What’s the first thing to spring into your mind when I say ‘cavern’? I have to admit that for me, it is Aladdin. You know the big tiger’s head made out of sand, and its gravelly “diamond in the rough” voice, which I’ve often tried unsuccessfully to replicate. That was one cavern to give you technicolor dreams.

But in the fantastical world of caverns: [definition: a cave, or a chamber in a cave, typically a large one], the treasures it can hold all depend on individual taste. For my Father, I am sure the cavern would hold gadgets, for my friend it would definitely hold Snickers bars, and for myself? Well obviously: books….or shoes……too much choice, can I have a combination of both?

For a brand that affiliates itself with chambers of treasure, Cavern Collection has high standards to live up to. This ‘collaboration of ideas’ was born in 2005 by L.A. based artists Adam Tullie and Angeline Rivas. Their designs are focused on a core base of original, hand-drawn offerings. I can hazard a guess that their imaginary cavern would therefore, be filled with pencils and paper.

The designs on their t-shirts really do evoke an impression of graphic originality, native american/egyptian inspirations, and a printed evocation of texture which is fascinating to the eye.

Feathery

Accessories can be found in this Cavern too

Aladdin?

I think you’ll agree, it’s all beautifully Pocahontas.

And if you felt like decorating your home in the same style as your clothes, you sure can with Cavern Collection. My home would have this driftwood, manilla rope chandelier because it would make me feel like life in a tent, a simple life.

So Sahara

We often get asked, “What is the best software to use when designing for t-shirt printing?”. Our standard answer is that one should look no further than Adobe Illustrator, the industry standard vector software.

The key thing is, for quality screen printing, we need vector artwork (as opposed to raster artwork made in programmes like Photoshop). We have more detailed help on our artwork guidelines page.

However, web apps improve and there is now a new-kid-on-the-block which may save you from having to splash out on Adobe software. Part of the Aviary suite of online drawing tools, Raven is a free to use vector software which as the video below shows, is a very powerful piece of kit:

Aviary vector icons from mpeutz on Vimeo.

Does everybody have a funky uncle? I’m trying to think about funky things my uncles have done, but struggling to come up with material…does balding count as ‘funky’ these days? I think the ideal funky uncle is a diverse character. He has interests which span agriculture and food, investment, media, time travel and fashion. Thanks to Funkuncle, now everyone has a shared uncle who according to this criteria, is indeed funkalicious.

Funkuncle dubs itself a ‘multinational corporation with diverse interests throughout the world, extending into the atmosphere and even right down into the soft underbelly’, something which every uncle with a desire to be a funcle should strive to achieve. The corporation was established in 1955 by Edward J. Funkuncle as a manufacturer of spandex, but has grown and expanded ever since to become what it is today. So perhaps it isn’t really anything to do with becoming a funky uncle.

With its newest expansion being fashion, Funkuncle now offer a delightful range of graphic tees. Funkuncle write that their textile division seeks to create high art at the same time as completely mechanizing the artistic process, this is mostly achieved as their production line is 100% robot.

Some of their most iconic tees are “Time Box” and “Game Face”, which fuse modernity and colour with a distinctly retro overtone.

Time Box

Game Face

And remember, to be a funky uncle…everything must be taken with a pinch of salt.

That time of year has come around again. Yes, the time when I lock the door, close the curtains, turn off all the lights and pretend I’m not home. It’s Halloween. However, Halloween these days is more about socialising, looking a little bit ridiculous, and laughing at other people. So in the spirit of the season, I will tonight dress up in a bin-liner as a friendly ghost. This has required some serious preparation as you might be able to tell. I had to make sure I bought white bin-liners instead of black ones. Sheesh.

I’ve heard of some pretty crazy Halloween costume suggestions flying about this year. Moving away from the regular zombie, monster traits, people are planning on evoking the past as 1920s flappers, literary heros such as Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s classic tale ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, and pregnant men. What does Halloween mean today? I have no idea.

