
The Hills are Alive!.. by Keith Kuniyuki (herky) has a pretty amazing vibe to it. The retro rustic, forest-y fun vibe is fairly unique in terms of Threadless’s catalog, and makes it the perfect choice as winner of the recent Throwback contest. These animals are having a rollicking good time in the mountains, and you get the feeling there’s a big vat of moonshine sitting just out of view. The range of animals shown is very nice, with classics like the bear and raccoon but also lesser-seen creatures like the possum. For me, though, what really puts it into the stratosphere is that twiggy boombox- imaginative and a great way to set the scene. Add to that the fact that this is all one color (super-impressive!) and it’s a shirt that’s not to be missed.


Rhinoceros Valley by Joe Carr (ISABOA) presents an interesting dilemma. It’s an amazing illustration, thick with detail yet still retaining the spirit of the animal. I was all set to make it one of my favorites this week. But then I looked at the product images. And damned if the thing isn’t printed too large- even knowing what the design is of, it is kind of tough to parse what is going on with the shirt because you can’t see the entire outline of the face. At 80% of this size I think it would have been a lot more successful. But it would be a breathtaking poster print, so I hope Threadless has that in the works.
What Did I Ever Do to You? by David Schwen (dschwen) pokes fun at when NASA bombed the moon. I’m not sure what took this so long to get printed, but luckily the art still holds up pretty well even if you don’t have that in mind because every time we plant a flag that could injure the moon, and god knows we’ll do something or other creepy to it again anyways. So, then, on to the style! I like the use of clean vectors over photography, it does a good job of applying some character to the moon and making it feel more childlike.

Power to the Mushroom by Budi Satria Kwan (radiomode) is a stylish video game parody- the kind with appeal that goes beyond gamers. To a non-gamer, it’s easy to read the scene as some mushrooms waging war for their own survival. The Mario aspect is added value, because gamers know that these mushrooms are used as a tool in battle. This is almost like body armor revolting and starting to plot against soldiers, a total game-changer. And the icing on the cake is how much sense it all makes, because of course mushrooms would be responsible for mushroom clouds… Overall, a very solid package.


The Robot’s Renaissance by Donald Lim and Evan Ferstenfeld (Pakpandir) is a good idea, but a little tough to read visually. In particular, it took me a long time to see the drawing in the robot’s hand. I think this is a symptom of having so many saturated colors, all of which are pulling my focus in different directions- I think a lighter touch (or even just a lighter shirt color) would have really clarified the art. At any rate, it’s a very impressive piece. I love the concept of a robot rebuilding the world, it carries this feeling of innocence that is very appealing. It also sparks the imagination, asking the viewer to consider how they’d rebuild.
London! by David Bushell (davertheraver) overlays line drawings of city scenes, creating some interesting intersections in all the geometry. Though I find the general look of the shirt to be fairly dull (the illustration is very straight-forward, not revealing much personality), it does do a good job of conveying the chaos of the city and the coolness of urban architecture. It also sits nicely on the tee, really filling the whole shirt.


Heartpipe by Attila Szamosi is this week’s Select, a nice choice for right before Valentine’s Day. As a non-skater, the halfpipe thing doesn’t really appeal to me… but luckily there’s more value here than that subject matter. I absolutely love the patterning of the halfpipe, and the stars within the heart start to tell a neat story of riding so high you head out into orbit. At any rate, it’s kind of a neat connection to make between the rush of nailing a trick (ok, I probably phrased that badly, but I’m leaving it). Not for me, but I’d think that skaters would get a charge out of it.
Everything is Exciting With a Countdown by Jon M. Wilson is the new TypeTee this week. Like a lot of slogans, I can see the appeal of the phrase but can’t help but question why anyone would want to wear them. Although this one at least has one clear application- New Years Eve. Anyway. The design is clever, realizing that there are a lot of other attention-getting tactics beyond countdowns and using those to pepper the composition. The hand-drawn style gives it some of the same appeal as vintage advertising.
Threadless prints new shirts every week, chosen from the designs submitted by and voted on by site members. Winners get $2000 cash and $500 in Threadless credit, with the possibility to earn more through Bestee awards, poster prints, and reprints.
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