Naughty Christmas Shirts

Posted on December 17th, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: T-Shirt Central

Regift X-mas T-Shirt
Santa's Lap T-Shirt

I love the mischief and blunt honesty present in these two shirts.  Aren’t we all just horny cheapskates deep down inside?

(Psst!  Want instant email updates of my latest t-shirt findings?  All you have to do is subscribe.)

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Ironic Trucker Hat

Posted on December 10th, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: T-Shirt Central

Irony Trucker Hat

Not a t-shirt, I know, but a good find while browsing Cafepress’ marketplace.

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MySoti First Impressions

Posted on November 28th, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: Custom T-Shirts

A couple of days ago I wrote about Spreadshirt, one of the leading t-shirt on-demand companies in the world. I didn’t stop there, and I’d like try out and review many more custom t-shirt and write about them here. Next up is MySoti, a previously unknown, and mysterious printer with and Indian sounding name. One of my readers, Kevin, alerted me to their presense, and I decided to give them a shot.

It turns out that MySoti is in fact a t-shirt printer and allows you to put your designs on sale in a sort of a shop, much like Spreadshirt and Cafepress. Uploading your designs and finalizing your products is pretty easy, especially considering a much smaller range of products, which includes American Apparel products for Men, Women, children and babies! I also like the the large 12.5″ by 17.5″ printable area, but what really interested me about MySoti is the way that it’s organized—more like a community than a t-shirt marketplace. You can vote for designs you like, check out creators’ profiles, and view other shirts offered by a given designer. In my mind, voting is what’s missing from major t-shirt marketplaces. Think YouTube meets Cafepress—now that would really separate the wheat from the chaff!

While MySoti proved to be a fun experience with it’s vibrant collection of available designs, it remains to be seen if their quality is up to snuff and whether their reach is big enough to make them relevant.

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Spreadshirt First Impressions

Posted on November 26th, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: Custom T-Shirts

A few days ago I signed up with Spreadshirt, in order to play around and see how everything works.  The only on-demand printer that I had worked with previously is Cafepress, and in a way my first impressions were made up of ways in which the two are different.  Here’s what I found.

Vector Designs and Printing Methods

In addition to the traditional WYSWIG method of digital printing Spreadshirt employs something called plot printing.  I’m not any kind of an expert on this, but the way I understand it is that a blade cuts your design out of a colored material, which is then adhered to your shirt.  This allows for a wider range of materials, such as glittery foil and velvety “flock” prints, and Spreadshirt claims the results are a lot more durable.  There are some limitations in terms of the shapes your design can have, and only one swatch is possible.  This also requires the use of vector graphics (think Illustrator not Photoshop).

A Wide Selection of Printable Products

Spreadshirt has a dizzying selectino of printable apparel for men, women, and children.  There is anything from cheap lightweight t-shirts to American Apparel and even track jackets.  Choice is always good, but makes for some difficult choices when designing your products.  The upside is that printing areas are fairly large, average around 12″ wide and up to the whole shirt length.

Sell Your Design at Spreadshirt

Another way that Spreadshirt is diffirent from, say Cafepress, is that in addition to putting your shop’s products into the “marketplace” you can also submit your designs, which in turn can be used by other shopkeepers, in exchange for royaltees.  This works a bit like clip-art.  Design an element that someone might like to use (think shamrock, stylized heart, baseball bat), and you can earn a couple of bucks anytime it’s printed on a shirt.

Aside from all these positives Spreadshirt also has a slick, modern interface, and tons of customization options.  Just take a look at a shop like Amorphia Apparel to see how seamlessly Spreadshirt can integrate with your website.  This high level of customization at a price of a higher learning curve, but the e-mail support so far has been great.

Want to see what’s available in the Spreadshirt Marketplace?  Here are some coupon codes:

BUYMORE8 - 20% off when you buy two products.
BUYMORE9 - 25% off when you buy three products.

Experies Nov 28th.

CYBER48 - 25& an order for $30 or more.

Valid Dec 1st - 5th.

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My Turn! (T-shirts designed by yours truly.)

Posted on November 7th, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: Custom T-Shirts

Save a Tree T-Shirt
Kiss Me I'm Illegal T-Shirt
Kiss Me I'm Queer T-Shirt
Chode Island T-Shirt

There is no other way to say it. I’ve put a lot of work into these t-shirt designs, and while they are not perfect, I greatly enjoyed making them and I want to share them with the world.

Which of my t-shirts designs do you like best?







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Sweet Slogan Tees at TypeTees

Posted on November 6th, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: Shop Reviews

Threadless hasn’t always had slogan tees, as their main focus has been, and still is on illustration. In fact, every month a new theme is declared for their design contest, challenging artists to create a suitable illustration in the form of a t-shirt design. Currently the theme is horror.

