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Unlucky Skater by Ppmid imagines a sudden change of fortunes for the famous Lucky Cat symbol. In this scene, his golden tablet has been replaced by a bright yellow skateboard, and his waving arm is now confined to a cast. His skateboarding habit is also reflected in the pads on his knees and elbows, and in the helmet he wears. The detail is a big part of what makes this piece special- I love that the cast has been signed by well-wishers, and that like a real skater this cat has covered his board and helmet in rad decals. Some of the stickers even have luck-themed messages, like the four leaf clover or Good Luck text. It’s a fun spin on the cat symbol, and also an amusing way of looking at the undertaking of a risky hobby- there’s always a bit of luck involved, good or bad!

Pampling has multiple prizes available. XPress Prize winners earn 1 euro for each product sold in the presale and XPress sale (with a guaranteed minimum of 500 euros). Shot Prize winners earn 1 euro per product sold (with a guaranteed minimum of 200 euros). Classic Prize winners get 300 euros. All designers are also potentially eligible for the 1000 euro Designer of the Month Prize (selected by the Pampling team taking into consideration sales success, priority, and participation).

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Out Run and Time by StudioNMdesign combines two eighties classics, Back to the Future and the arcade racing game Out Run. It’s a mix that makes perfect sense since both debuted around the same time and both involve cars going very fast. This piece uses the framing and object positioning of the Out Run start screen, with all of the game’s original material replaced with references to the Back to the Future series. So now the car about to race is the souped up Delorean, signs celebrate BttF characters, and Doc himself takes a front row position in the crowd to time the car’s speed. It’s a very complete image, and should appeal to any fans of these specific properties or the look and feel of the 80s in general.

Pampling has multiple prizes available. XPress Prize winners earn 1 euro for each product sold in the presale and XPress sale (with a guaranteed minimum of 500 euros). Shot Prize winners earn 1 euro per product sold (with a guaranteed minimum of 200 euros). Classic Prize winners get 300 euros. All designers are also potentially eligible for the 1000 euro Designer of the Month Prize (selected by the Pampling team taking into consideration sales success, priority, and participation).

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Be Water by Temyongsky is the rare shirt that appeals to both fans of the arts and fans of the martial arts. One of the things that makes this design successful is that it doesn’t sacrifice likeness for the concept- instead of obscuring Bruce Lee’s facial features with watery flourishes, this piece very intelligently opts to just use blue coloring and smooth shapes. It’s a choice that works, and does look convincingly water-like when paired with the frond-like white shapes of the wave crests. The wave shapes do a great job of defining the negative space of the design, and giving the impression of his hair and ear without explicitly showing them. It feels dramatic and filled with motion despite being a still portrait, and the reference to Lee’s “Be water” quote comes across very clearly. For fans, the motion of the waves will make the viewer think of the way Bruce himself moved so fluidly.

Pampling has multiple prizes available. XPress Prize winners earn 1 euro for each product sold in the presale and XPress sale (with a guaranteed minimum of 500 euros). Shot Prize winners earn 1 euro per product sold (with a guaranteed minimum of 200 euros). Classic Prize winners get 300 euros. All designers are also potentially eligible for the 1000 euro Designer of the Month Prize (selected by the Pampling team taking into consideration sales success, priority, and participation).

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The Kaiju Spaghetti by Ilustrata takes the giant movie monster out of its usual Japanese locale and places it in Italy. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is an excellent choice, both because it unites the food with its origin place and  because it gives the famous tower a hilarious origin story- clearly it’s tipped over because of this incident, not any shoddy building practices! The artwork itself is really fun as well, using the noodles as tentacles to capture passing tourists. Even the monster’s teeth are just noodle ends, somehow made menacing just through their placement. A light dollop of sauce coats the noodles to add interest, paired with a confetti of basil that helps focus attention on the monster’s face. This is excellent illustrating, and all done in service of a fun take on a very popular food!