If you want to make a nod to the holiday, but would prefer to avoid a fancy dress faux pas, Threadless have some very creative tees inspired by all things scary. There’s ‘Zombies only want you for your Brain’, which will go down well if you’re famous for your wit and intellectual mind. ‘Bone Idle’, is white like snow, with a ghoulish skull: perfect if you want to evoke subtle fear. But my all time favourite has to be ‘Brains’. The colours and all over print, I think you’ll have to agree, are frightfully nice. Have a happy Halloween, and don’t be too scary ok.

If you've got a Brain, the Zombies want you.

Looks creepy, doesn't it? Bone Idle.

Definitely the scariest. Eeeek.

WE MAKE T-SHIRTS kind of gives the game away. What do they do? Make T-Shirts. Who are ‘we’? They are Tony, Gill and Mike, Nottingham designers, printers and sellers – nestled in the hub of the creative t-shirt trade. ‘We Make T-Shirts’ was born during a busy University life of design, and since then has continued to grow and expand into proportions which might be (in fabric terminology) comparable to big billowy parachute. As the name suggests, for this company the ‘making’ of the t-shirts is a very important part of the creative process, and on their website you can find an intricate, almost David Attenborough-esque, documentary of the production process. Sleek. After watching it you’ll know exactly how your t-shirt came into the world, all the way from sketch pad to clothes tag. Some of their designs include….

“Salut”

“Paper Planes”

“Cubesville”

and my personal favourite…..”Tv’s”

But these kind t-shirters are also willing to print on request, so if there’s a particular style/colour combination you’ve got your heart set on then your wishes might just be accommodated. As ‘We Make T-Shirts’ begin to burst into stores in London (Lik & Neon Brick Lane), Sheffield, Nottingham and Birmingham (“Cow” Stores), their talent is getting some well deserved recognition and I think it’s time to jump on their bandwagon.

I understand that there’s a point in life when you really shouldn’t be reading children’s literature, but Dallas Clayton’s ‘An Awesome Book’ is so….erm….awesome, that I’d be happy to see sharp business men and brain surgeons alike carrying a copy proudly under their arm, and reading it whilst they commute to work/stop for a coffee/wait for a meeting. Maybe this is because there’s more to this colourful children’s book than meets the eye. In fact it’s popularity inspired the creation of the ‘Awesome World Foundation‘ established in 2009 by author Dallas Clayton. For every copy of ‘An Awesome Book’ sold, the charity diligently donate a copy to schools, hospitals, libraries, camps and shelters in both the States and the rest of the world. Aiming to promote children’s literacy one book at a time, these guys seem to be doing a pretty good job.

But what does this have to do with t-shirt design? Well, believe it or not, you can snap up some fantastical kids clothing to go along with the book itself…a very awesome Christmas present in the making I’m thinking. There are two prints to choose from: either ‘rocket-powered unicorns’ or a hand drawn alphabet if your little ones are more into typography than fantasy. And with all these tees each sublimation print is slightly different, so there’s a healthy splash of uniqueness in every garment. Now it really would be awesome if they’d make make them a bit bigger or if I was temporarily shrinkable, but at least the book isn’t age specific…remember that while you’re on your morning commute.

Alphabet tee

Watch this video for a bit of light entertainment/more information.

Ever felt like everyone is looking down on you? Then maybe this t-shirt isn’t the one for you. Altru Apparel’s most recent t-shirt line includes a print which may take you by surprise. It might just be that I am naive in the design stakes, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this on a shirt before. Altru’s ‘Central Park’ t-shirt might be just the thing to keep you entertained on rainy afternoons, as this shirt features a birds-eye view of New York City’s famous park, complete with inhabitants. As Altru suggest: ‘You could spend hours spying on all the people hanging out’, but I’m not one to advocate voyeurism. That said, so far I’ve been able to spot a group having a picnic, an older couple having a natter on fold-up chairs and someone who could possibly be George Clooney…but maybe that was just wishful thinking.