When Threadless launched TypeTees the premise was a little different.  Instead of designs, users submit slogans, which are voted for by other users.  Winning slogans are then designed by professional artists.  This great news on both fronts if you are a fan of slogan tees. You can earn $500 by submitting a winning slogan, or you can peruse their collection of existing slogan tees.  Here are my favorites:

It’s almost as if they were all made up by the same person, isn’t it?

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Apolitical T-shirt Round-up

Posted on November 5th, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: Political

So this thing is over. A lot of people are happy.  Nobody is really surprised.  Even though I didn’t get to do all the political round-ups that I wanted, I thought I could do one last politically themed post.  Can’t we all just go back to voting for Pedro?
Bigfoot/Nessie T-Shirt
Bigfoot/Nessie - change you can believe in. Yes!
Political Puppets T-Shirt
In 2000, Ralph Nader suggested that there was little difference between Bush and Gore. Do you think there was a major difference between Obama and McCain in ‘08?
Everyone Poops T-Shirt
Another pessimistic (or realistic) point of view on two party politics, from Threadless.
I bet you'll vote this time, hippy! T-Shirt
Yep. Whoever didn’t vote last time defnitely came out in ‘08.
Vote or Don't T-Shirt
Voting is pretty stupid, unless you’ve actually taken the time to get to know the candidates and the issues. So do vote, but make sure you do your homework first.
Stewart/Colbert '08 T-Shirt
I think this shirt should pretty much make it into RetroCampaigns. Stewart/Colbert in 2012? Please?
I Farted T-Shirt
Finally, a lampoon of the “I Voted” sticker from LuckyThreadz LoiterInk.

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I Beat Up Ashley Todd (A dishonest t-shirt)

Posted on October 30th, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: Current and Topical, Offensive, Political

Ashley Todd T-Shirt

A part of me believes that anyone who triviliazes the sacred institution of democracy by making a political t-shirt that satirizes, idolizes or takes advantage of a presidential candidacy is going straight to hell. So if I’m going to make one now, it might as well be the douchiest most offensive thing possible, right?

In case you aren’t aware, Ashley Todd filed a false police report claiming to have been a victim of a racially and politically motivated attack.

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Obama T-Shirt Roundup

Posted on October 20th, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: Current and Topical, Political

With almost two weeks to go before the election, it’s about time for me to do a full roundup of campaign t-shirts for each candidate.  I will start with Obama, given the overwhelming amount of e-mail and comments I have received. Every day people are buying Obama shirts, desiging them, getting suspended from school because of them, and even getting shot with BB guns for wearing them. Before I begin, I’ll make a brief disclaimer that this round-up isn’t comprehensive, and there are thousands of shirts that didn’t make this list, in fact some really good ones.  I also want to thank everyone who’s emailed me with their submissions.

The Best 

    Obama Superman T-Shirt
  • This quintessential Obama Superman t-shirt belies the extent to which many of his supporters are inspired by Obama’s candidacy. [Via Militant Geek]
  • Yes We Can Obama T-Shirt
  • An inspired and inspirational design, Audacity from Enstru-Mental relates another one of Obama’s campaign slogans.
  • Yes We Can Obama T-Shirt
  • There is no doubt this election has been closely watched from all corners of the globe, and Yes We Can attempts to translate Obama’s message into at least thirteen languages. Knowing how diverse this blog’s readership is, I think that many of you will find these shirts interesting.
  • Yes We Can Obama T-Shirt
  • Straight from Obama’s web-store, “O’Bama” is perhaps one of his catchiest slogans, and can be easily recycled every St. Patrick’s Day.  Talk about a “green” t-shirt!
  • Obama Hope T-Shirt
  • I would be hard pressed not to include the iconic Hope by Shepard Fairey, even though I am not sure if you can still buy an official version.  You can try finding one on Ebay, or here.
  • Bros Before Hoes T-Shirt
  • Like it or not, Bros Before Hoes captures one of the more significant aspects of the 2008 election.
  • Yes We Can Obama T-Shirt
  • Obama is my Homeboy” was one of the earliest Obama t-shirts.  They also had one for Hillary and just about anyone else you could think of.

Honorable Mentions

The Head Scratchers

Some of the more entertaining t-shirts are ofte\n those you would never be caught dead wearing. With that in mind, here are some tees that either went too far, or didn’t go far enough.

  • Regulate the Banks - Whenever anyone makes a concerted effort to create something, I believe it to be a positive, even if the end result falls short of success.  This is why I never like to rag on someone else’s t-shirt making attempts (anything that involves Mike Hunt notwithstanding).  Ultimately, this shirt is underdesigned, and it conveys a muddied message by virtue of combining two disparate issues.
  • Obama Ride - This is definitely a headscratcher in the purest sense of the term.  It is a strange caricature of Mr. McCain carrying a hot-dog wielding Mr. Obama on his shoulders, presumably to the White House. The only possible explanation is that this shirt is made by an artist commune, which I think is pretty much the case.
  • SuperBadTees - Dare I say… underdesigned? (NSFW)
  • Pop Goes Obama - I happen to think that copying the whole Marilyn Monroe “pop art” motif just doesn’t make any sense nowadays.  Not only because it’s formulaic, but because Warhol’s ideas lose their value without their context. Besides, the colors used are just hideous.

