Patterns and forms can be found just about anywhere. Take a look around the room and I bet you can find a number of examples of natural and man-made patterns. They often get ignored. Not at ctrl-clothes.com where these modern, abstract forms are front and centre. The triangles, squares, lines and shapes are certainly fresh and original, and remind me a little bit of a mix between my geometry class and class trip to the modern art museum. Give the Tunnel? shirt a good long look and you might get lost therein: certainly works brilliantly as an eye-catcher. But, shirts aren’t the only things greeting you at ctrl-clothes: you are presented with quite the innovative, interactive store front (based on a Manchester street – see below). Here’s the interview with Ben, the man behind ctrl:
continue reading ‘CTRL Clothes – Modern, Abstract Patterns Make Their Way onto Shirts’

At first glance Zoo&Co The Drawing Lounge might come across as a shirt shop for young’uns with its vibrantly colourful designs reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons. Perhaps it was that very fact that made the shirts “grow” on me, and there is much more to discover and enjoy upon closer look. What really impressed me was their ability to create complex, colourful and detailed designs even with the “limitation” of 3 flex/flock colours. Shadows, outlines and contours in one colour, fillers in another and a third for accents are puzzled together seamlessly. For a relatively young shop, they have a great selection of animals, celebrity caricatures and creatures – all well integrated into a skillfully designed site. Zoo&Co in Interview:
continue reading ‘Colourful Critters, Creatures and Celebrities – Zoo&Co Interview’

The site HELLO WORLD WE ARE ELECTRO is a small altar for Electro music and its fans. It is a boldly colourful electronic world in itself filled with pacmanian figures, vibrant and vibrating contrasts over an electro-shade background and plenty of writing done with CAPS LOCK.  Some of the styles found in the HWWAE shop might come across as familiar to those perusing through Spreadshirt – specifically the prolific hand of Marketplace designer Romibello, part of the Electro-duo. A mini-interview tells the tale:
continue reading ‘Hello World We Are Electro’

The relatively-new-to-Spreadshirt.com partner Glarkware is no newbie to the t-shirt universe. His almost daily re-introduction of designs and addition of new gems are almost sure to induce a spout of laughter or brow-raising. As the slogan “Storied Shirt Jobbery” forewarns, each of Glarkware’s shirts is coupled with witty, ironic, informative and entertaining stories. Dave, the man behind Glarkware and the numerous other Glark Industries pursuits, talks about his move to Spreadshirt, gives us a quick lesson on Canadian pronunciation and graces us with his good-humoured nature. The interview with Dave from Glarkware: continue reading ‘Storied Shirts of Glark - Interview with Glarkware’

The Graphic Design Agency Büro Destruct’s shop is a classic on the international t-shirt shop scene and those into design might have come across their work, knowingly or not. This group of four Swiss designers are prolific in bringing out absolutely top-class work. Their designs, like the faceless bearded man above are brilliantly minimal, yet still seem to radiate warmth in that minimalism. In addition to the Spreadshop, you can get a real idea of the vast spectrum that their work by taking a look at their posters. Loptez from Büro Destruct interviewed: continue reading ‘Minimalistic, Stylistic, Simply Top-notch - Büro Destruct Interview’

I’ll go out on a limb and say that we’ve all stared at something long enough that another form appeared. Animals on the Underground is based on that very common fact and is living proof that day dreaming isn’t just a waste of time. Animals has grown since the first “discovery” by Paul Middlewick in 1988 and the team of Paul, Nick and Jon allude to some upcoming developments with the concept. During the interview, Paul delves into the history behind Animals, the shop, his approach to design and (don’t tell the emu!) reveals his favourite animal. Come and take a ride with him through Animals on the Underground.

What is the story behind Animals on the Underground?
I got the idea when I was travelling on the Tube. It gets very boring commuting daily on the Underground, and I’d stare at the map as I waited for my train.
After a while, I started to see shapes in the tube map, particularly animals. I sketched them down and Animals on the Underground was born. Since then, I have picked out over 20 different animals from the intersecting lines and stations on the map, including an Emu and a Penguin! I decided the internet was the ideal medium to bring the troupe to a wider audience, and set up the Animals on the Underground website in 2002.

When did the first t-shirt appear?
We started to print our own merchandise to sell on the site but found that the effort of printing individual items on a supply on demand basis was not feasible while trying to hold down a full time job. So, in 2006, we found Spreadshirt and set up a shop to manage the orders for us. Since then, we have received a regular steam of orders which have been fulfilled without any input from us nor any problems or complaints; we just get sent the commission - what a dream!

What do you do outside of Animals on the Underground? continue reading ‘Elephants, Emus and Whales, oh my! Animals on the Underground’

A relatively new Spreadshirt shop with a lot of potential has gotten off to a great start. Teknique takes a house music approach to t-shirt design, mixing colourful apparel with even more strikingly colourful designs to create a really bold shirt. Read about the man behind the scenes, his approach to design, his thoughts about Spreadshirt and about t-shirt culture in the UK. Our interview with Richie from Teknique: continue reading ‘In Bold Contrast to High Street Fashion - Teknique in Interview’

Our CEO Jana Eggers recently met up with designer Daniel Casarella from Barking Irons in his New York studio. He revealed what designers should keep in mind when creating a good t-shirt design. He essentially points to three things which are important for a successful design:

1. Balance – how and where the parts of the design are placed on the shirt
2. Typography – the choice of font and its proper use to effectively communicate your message
3. Research – a good design should always be able to tell a story and stories are much easier to tell when you really know about the history behind it.

P.S. The Barking Irons apparel in our Exclusive Collection is still in stock and Summer is certain to bring along some new stuff.

Custom-tshirts.eu is a partner shop based right here in the UK. It has a snazzy and creative new layout and a wide range of designs and slogans for men, women and emos. We ask Maria about the story behind her shop and the connection between France, Bristol and t-shirts.

What inspired or motivated you to open a shop and how long have you run the shop?
As a graphic designer I wanted to put my skills and creativity to use. I moved to Bristol from France and found in this alternative city that t-shirts were definitely the perfect media to let people express original ideas. I opened the first version of my shop in September 2007. I recently launched the second version, which based on the idea of a large t-shirt where the content appears, making it look nicer and more user-friendly.

How did you learn about Spreadshirt?
I came across Spreadshirt while searching for customised t-shirts on the web. I saw it was one of the biggest providers with a large range of t-shirt styles, which also offered the possibility to open my own shop.

continue reading ‘Interview with Custom-Shirts.eu’

Sjeurt is a Spreadshirt partner shop from the Netherlands – a shop with humourous and graphically sophisticated designs which certainly work on the international stage. And because others could learn a little something about shop design and marketing from Sjeurt, we thought we would take a look at the man behind the scenes, Marcel van Wijk.

How long have you been using Spreadshirt?
I opened my shop in 2006 and started right off with a premium account because I saw its potential.

What inspired or motivated you to open a shop and how did you learn about Spreadshirt? continue reading ‘Interview with Sjeurt.nl’