Pampling has multiple prizes available. XPress Prize winners earn 1 euro for each product sold in the presale and XPress sale (with a guaranteed minimum of 500 euros). Shot Prize winners earn 1 euro per product sold (with a guaranteed minimum of 200 euros). Classic Prize winners get 300 euros. All designers are also potentially eligible for the 1000 euro Designer of the Month Prize (selected by the Pampling team taking into consideration sales success, priority, and participation).

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Surfing the Universe Gravity by Tobiasfonseca instantly impresses with its lighting- the bright shimmer on those waves pulls you right in, and even better looks convincingly like a plausible mass of distant stars. And after all, why couldn’t a spiral galaxy be a gnarly deep space wave? The skill of the illustration makes you buy into the concept, and the daredevil pose of the astronaut as he cuts his path through the surf magnifies the adventure and excitement of the idea. I like the way the pink and purple on black palette works both for space and for a night ocean scene, uniting the two locations. Another great choice is the dim planets tucked in the background, cementing the outer space feel without interrupting the action of the wave above. So cool!

Pampling has multiple prizes available. XPress Prize winners earn 1 euro for each product sold in the presale and XPress sale (with a guaranteed minimum of 500 euros). Shot Prize winners earn 1 euro per product sold (with a guaranteed minimum of 200 euros). Classic Prize winners get 300 euros. All designers are also potentially eligible for the 1000 euro Designer of the Month Prize (selected by the Pampling team taking into consideration sales success, priority, and participation).

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T-Rex in Japan Sumi-E by Dr.Monekers takes a traditional art style with a lot of history… and gives it even more history! While art in this style usually focuses on quite dramatic landscapes, here the focus is very much on the massive dinosaur plopped right in the middle. And that’s a good thing! It immediately counters the peace and serenity this look often conveys with a giant blast of prehistoric mayhem. But crucially, the details (including a gazebo and boater) make it clear that this isn’t a painting of the dinosaur era, it’s a painting of a very human populated scene that has been invaded by an unexpected predator. The drama of it hooks me in as a viewer, and the attention to detail and precision of the art keeps my interest as the eye moves across the piece. The one slight quibble I have is with how the T-Rex and cliff interact- his back leg’s shape is mirrored so precisely by the cliff’s edge that this section starts to lose its sense of dimension. But that’s a minor concern compared to all the fun of this concept!

Pampling has multiple prizes available. XPress Prize winners earn 1 euro for each product sold in the presale and XPress sale (with a guaranteed minimum of 500 euros). Shot Prize winners earn 1 euro per product sold (with a guaranteed minimum of 200 euros). Classic Prize winners get 300 euros. All designers are also potentially eligible for the 1000 euro Designer of the Month Prize (selected by the Pampling team taking into consideration sales success, priority, and participation).

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Kitten Nuggets by Tobiasfonseca is a particularly lovable cat pun. While the wordplay is a bit of a stretch, it’s the kind of thing you can get away with for a food joke because it sounds a bit like someone speaking with their mouth full. And it’s absolutely worth the stretch to get these visuals, which transform each nugget into a different shaped and posed cat. Some slumber in the box, others seem content in their box, and a few even seem to have spotted their doomed fate. But the highlight has got to be the cat being dipped, who looks positively blissful under his shiny ketchup wig. The act of squeezing a nugget into its dipping sauce box is a very classic cat moment, very much a behavior they *would* participate in if given the chance, and makes a perfect focal point for the design.

Pampling has multiple prizes available. XPress Prize winners earn 1 euro for each product sold in the presale and XPress sale (with a guaranteed minimum of 500 euros). Shot Prize winners earn 1 euro per product sold (with a guaranteed minimum of 200 euros). Classic Prize winners get 300 euros. All designers are also potentially eligible for the 1000 euro Designer of the Month Prize (selected by the Pampling team taking into consideration sales success, priority, and participation).

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