In keeping with our past installments of the top blogs of the week, today we bring you another edition with a twist. In fact the twist is that they feature ‘twisted’ tees. Check them out!

‘T-Shirt For The Broken Heart’ from The Daily Tee
This t-shirt features a bloody and damaged looking, realistic style heart. The band-aids make it clear that this is a ‘broken heart’. This is definitely a shirt you’ll want to check out if you want to make someone feel guilty…or slightly disturbed.

‘Clash of the Titans T-Shirt by Pyscho Reindeer’ from Tcritic
When part of the blog title features the word ‘psycho’ it’s a pretty safe bet that the blog will make the freaky list. In this case the featured shirt depicts a certain creepy robot owl and links to a very cool, very freaky t-shirt company.

‘A Code of Honour Amongst The House of Thieves’ from Buy-Tees
Creepy, ghoulish arms, a half-dead looking girl, and plenty of skulls for good measure. Another blog that was a definite in from the get go. This one does a fantastic job proving information and a review of The House of Thieves company.

‘Inidivisual Have a New Tee and a Lovely Coupon Code’ from Hide Your Arms
A bit less creepy than most of this week’s picks, this one makes it in the merit of the freaky looking nature man with the red eyes and the flowers growing out of his mouth. An added bonus is that this shirt is eco-friendly!

‘A Vintage Pink Floyd Shirt That’s All Wright’ from Defunkd
Check out the pigs and the psychedelic Pink Floyd symbol and it’s easy to see what this blog is doing here as well. Not to mention the fact that Pink Floyd is iconic and the designs are just plain cool to begin with.

‘In Black We Trust’ from Addic[tee]d
Check out the creepy skeleton man with the long rocker hair and the crazy looking, semi-face design on the last tee. There’s no way you’ll fail to make an impression wearing those. We can even forgive the too-fast flashing animation this blog employes.

‘Ambiguous Shady Tee at The Urban Shop’ from The Fat Seagull
The Fat Seagull made an excellent selection with this blog. The design is a terrific all over print with a pair of textured sunglasses. Everyone knows sunglasses are a common tactic for disguising evil and thus this very cool blog makes the cut too.

‘Tomorrow Will Be Fine’ from Funky Duds
Maybe it’s just me, but that face - although definitely cute - looks a little freaky to me. Check
out those eyes and that smile. Don’t they seem to be hiding malicious intent? In any case tomorrow will be fine with this nifty shirt.

‘12 new tees over at No Star Clothing’ from Hide Your Arms
These shirts are pretty cool. Most of them are definitely on the funny side, but the campfire heart
and broken toothed lips are definitely enough to tilt into the twisted category. The very amusing ‘hoo’ and ‘Maybe Partying Will Help’ are high quality bonuses!

‘Barcodewood’ from ShirtFind
There’s certainly a healthy dose of symbolism and plenty of room for interpretation with this shirt. Are we destroying nature for consumerism? Will it ultimately overshadow everything else? Who cares (forgive the stolen owl shirt pun) when it features an adorably cute but twisted looking creature encountering a creepy barcode forest?

‘Beautiful Decay T-Shirts and Hoodies On Sale’ from Tcritic
The company Beautiful Decay is practically synonmous with creepy, but well-designed clothes. Just take a look at the first shirt featured in this blog and you know right away that these shirts are no exception. A skinny, pale sleeping girl who seems to be engulfed in a combination of her own hair and a dark, shadowy essence…well I’m freaked out!

‘When Animals go Wild’ from The T-Shirt Review
This blog is definitely the epitome of our creepy collection (way to go The T-Shirt Review!). We have an incredibly morbid statement written in blood red ink, a bloody ninja monkey, rabbits holding everything from bloody axes, deadly carrots, and chainsaws, a cat running away with a bleeding dismembered tongue, and finally what is, in my opinion, the ultimate in gore a blood-soaked Hobbes crouching over a mutilated Calvin….WOW!

‘New T-Shirts from No Star Clothing From WTF to McCain’ from Cottonable
I know we already mentioned a blog that listed these tees, but Cottonable has some great write-ups to go with the fewer shirts they featured and the designs are larger and more visible. Our favorite is the WTF pill dispenser. Yeah that about sums up what we were thinking after seeing this week’s featured blogs.

This is the third post in a series of blogs to give people tips and advice for starting their own t-shirt lines. This idea was conceived from the numerous phone calls and daily inquires people make regarding this topic and it’s our hope that the readers will find this series helpful and informative. Be sure to check out the other two posts [links?] and stay tuned for more!

Today we want to discuss the importance of doing your homework when it comes to knowing your audience. What we mean is, it’s very important to ask yourself “who am I trying to sell my t-shirts to?”. This will influence all aspects of your business! For example you come up with completely different designs if you’re marketing to baby boomers as opposed to Gen X-ers. You’ll also have vastly different designs if you’re focusing on say the tech/sci-fi crowd versus the music crowd. These are just two VERY basic examples and there’s a huge ‘niche’ potential. Of course you may want to focus on ‘mass appeal’, but even there it’s STILL important to know exactly which ‘masses’ you want to appeal to.

