Compete-tee-tion

Uniqlo‘s massive UTGP 2023 has opened for entries, and this time around they’ve multiplied the possibilities by accepting entries from four massive brands: Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel. So no matter what kind of media artists prefer, they’ve bound to find something they’d enjoy designing for in this mix of franchises. And just a reminder- while other contests sometimes limit entrants to specific countries, the UTGP competition is always open to everyone world wide!

Enter before September 10th, 2022 for your chance to win. A Grand Prix winner will earn $20,000. Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel winners will each receive $3,000. A special prize of $1,000 will be awarded to multiple winners. As an extra prize, top winners will be invited to the USA for a special tour.

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Uniqlo has announced the winning entries in their Peanuts-themed UTGP 2022 competition, and the results are pretty great! It’s always fun to see creative takes on such familiar characters. Here’s a look at my two favorite winning designs…

The Grand Prize design by Kazuhiko Okushita uses thin, striped lines to bend around the contours of Snoopy’s familiar form. It’s effective because of the roundedness of his body, and because it is rarely seen in a three dimensional way, the result feels very fresh. The minimal look is also very wearable.

The Second Place design by Benio Tanaka takes its cues from the classic round heads of Peanuts characters, stacking them like scoops of ice cream in a simple cone. I love this approach because it’s a good excuse to include more characters than just the most famous two (Snoopy and Charlie Brown), and because of the variety of expression the artist is able to use. Sally’s huge-mouthed scream is an especially fun moment.

Check out all the winners in the UTGP 2022 announcement. They’ll be for sale at Uniqlo in early July!

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Uniqlo’s UTGP 2020 felt different than previous years because instead of partnering with a commercial brand (like Marvel or Nintendo in past years), they connected with MoMa. The result is a decidedly more artistic batch of winners, and for me the best of the bunch was the second place choice.

Feline Flowers by Amandine Leforestier is a very clever bit of patterning. The artist’s statement shows how these shapes arose by combining elements of floral shapes and leopard spots, but I think the slightly streetwear color palette and scale of the print also helps it to feel influenced by camouflage. I love the way the artwork channels both nature and abstract art, a piece that stands out in a big way from other contest selections.

Check out all the winners at Uniqlo. The collection will be available mid-morning ET on February 26th, 2021.

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Uniqlo’s UTGP2019 Pokeemon winners have been announced, although not without some controversy. Fans have noticed that the creator of the Grand Prize winning design appears to have violated the rules of the competition by selling the artwork on another marketplace prior to winning the UTGP’s $10,000 prize. As a result of this violation, the design has been disqualified.

But, rather than focus on a rules violation, it’s more fun to focus on the art itself. In this year’s contest none of the top three captured my imagination, and my favorite piece is one of the special selections…

This design by MiekoNeko of Hawaii struck me as a really fun way to celebrate Pokemon- many of the game’s most iconic characters are shown, all drawn in a minimal style of the artist’s creation that gives the piece more sophistication and individuality than a more direct copy of their likenesses might have. It also takes advantage of the ability to print on both sides of the shirt, giving the back corner another smattering of characters. Really well done, and the drawings are so cute you’ll want to reach right out and hug them.

Check out all the winners at Uniqlo. These shirts will be available online and in stores on June 24th, 2019 at 10AM ET.

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Uniqlo’s UTGP 2019 t-shirt design contest has been announced, and the theme is one that should make a lot of artists very excited… Pokemon! A couple of key factors make this competition different from most tee design contests. One is the emphasis on global participation (last year’s top 3 winners were from Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines), but even more interesting is the focus on designs that use the entire canvas of the shirt.

Uniqlo’s website doesn’t currently show more information on the contest than a spare landing screen, so here’s the prize roundup as reported by Nintendo Enthusiast:

• Grand Prize: USD10,000, Special Trophy, Invitation to the Award Ceremony in Tokyo, Invitation to the 2019 Pokémon World Championships
• Second Prize: USD2,000, Invitation to the Award Ceremony in Tokyo, Invitation to the 2019 Pokémon World Championships
• Third Prize: USD1,000, Invitation to the Award Ceremony in Tokyo, Invitation to the 2019 Pokémon World Championships
• Runner-Ups (multiple): USD500

This contest opens to entries on October 23rd, 2018 and closes on December 2nd, 2018.

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Uniqlo‘s UTGP 2018 Marvel winners have been announced, and my favorite piece is the Spiderman design by NaaaBeee. What’s great about this piece is the subtlety, using a simple pale blue shape along the lower edge of the shirt to serve as the city skyline, while Spidey dangles precariously from the shoulder, looking very small and fragile. It makes you wonder what he’s hanging from (my guess is a helicopter), but his positioning like an emblem on the corner of the chest feels very iconic and powerful. Even better, the other side of the shirt is utilized in a unique way, using the same scene but shifting the colors so that Venom hangs there instead of the hero. That inclusion should give this piece even greater resonance with fans.

Check out all the UTGP 2018 Marvel winners at Uniqlo. They should be available online on April 26th, 2018 at 9pm ET, and in stores on April 27th.

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The Uniqlo Grand Prix 2017 winners have been announced, with Takashi Kawazoe’s Mario print taking the top prize. I like the boldness and simplicity of the design, but I have to admit that I’m not 100% sold on it. One quibble I have is with the direction of the art- it feels odd to see Mario facing backward and downward like this, and I think it emphasizes him as a relic of the past in a way that I don’t agree with. I’d have preferred to see him flipped, facing ahead and into the future the way we’re used to seeing him when we play a side-scrolling NES game. The large scale of the print is great, though, and I like anything that makes a pixel character feel bigger than life.

My favorite piece from this collection is the Mario design by Ben Benhorin, which is wonderfully subtle. Mario sits in full color like an emblem on the pocket, while the rest of the fabric is covered in jagged, pixel-inspired lines. It creates a lovely camouflage-like pattern of strange blocky shapes and a tangle of lines, one that metaphorically mimics the chaos and sense of adventure of Mushroom Kingdom. Fun stuff, and extremely wearable.

You can check out all the Uniqlo Grand Prix winners on their announcement page (and there’s a lot more Nintendo than just Mario!). The collection will be available online on May 18th and in stores on May 19th.

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