Anti-Obama

  • Obama Antichrist -  Coming from T-Shirt Hell, this shirt is pretty much an endorsement, although for some religious fundamentalists it may represent a very real fear.  For what it’s worth, “Half Honkey, All Donkey” is now gone from T-Shirt Hell.
  • Nobama (keep the change) - “Nobama” has been one of the most common campaign slogans on the McCain trail. This one does it with a clever twist.
  • The Man, The Myth, The Legend.  I’ve written about ThoseShirts in the past, and while I don’t agree with some of their heavy-handed slogans, I do suspect that plenty of conservatives find their shirts spot on.
  • I wrote about the Obama/Curious George tee in an earlier post.
  • Jews Against Obama.  Ok, so the wheels are really starting to come off the wagon.  If you are interesting in knowing more about this $200 shirt go here and here, but don’t read into things too much.

That’s it for Obama. Stay tuned for Palin and McCain t-shirts soon, which should be a lot easier since there won’t be nearly as many shirts to sift through.  If you’d like to receive e-mail updates every time I make a new post you can subscribe by email. As always, feel free to add to this list in the comments.

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19 comments.

Lick Bush in ‘88

Posted on October 13th, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: A Good Pun Is It's Own Reward, Not for Sale, Political

Lick Bush in '88 T-Shirt

One of the favorite images on my computer is this outdated campaign t-shirt, referencing the 1988 presidential election. I grabbed it from an eBay auction years ago, and now I wish I had grabbed the shirt. It’s something I like to call a political anachronism, taking a shirt with long lost political meaning, and re-purposing it for it’s inherent irony and quaint nostalgia.

One t-shirt site that seems to share my affinity for the past is Retro Campaigns.  You won’t find any Obama or Palin there just yet, but can you really go wrong with someone like J.F.K.?  Heck, they might even let you wear it to the polls.

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Foreign Tees, Engrish Edition

Posted on October 2nd, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: Foreign Editions

Play Back That T-Shirt
Swimming To You

First off, I’d like to apologize to anyone who might find the title offensive. What really interests me about this topic is how t-shirts designs can be different, or stay the same as you look at different countries. For every This Is How I Roll, there is Play Back That and Swimming To You. Clearly, there’s a lot of attention and creativity applied to these shirts, as Wikipedia explains:

For the same reasons that a Chinese character or a Japanese Kanji tattoo seems “exotic” to many in the West, Asians may appreciate English words or gibberish for its aesthetic appeal alone; straight lines, frequent symmetry, and the unembellished curves of Latinate letters may all appeal to Asian senses of aesthetics and balance.

With this in mind, I’m wondering where some of you are from. I’ve checked last month’s logs, and I’m seeing a bunch of visitors from Sweden, Australia, and Ukraine (which is where I was born). Of course the majority of my visitors I believe are from the Unisted States, which is where this blog is based.

Poll: Which continent are you from? Feel free to leave your actual location in the comments.








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Hoaxicillin® is your Cure for the Average T-Shirt

Posted on October 1st, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: T-Shirt Central

Fukitol Drug T-Shirt
Mikoc Drug T-Shirt

Hoaxicillin is a 100% all natural product that effectively addresses the symptoms of of anxiety, stress, depression, panic attacks and restless Sleep caused by boring, unoriginal, and underdesigned t-shirts. Unlike prescription drugs, Hoaxicillin is formulated to naturally and safely treat you without the unwanted side effects you may find with prescription habit forming medications.

Poll: If you were a doctor, which would you recommend?




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3 comments.

It’s my Birthday!

Posted on September 25th, 2008 by Alex.
Categories: A Good Pun Is It's Own Reward, Funny

Have a Nice Bidet T-shirt

And the greatest present I could possibly give myself is a new and revamped T-Shirt Blog! Not everything is complete, but during the last couple of weeks I’ve put in a lot of time into tweaking the layout.  I started by upgrading the blog’s software, and I made the content area wider while also increasing the font size of most of the elements.  I believe this will make the blog easier to read, and will allow me to post bigger, higher-res images of t-shirts, which is, after all, what the blog is really about.  I also made a few minor tweaks to make sure everything is neat and aligned, removed a few elements which I deemed less than useful, and added a few things, like the email subscription widget on the upper portion of the sidebar.

More things to come:

  • Completely new background images.  If you have any high res photo images or vector art that I can use, please let me know!  I’d like to use some high res t-shirt close-ups, but bandwidth may be an issue.
  • Ads.
  • More t-shirts!
About the tshirt in the image: Have a Nice Bidet is made by a California based surf-shop called TheRyde, who were nice enough to send me a couple of free samples over a year ago. Same Old is pretty much the nicest, softest, and tightest-fitting t-shirt I own.

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