Once you have your target audience in mind, you’ll want to consider various aspects about them. For example, what is their culture like? What types of references and common history do they share? This too will heavily impact the designs you come up with. You’ll also want to bear in mind what they are likely to spend their money on in the first place. It’s a good idea to get a feel for where they often like to shop. Online and/or offline? Who are your competitors? What types of products do the stores that are popular with this group carry? What are prices and purchase volumes like?

Another useful thing to find out is what sites and other areas of the internet do they inhabit? This will be important to discover not only so that you can gain more information on their interests and ‘personalities’, but also so that you can consider marketing to them. Would you want to buy ad space on one of the popular sites for this group of people? Would you be able to tailor it to appeal to them?

Remember, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. If something has been working well with your demographic and you’re able to establish yourself as a strong, viable option to them then there’s no reason to think similar strategies won’t prove useful to you as well!

One of the hottest trends right now in the t-shirt design world is to design VERY detailed, intricate prints.  These amazing t-shirts are like a work of art and they turn the wearer into a sort of walking canvas, showcasing the designer’s masterpiece and impressing friends along the way!

One trend is the use of patterns, colors, and designs that would also look very much in place on tattoos.  Check out this incredible design called ‘Platinum Flocked’.  It’s done on a very cool double shirt:

As you can se the under-sleeve is very reminiscent of the kinds of tats people often get on their arms.  The main shirt images and designs are also in the style of a large, fancy tattoo.  All around it’s extremely well-done and very beautiful!

Another great use of really intricately designed t-shirts is in the creation of very sharp, beautiful images in creative, abstract renderings.  Check out this awesome design called ‘Bonafide Lovin’ ‘:

As you can see it’s very reminiscent of the 60s peace movement and imbues the wearer with a sort of air of spiritual enlightenment.

This next one called ‘Live Lyrics from the bank of Imaginary’ evokes the music movement to get its message across.  Don’t be fooled though, this is still a very serious, artistic shirt.  Check out the life-like face and design of the man and the amazing details and colors scattered throughout the shirt:

Finally, we wanted to showcase a design called ‘Radical Beauty’.  Check it out:

As you can see, the design features a beautiful women in a radical explosion of color and imagery.  Despite the chaotic nature of the print it’s also extremely sharp and clear.

These terrific shirts really highlight this popular and excellent trend.  Cool!

Our administrative offices are located in Houston right across from the Galleria. We are in those offices right now tying up loose ends before we evacuate because Ike wants to rain on our parade. It is definitely the “calm before the storm” with almost no traffic outside our offices on one of the busiest streets in Houston.

To our customers - we will be running everything like normal because we have prepared in plenty of time.

To Hurricane Ike - we hope you are all talk and no action.

To Google - I hope you recognize our browser title for this post. 

We’ve made the rounds of t-shirt blogs and have a list of the ones that made an impression on us. Yes, we meant to write the word impression (screen printing term for a print on a t-shirt). Get over it.

New Shirt Monday at Threadless! from Compete-tee-tion
This blog does a great job announcing and explaining Threadless’ recent price adjustments.  It also features some VERY cool shirts.  Our favorite is ‘Cold Blooded Ocean’ which depicts a fisherman wheeling in a very big catch indeed!

The Choice Was Not Hard from Shirts On Sale
Once again Shirts on Sale delivers a blog featuring an amusing, well-designed t-shirt.  This one depicts someone at the crossroads with signs pointing toward ‘Money’, ‘Big Success’, ‘Fame’, ‘Fortune’, and Glory’ OR ‘Really Cool Waterslides’…the choice was not hard.

Freshly Baked Tee Shirts From Vintage Vantage via Cottonable
This blog features information about the company Vintage Vantage which focuses on cool, retro-style t-shirts.  It also gives us examples of some of their old-school tees.

Etsy Shirt Finds from ShirtFind
This blog selects some of the best Etsy designs, among them is ‘Long Legs’ which is a simple shirt with a giraffe running the length it.  “Pieces is a fantastic collage of appendages, and the last design is of a cool looking octopus down near the base of the shirt.

‘Know Your Spock’ Shirt Tests Your Trek Knowledge (Not Really) from Militant Geek Custom Shirts
This find from Militant Geek plays on the idea that anyone with a mustache and goatee is bound to be evil while clean-shaven people are good.  This one is sure to be a hit with any Star Trek fan.

Skin Of The City Tees From SQY-T from The Fat Seagull
This really cool shirt features a total, all-over design of a skyscraper.  Talk about adapting and blending into your surroundings!  Very cool shirt.

