Compete-tee-tion

The spooky season is almost upon us, so Threadless’s Halloween t-shirt design competition arrives just in time. Here’s what they’re looking for…

Has anyone ever stopped and thought that a ghost is just an empty upside down bag floating around looking for a sweet candy treat? Just us? Maybe it’s because we already have Halloween on our minds. To be honest…we ALWAYS have Halloween on our minds. Which brings us to our next Design Challenge.

If you’re as excited for spooky season as we are, it’s time to creep it real. Think about what you love most about Halloween and use those ideas to inspire a new design. Maybe you enjoy the traditions, like dressing up in costumes, carving smiles into pumpkins, or loitering around cemeteries. Or maybe you’re excited for all the vampires, witches, and werewolves to come out the woodwork.

The theme of Halloween is an enormous umbrella, so your design can be as cute, campy, or horrific as you’d like. Whatever you do, just make sure you capture the spirit of Halloween, even if you have to use a ouija board to do it.

Enter before September 2nd, 2022 for your chance to win. First place wins $1250 cash and a $250 gift code. Second place earns $500 cash and a $250 gift code. Third place gets $250 cash and a $250 gift code. All designers printed will earn up to $20 per item sold (learn more about Threadless artist payments).

The raddest decade is resurrected in Shirt.Woot‘s latest derby theme…

Starting Monday at 8PM CST: Derby #878: Totally Tubular

Man, the 80’s are so hot right now. Let’s see some excellent 80’s designs!

No politics, no war, no cream shirts.
No celebrity likenesses in mockups/detail images.
One design per entry.
Up to 4 entries per artist.

This derby begins Monday at 8pm CST and continues through the following Monday at 8pm. Three designs (determined by votes and editor input) will be printed as daily offers on Tuesday through Thursday and earn $1000 and $2 per item sold after the first day of sales. Other designs may be selected for a Plus sale, with each selected design earning $2 per item sold.

Shirt.Woot‘s Weird Science derby has both smart humor and pop culture references, so there’s something for every kind of science fan in this batch. Here’s a look at two current voting underdogs that I’d like to see get some more attention…

Algorithms to Solve It by NathanielF gives a visual guide to solving a Rubik’s Cube, making for a nerd shirt that is both informative and pretty neat looking.

Science Bunnies by TaylorRoss1 totally charmed me with those oversized glasses. Too cute!

This derby continues through Monday at 8pm. The top three designs (determined by votes and editor input) will earn $1000 cash and $2 per item sold. Additionally, other designs may be selected for future plus sales and sold for $2 per item each.

Fun in the Sun by Gamma-Ray has a fantastic look that is perfect for summer. The yellow to orange gradient on a cream shirt has the magic of faded vintage photographs, though the #Instagrim caption marks it as a modern take on that retro vibe. The punned caption is fun, as is Grim’s cheesy selfie pose- a nice parody of real social media behavior. Even better is the busy background, full of happy silhouetted people playing on the beach and fully unaware that the avatar of death has them in his sights. A perfect melding of a new, interesting concept and a look not often seen in the parody tee genre. Really nice!

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).

Alien Sushis by Ilustrata is my favorite Threadless print this week. I was immediately impressed by how well the piece hews to the comic book style, right down to the high contrast shadows, tapered line art, and retro distressing. What makes this design so fun, though, is how it manages to use the sushi’s familiar look and shape in three distinct ways. Most prominent are the sushi UFOs, sporting salmon-colored portals on their sides and thick tractor beams shining down from their cores. But there’s also a sushi face for the poor man trapped by the beams, a nice bit of storytelling that also injects the scene with some genuine menace. And to cap things off, the character out front drops a full container of sushi- a great idea to show the real thing to help ground the more fantastic versions, and the drop is a smart way to add a bit more motion and action. Very cool!

Threadless prints new shirts every week, chosen from the designs submitted by and voted on by site members. Most winners earn $1 to $7 per item sold.

Academia got a big dose of humor and pop culture in Shirt.Woot’s Derby Editor’s Choice: Collegiate plus sale. Star Trek, Star Wars and puns are especially well represented. Here’s what caught my eye this week…

Best of the Bunch: I Hate Sand by Kg07 looks especially official and has some nice references for fans.

Nicest Surprise: Time Travel Academy by logozaste was a voting favorite for it’s stylish use of one color.

Shirt(s) I Am Most Biased About: My design Mushroom Kingdom Racing School aims to educate aspiring kart racers, while Hawkins Music Dept. is for those who like their schooling a bit Stranger.

This promotion will only last until 11:59 p.m. next Thursday. So if there’s something you like, grab it fast!

Threadless is teaming up with Intel for the new Grow STEM t-shirt design competition, aiming to encourage more diversity in the STEM fields. Here’s what they’re looking for…

Not familiar with STEM? It’s an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, incredibly essential fields in which women and BIPOC individuals are largely underrepresented. To help close that gap, Threadless is proud to join forces with Intel to present you with your next Design Challenge: to inspire the next generation with all things science and technology!

With your new design, use your art to awaken a deep love for STEM in people of all experiences and backgrounds. Celebrate the power and impact of women in science and technology—past, present, and future. Share the wonders of engineering and mathematics. Think micro, dream macro, and use your skills to create something wonderful!

Dos and Don’ts:

• Inspire! Aspire!
• Inclusion, not exclusion
• Limitless, not limited
• No sex, drug, or alcohol references
• No racist, bigoted, sexist, or otherwise offensive language
• Fun humor is A-OK but never punch down

This contest is open to US citizens only. Enter before August 29th, 2022 for your chance to win. One Grand Prize winner will earn $10,000 and a $500 Threadless gift code. One First Runner Up wins $5,000 and a $250 Threadless gift code. One Second Runner Up gets $3,000 and a $250 Threadless gift code. One Third Runner Up will receive $2000 and a $250 Threadless gift code. All designers printed will earn up to $20 per item sold (learn more about Threadless artist payments). Threadless will also donate $1 for every unit sold to Girls Who Code, up to $5000.