at Threadless this week (thank goodness...) dominated by my Asia-Pacific neighbours Kristy Anne Ligones, with the beautifully illustrated Dead Sucker (top) and Andrew Harbott with his entry In The Fast Lane. Sweet!

Designerd

2007-07-09T23:50:00.000+10:00

I have a friend that thinks that because I work on computers all day that I'm the world's biggest nerd. Sure I may have some nerdy aspects, but I'm not a programmer, web developer or network administrator so I think I'm far from nerdy. Still she insists on introducing me to other "nerds" as "this is James, he works on computers too!"

Then when questioned about my nerdiness I have to explain that I'm a graphic designer... which is normally when the other guy says something like "I'm a systems analyst - you're not a nerd." So I end up with no nerd-cred either.

Anyway, I have come to accept and embrace my nerdier elements including my fondness for kerning, my obsession with pantone swatch books, my unhealthy relationship with Photoshop and my never-ending need to make sure vector paths have as few points as possible... (ok, so maybe I'm uber-nerdy...)

Luckily for me the mega-design-nerds at Chopping Block have a sweet little shop cutely titled the Chop Shop which caters for those of us who dedicate way too much thought to things like leading and resolution. The site has a good range of shirts for guys and girls and even has a downloadable Chop Shop song by They Might Be Giants. Could it get any nerdier? If yes let me know!

Concrete Hermit

2007-07-08T23:37:00.000+10:00

As if it wasn't easy enough to spend your money already, what with concert tickets, wii's, iPods, sneakers etc etc. Then along comes a store like Concrete Hermit that not only has amazing tshirts, but lures you into spending more of your pocket money on delightful goodies such as designer prints, books and badges. Adorned with images from leading designers including Jon Burgerman, Kate Moross and Richard May, the Concrete Hermit stuff may be hard to resist. It would also be perfect for presents for people like... well... me.

People Like Them

2007-07-06T00:54:00.000+10:00

Ok, so if you're one of those people who can spend a bit extra on a shirt just because there's something about it that you really love you've got to visit People Like Us, because they have a knack for creating those shirts. But don't worry, you get plenty of bang for your buck, including some of the hottest designs on awesome quality shirts, and - if you go for the packaging option - you also get a printed library bag, postcards, a toy, stickers and lollies. Yeah! The collective has been getting quite a bit of attention in the press recently, and all for good reason, as their shirts bear stunning designs from a cavalcade of leading artists including Jeremy Somers, Jan Avendano and Inksurge.

urbnkila

2007-07-05T01:21:00.000+10:00

I don't know much about urbnkila, but i do know that they have some pretty tight shirt designs. Their shop has a fairly large array of graffiti influenced apparel, with a similar styling to 123Klan. On a side note, Urbnkila is the product of Obeko, which is also a nice place to head for some stunning eye candy (of the graphic sort!)

Waste Yourself

2007-07-03T21:11:00.000+10:00

You want limited edition? How about 1 of 10? Waste (aka. Danial Lowe and Norman Hayes) are producing some cutting edge design work and have just released some new shirts and hoodies that are mega-stylish and mega-limited. You can grab them at the Waste Shop - if you're lucky!

CRAP

2007-07-01T15:28:00.000+10:00

Crap. That's what the new line of tshirts by Dutch artist Parra is called, which, somewhat ironically, are sure to sell really quickly. Parra's clothing label Rockwell has been around for a while now, and the website doubles up as Parra's online art-space. Hours and hours of visual treats!

MojiZu

2007-06-29T00:31:00.000+10:00

Does it ever feel like characters have taken over the world? It's as if everyone from accountants to adhesive companies seems to have a cute little character to help promote their business and increase their likeability. Yay! I really like good character design, and so does everyone at Mojizu - a contempary character design community. Mojizu enables users to submit their own "moji," download heaps of stuff, participate in forums or even moji battles and enter the mojizu tshirt competition... to name but a few. Speaking of tshirts, I just remembered this is a tshirt blog... and these shirts are fine. Damn fine. Created from member's art from the site, these numbers (J Luv and Programmed to Destroy are pictured) are supercute and available from the moji shop. Moji-rific!