I Don’t Need Wikipedia (My Spouse Knows Everything) from Shirts on Sale
This shirt is the perfect selection for anyone with a ‘know-it-all’ spouse.  Of course you might want to avoid wearing the shirt AROUND the know-it-all!

Camera Obscura from Buythisshirt.org
This very cool design features an all over, jumbled camera print.  Near the base of the shirt the cameras are a dark blue, the higher up the shirt you go the lighter they get.  All around very cool.

New This Week at Design By Humans from compete-tee-tion
This blog highlights the new designs of the week from Design By Humans.  There are some real catches here.  Our favorite is ‘The Defender’ which features an over-sized, abstract design of what appears to be feathers, armor, weapons, and a bird.  All done in a very pale ink.  COOL!

Let’s Do Something Shady By Local Celebrity from Hide Your Arms
This blog from Hide Your Arms features a very insightful review of the company ‘Local Celebrity’.  Check out the blog and their site for more info.  Regarding the title shirt itself…well who wouldn’t love such a fun pun?

Modern Tribe from TShirtReview.com
This blog reveals fascinating information about the company ‘Modern Tribe’ which specializes in Jewish merchandise.  The featured shirt is a very sharp design of the Jewish alphabet.

The Angel Subwoofer T-Shirt by David Deter from The Daily Tee
This blog highlights a shirt which brings us the very odd union of angels and stereo equipment.  You’ll have to admit that isn’t a pairing seen very often, but the shirt is very well done and benefits from the creativity.

Unethical Mind Experiments on Miniaturized Animals from Shirts on Sale
This great find from Shirts on Sale is really unique!  The title of the blog/shirt itself lets you know you’re in for a treat.  Check this one out!

DBH Announce FTSK T-Shirt Design Winner from The T-Shirt Review
This blog features the results of the Design by Humans contest to create a band t-shirt for ‘The Sickest Kid’.  The resulting shirt is pretty awesome!  Check it out.

DesignersBlock T-Shirts at Top Shop from Buy-Tees
Once again ‘Buy-Tees’ brings us a top-notch review of an innovative company.  This time that company is ‘DesignersBlock’ which is headquartered in London.  Check out their very cool stuff!

We recently did a blog post with a basic introduction of ideas and suggestions for what to do to create your own t-shirt line.  At You Design It we are frequently asked about this topic so it is our hope that this series of blog posts will address some of the questions that people have and hopefully also start them off on the right foot.  Today we want to focus on the design aspect.

In order to own or run an even remotely successful t-shirt line you have to have a great design.  It is essential that people like your product and want to buy it.  This is a very basic concept and it should be almost completely intuitive.  Nevertheless, the design aspect is often one of the most challenging for people to ensure that others like their design concept as much as they do.

NOw we aren’t going to sit here and tell you exactly WHAT to design.  That’s going to depend on your taste and the taste of the consumers to whom you are marketing your t-shirts.  What we did want to do though is give you some ideas on how to get your design out there, how to interest people in it, and how to improve it.

So let’s say you’ve spent the past week coming up with what you consider to be a top-notch design.  At this point two things are likely to happen.  One, you’re probably going to be very proud of your design (though perhaps a bit modest and nervous) and two you’re likely going to show it to your family and friends and ask them what they think.  That’s great!  Those are definitely two very important steps in the process.  However, it’s only natural for the people closest to you to say nice things about your work, especially if they know it’s important to you and they can tell how proud or nervous you are.  So we definitely do encourage you to solicit their feedback, but remember to take what you hear with a grain of salt (this is important to remember with both negative and positive comments).

So how do you branch out and get feedback on your design from impartial, knowledgable strangers?  Well the good news is, it’s actually not as hard as it may seem!  Thanks to the internet and people’s growing interest in networking and meeting others who have similar hobbies and interests, there are quite a few thriving t-shirt design communities out there.  You can easily go to a site like Threadless or Design By Humans (just to name two of your many options), register, create a profile, and start submitting your designs.  This comes with several benefits.  First, because of the way these communitites are set up it’s likely that people will comment on your design and tell you what they think. It provides that all important feedback and since the people that frequent the site are likely to be very interested in t-shirt designs (or perhaps even designers themselves) then in most cases you can feel pretty good about the quality of the comments.

Another big advantage is the simple publicity and ‘buzz’ it creates for your designs.  Remember you’re planning to sell these things, right?  So obviously the more people that see them and become interested in them the better off you are!  It also gives you a feel for the ‘pulse’ of the market.  You can see what people are interested in, what might be lacking, what opportunities are out there for you!  Finally, you may even win one of the contests.  This will be a major confidence boost for you, it will look great on your resume, and you’ll even get some cash and prizes out of it.

We hope that these ideas are helpful to you and we look forward to bringing you more suggestions for starting your own t-shirt line and for enhancing your designs!  Good luck and remember to get out there and try!