Spot anyone you know?

If you’re prone to bouts of vertigo, then perhaps it would be safer all round if you opted for the ‘Organ’ tee. Another classic photographic tee in greyscale. If you’re an aspiring organist then this design will offer endless practicing opportunities on the move. It’s your very own portable, mute, 2-D instrument. And if you happen to bump into someone who is already a talented organ player (you might find one at church), then you can strike up a beautiful friendship by inviting them to play Bach’s Toccata on your stomach. Just make sure you’re not ticklish first.

One man. Four hands.

I am Five. We’ll in truth I have aged a bit since then, though the frequency with which I have to whip out the old proof of age would beg to differ, as would the checkout people who have in the past checked that I’m old enough to buy Baileys ice-cream. I can say with pleasure that afterwards they were slightly embarrassed at checking. Looking young is clearly something to treasure, though I worry that one of these days I’ll wake up and all my ageing will have happened overnight and I’ll all of a sudden be hobbling around with a stick and booking myself in for a face lift.

I am Five isn’t quite a statement of age, it’s a t-shirt design label based in London town. I doubt that they’re grappling with the same age-appearance incompatibility related issues as me because they’re so busy making fantastical t-shirts. The first line from their brand spanking new online store is all about London fun. With a clean website, and equally clean design techniques they present a series of nods to London past, present, regal and fictional. You might like to wear Sherlock Holmes‘ profile, a t-shirt interpretation of the British Post-Box or three letters than mean so much: ‘LDN’. I like it.

"ER" Royal Majesty

Spookily Symmetrical

Monsieur T. are here with their spring summer 2009 collection of crazy new designs which you will probably want to spend all the money you saved up for that holiday on. Well, you’ve got to look the part right? The ‘History’ shirt might be one of their most memorable designs by Emil Kozak. Displaying an oversized fountain-pen nib and a drop of red ink, the tagline to this t-shirt is: ‘History was often written in blood’. Chilling isn’t it. I don’t know about you but I like the shapes on this shirt, and even if the tagline does but more sensitive souls off this shirt, you can always ignore it and just pretend that it’s novelty ink/tomato ketchup.

Another of Monsieur T’s summer line designs is named ‘Low Self Esteem’ created by Andy Rementer. The story behind this shirt is more of a question: ‘Do you ever want to kick yourself in the head?’ The answer to that question might have already flashed through your mind once or twice, but hopefully you haven’t taken it quite as literally the chubby little guy on this t-shirt who is about to stamp on his own decapitated head. His facial expression is quite something, and his green beanie hat really does bring out the colour (or is that fear?) in his eyes.

Don't try this at home

Here’s something I’ve not seen before. They say that ingenuity is in simplicity and this t-shirt design by Brooklyn based PASTE is simplicity at it’s most ingenious, or is it? Here Paste’s graphic artist Jason Laurits has designed a t-shirt featuring nothing but a sketch of a…..t-shirt……yes, you heard correctly, on the front. Despite its blatant simplicity, I still can’t get my head around this t-shirt. There are a million questions I could ask: is the t-shirt on the design inspired by the t-shirt itself? Which came first, the design or the t-shirt? Whether you like it or not, the tee on tee is one of the PASTE’s more simplistic designs.

See two tee?

Others include the slightly more adventurous ‘Damn – Girl’ shirt, on which a Jane Austen-style legacy hero casts a flirtatious look at the bee-hind of one of his female companions, and by his comment seems, well what can I say? Rear-ly impressed. Not sure what Austen would have to say about that, but if this indie design soars in popularity perhaps it will be added to the script of the next Pride & Prejudice adaptation, completely changing the characterization of Mr. Darcy for generations to come. I predict outrage. Like it or loath it, you can’t accuse Laurits of failing in his vision to associate his t-shirt line with art, culture and humour.

