T-Shirt Reviews Blog

Posted: 27 Dec 2009 10:45 AM PST

Itself are a t-shirt community that deals with quality rather than quantity, they only offer limited edition shirts, alongside a range of tunics and long sleeve tees, and they don’t officially have too many designers on their books - although there are plenty who’d love to be! I’d say this was a step forward, however much you might want the public to provide quality control, there will be those, shall we say ‘less-than-average’ designers with an army of online buddies to help them make headway in the popularity stakes, even if it means that the more usual vote-based t-shirt communities end up stuck with a pile of unsold tees for the next sale. To counteract the ‘art Jock’ mentality, Itself don’t even mention the prospect of voting on their homepage. it’s a savvy angle marketing-wise, I’d always push the idea of exclusivity and quality over fashion democracy every time. Still once you take a peek inside the store you realise the mechanics of the brand is definitely geared to scouting out new high-calibre talent with 590 designs in the running, from a legion of potential contributors competing for a whopping $4000 prize and of course instant fame

Now, I have to admit the earlier half of the collection isn’t anything to write home about, but every label has to start somewhere, they need to be established to some degree to attract the calibre of design they require for a discerning audience, and so I’m sure we can both forgive them a quick evolution from the generic in order to provide a platform for their top picks in t-shirt design. Which fortunately is exactly how it’s worked out for Itself. There are at least half a dozen cracking designs on offer now, by names you might not recognise, but I assure you once you see their work, you will remember them.

If you want to get involved you can submit your own designs here, sign up and vote keep up with their latest offerings at Facebook and follow them at Twitter, but even if you’re adverse to social networking at least sign up as a member and get the first word on any new tees and offers in the making. What’s more send in a photo of you wearing one of their tees and get a dollar back! Time for this brand to speak for itself in the medium of great t-shirt design…

Making Up For Lost Time Tee

I love the premise and style of Jeff Sheldon’s design, Making Up For Lost Time is a best seller at Itself, and for all the right reasons, it offers a beautifully delicate illustration with some of the finest shadow work I’ve seen on a t-shirt in quite a while. If you fancy capturing those lost moments and banish all regrets of a former life then you can nab this fine example of design on a tee for $24 in sizes S to XXL for men and XS to XL for women. Jeff Sheldon is the man behind Ugmonk.com, foremostly known for it’s typographic tees, so this t-shirt design is for me, a welcome change in direction! If you’re a fan of Design By Humans you might have seen his work around before, Itself have certainly brought the best out of this graphic designer.

Strange Aquatic Tee

A beautiful example of stream of consciousness design, the illustrative style reminds me of late Victorian etchings from the earliest renditions of fantasy art, beautifully composed and momentously details, I love the sense of humour that exudes from the mysterious Opifan64′s pen in this example. The Strange Aquatic tee is available for men and women in all sizes at $24.

More Tape Tee

Another very popular design, this one leans more on the abstract side, but again exudes a terrific sense of humour, not sure why anyone would get into this particular predicament, but we’ll leave that to the designer to work out in therapy :0. Tang Yau Hoong of Malaysia is definitely an artistic to keep a look out for, their angle on life is at the very least truly unique! Get the More Tape tee for men and women in all sizes at $24.

Gardener Tee

Flying Mouse has certainly found the solution for all the gardeners out there with little time on their hands, topiary, the art of hedge-trimming might be the answer. OK maybe not, but somewhere in the imagination of Flying Mouse I am certain they have a wonderful garden, even if it is only on paper, r in this case cotton. Love the concept, wonderful illustration, one for the spring I say, perhaps FM has a solution for speeding up the Winter months whilst they are at it? Who knows, at least this t-shirt cheered me up, get the Gardener tee in all sizes for men and women for $24 here.

If you fancy any of these or voting on some new tees get on over to Itself today. BTW if you spend more than $60 you get free shipping too, what’s more almost all their orders leave the warehouse within 48 hrs. so they definitely won’t leave you hanging!

Lifestyle World

Sunday, 27 December 2009