Damn-Girl

Pinecone + Chickadee might sound like a children’s storybook duo, but they’re actually a t-shirt designing duo from Portland, across the pond in New England. Their studio is formed by a married team: s collaboration between the graphical designer wife Amy, and musician husband Noah. Pinecone + Chickadee silkscreen all their imaginative artwork onto a range of apparel including t-shirts, journals and greeting cards. All their papery goods are made from recycled materials, and even the ink they use is water based and earth friendly; a preservation attitude that is encouraged by looking at the beautiful Maine coastline I’m guessing. Currently, men can choose from designs including giant pandas, a cyclops and this stripy whale and lighthouse shirt. Some of the designs are printed on organic t-shirts, but not all of them, so it’s best to check first if you want to stay super earthy.

Admittedly this whale doesn't look as friendly as Free Willy

For women, the designs are slightly more peaceful and subdued, including this red and black bird design on a long grey shirt and a gold wolf on navy blue, which would incidentally look great with a green shopping bag…hmmm perhaps this handsewn ‘Broccoli’ bag? I can’t help but love it when veg gets promoted through artwork.

Mmmm, broccers

All Irish people are like this aren't they?

The Irish have brought many wonderful things to the world. Guinness, leprechauns, potato based foods, a very unique way of pronouncing the word ‘tart,’ and lots of general cheery charm. No wonder I’m moving to Dublin, what’s not to love? Hmm, the exchange rate maybe – but that aside the emerald isle is one of the most iconic places in the world, and then there’s the street art scene which turns the city wall into a canvas itself. Turtlehead are a t-shirt design collective stemming from Dublin, but also featuring artistic collaboration with designers from New York and Canada. They have been ‘touching cloth since 2006′, and they have a solid mission statement. Aiming not to bring down corporations or presidents, Turtlehead simply want to show that they care, which they do by donating 5% of their profits to a charity of the customer’s choice and printing on ethically and environmentally friendly tees. If this isn’t enough to whet your appetite and get your teebuds tingling then you should know that all their designs are limited to 500 pieces, so your shirt will be pretty original. And if you’re an aspiring designer your artistic submissions will be welcomed, with all winning designs rewarded in prize money and your very own Turtlehead line of shirts!

But before your incredible winning design is featured on Turtlehead’s website, maybe you’d like to have a peek at their current edgy designs, firstly from Irish designers Chris Haughton and Will St. Leger. St. Leger’s design features a taster of the artist’s famous stencilwork, and handily reminds us that not all pigeons love bread. Haughton’s more colourful purple-headed, yellow-eyed, big-bearded posing man is printed on a bright yellow shirt and accompanied with a bit of Irish vocab: ‘ag damhsa,’ which means ‘dancing’ in the Gaelic language – and as you can see, this guy sure has some moves

Chris Haughton's Dancing Man

If you prefer dentures to Irish dancers then maybe Marc John’s ‘Famous People’s Teeth’ shirt is the one for you. This could be part of the perfect outfit if you’ve scheduled an appointment with the dentist in the near future. But if famous artists rather than famous teeth are more your thing, then you might like to display the progenitor of pop-art on your chest. Why not wear this Andy Warhol shirt by Italian designer Laura Paperina, which shows the famous artist looking worried while he eats a banana. Maybe it had gone mouldy, I hate it when that happens.

I can see Brad Pitt's molar

Just in case none of these capture your eye, you’ll find it impossible to dislike my all time favourite Turtlehead shirt, which has to be Mountain Man, designed by Melbourne artist Adam Cruickshank. Simple and effective, this shirt works because specs and beards are cool, and it’s like carrying a friendly little friend around with you. If you spill some soup down your t-shirt, don’t worry – you were just feeding him, if you need to go somewhere fancy dress – wear your shirt over your head, and if you get lonely – have a little conversation with the guy. People won’t think you’re strange, promise.

Your new best friend

Hello readers, I’m sorry it’s been so long since I wrote regular fashion snippets here…you’ve probably forgotten the sound of my voice by now. Over the past month I’ve been finishing off my degree and doing pesky finals so my fashion tendrils have been a bit lax, but don’t worry I’m back now.

When you’ve been away from home for a long time it’s always nice to come back to the place where everything looks pretty much the same only a little smaller than you remember. Yesterday I packed up my little house by the sea and came home. After finishing up all my work, doing my exams and a long drive home I was ready to see my parents waiting on the doorstep. I’m not going to deny that I envisaged them looking slightly distraught at the fact that I had been away from home for so long but with an excited glimmer in their eyes because their prodigal daughter had finally returned home, and preferably they would shower me with gifts and tears of joy. It’s meant to work the same way whenever you are reunited with loved ones, whether it’s at airport arrivals, on Christmas day, or simply when you’ve been to buy the morning paper and it’s taken a little longer than usual; however, my parents had gone on a tropical holiday when I returned (not jealous, not jealous at all. promise) so all my teary reunion ideas were shot to pieces.

I like reunions, but the best part about them are the hugs. Those big bear hugs that greet you when you’ve been away for ages. In fact the best ones are when you can’t really breathe so good and you get lifted off the ground a little and here cracking noises around the ribs. One of the ‘Design by Humans‘ artists clearly has the same love of bear hugs if you take a look at this shirt. Thankfully the bear hugs I’ve had haven’t been from frightening grizzly bears, or from men in a baby blue shirts that say ‘hugs’, but if you did want to combine the two…tahdaaaaa! Now I’ll just have to spend some time thinking up a new reunion image for when my parents come back looking all sun-kissed - my thunder has totally been stolen here.

Looks so soft and huggable

Ever wished that you could have a different head? Maybe you’d like the chiseled features of Michelangelo’s David, the wide-eyed elegance of Audrey Hepburn, the winning smile of Barak Obama, Marylin Monroe’s iconic beauty spot or Elvis Presley’s upper lip? You’re not alone, there are times when I would like another head. At the moment I think I’d opt for a combo of Albert Einstein and Willy Shakespeare to help me with some pesky Literature exams, though that might result in some premature aging. HeadHoods have come up with an original way to get another head, or more accurately, 3 faces. They’ve cleverly styled some regular hoodies by printing some well-known faces onto either side of the hood. The idea behind HeadHoods stemmed from a coffee buzz which just didn’t stop, and now they’re lovingly hand-printed by one man in his Brooklyn studio. The result is quite bizarre but I like it, and from the photos you can see just how unique they look out-and-about.

Here's something you never thought you'd see

HeadHoods have a wide range of faces to choose from, including famous heads and some that are just for fun. Some of my favourites include the gorilla face (perfect for anyone who likes bananas), a crying baby’s head (would work anyone who’s either pregnant or has a bit of a childish temper), and Michael Jackson, back in the day (to remind you that You Are Not Alone).

Hungry Gorilla

Hybrid animals could be looked at as a form of animal kingdom creativity. Why have two separate animals when you could mix two and create one? With artistic vision and a splash of linguistic license, real life animal cross-breeding has resulting in the fantastic sounding ‘liger’, a cross between a lion and tiger, and the ‘yakalo’, a yak/buffalo combo.

Today, I started thinking about the hybrids I’d like to see. Maybe the ’snish’, that’s a snake and a fish, or the ‘Seatle’, a seagull and beetle. Designer James Bourne had a similar idea when he set a project for school children to image a combination of their two favourite animals. Picking the most imaginative combinations he drew them, and then Mouldy Loaf put them on a childrens t-shirt. If you get one of these shirts you can spend hours trying to work out the new hybrid animals. I can spot a ‘CrocaBee’ (crocodile/bumblebee), and I think there might be a ‘Tortoose’ (tortoise/goose) there too, but some of them are too bizarre to decipher. In fact, I think one of them might be a plant. Just think, the children who had these animal visions are going to be the scientists of the future, so lock up your pets.

Animal Madness