Day 90

Sometimes you need a break from everything so you can take time to focus on what is really important. On the 90th day of my T-shirt venture I did just that. I spent the day with my lovely wife at the New England Christian Leadership Conference. It was a great day to recharge our batteries and remind ourselves that we are here to serve others. I will have some design progress to post tomorrow.

Day 89

Ahhh...it's Friday again. Breathe........but not really. It's going to be another busy weekend but I still have hopes of getting some design work done. Regardless of my need for sleep, I will have some progress to show you guys on Sunday. In the meantime, I was cruising the Seventh Ink website today and came across these great Skate board decks.

One of the cool things I've noticed about many of these designers is that they do design work outside of T-shirts as well. I've seen buttons, stickers, skateboard decks, toys, and even videos. The more I learn, the more get excited about my own design adventure.

Day 88: A little late

I can't believe I did that. I forgot to post last night. I was watching the T-shirt Madness and then went to bed. That being said, T-shirt Madness is now in its final match up. It's a hard choice. I really like both 8-bit Zombie and Le Muerta. In the end though, I went with nostalgia and gave my vote to 8-bit Zombie. (Sorry Le Muerta). If you guys are interested in checking them out and placing your own vote then go here: http://teemadness.iamthetrend.com/?r6game=1

Day 87

What can I say? Single color, great price, and one awesome graphic. This T-shirt from Sunny Day Apparel is a win win.

Day 86

I'm geeking out over this T-shirt I found on Shirtoid. My oldest son is a die hard Star Wars fan and I must say I enjoy that. Check out the site. They have tons of cool shirts.

Day 85

Johnny Cupcakes released a new series of T-shirts over the weekend. The series is called Animal Kingdom. This one in particular made me think of my mom. 

Day 84: Design Work

The design work for my first T-shirt is going slow, but I am making progress. These 2 images represent the front and back. The Soda Bomb text will be on the front with the car on the back. Seeing these two graphics coming together is getting me very excited.

Day 83

I love themed T-shirt companies and this one is pretty cool. The name of the company is Sleepy Dan. It looks like they also do some really cool work with vinyl toys, but the T-shirts are what really caught my attention. This example will definitely make you want to look under your bed tonight.

Day 82

I think I might have to get this one from Le Muerta. Quirky and dark. Very cool graphic with lots of details. I especially love the old vibe that it carries.

Day 81

Yesterday I did a post on great T-shirt Designer Tournament. Today I spent some time going through and discovering some awesome designers. One of my favorites has to be Beast Wrecked. The artwork on these shirts is mind boggling. Check out what they did to the Kool-Aid Man.

Day 80

Here is a cool contest for T-shirt designers. In the spirit of March Madness, they have brackets set up so you can vote for your favorite T-shirt Designer. Maybe next year I will be in a position to compete.

http://teemadness.iamthetrend.com/?game=26 

Day 79

Here is some brand new work by my favorite artist Max Grundy. As of right now it is available only as a print.

 Absolutely Awesome!!

Day 78

In my pursuit of learning the T-shirt business, and have been trying to discover and network with other independent T-shirt companies. However, I think I would be selling myself short If I didn’t take a look at (or give props to) the most notorious of them all. Life Is Good. These guys set the bar for everyone else. In fact, whenever I try to explain my mission to someone, they almost always say “oh, just like the ‘Life Is Good’ guys.”

Day 77: Design Work.

I am finally making some head way on my first T-shirt. Take a look and let me know your thoughts.

Day 76: Long Day

It was a long enjoyable day of serving others. No design work done, but still had tons of fun.

Day 75

This is going to be a busy weekend for me. I don't think I'll have time to get much design done, but I have gotten a little bit done during the week. I'll wait until Sunday to show it off just in case I can get more done on it. Until then, in the spirit of St. Patrick's day, I wanted to show you guys a twisted Irish shirt. It's no longer available, but I still felt like this awesome shirt from Seventh Ink needed a nod.

Day 74: Part 2

Last week I mentioned a sweet T-shirt company called Candy Effect Clothing. The dropped a new Tee today that takes me back to my childhood. It was I time when I was awed by the sheer greatness of the legendary Micheal Jordan. This shirt is a great play on the iconic Air Jordan symbol. Very cool.

Day 74: Part 1

The Breakfast Club just dropped their St. Patrick's day shirt. They load up each purchase with some awesome goodies including some actual Luck Charms.

Day 73

And the winner for the best T-shirt Designer website is……8-bitZombie.  This site is a trip. They have taken everything 80’s and totally geeked out with some amazing Graphic Tees. They have tees the cover movie classics, video game favorites, and basic nostalgia all from that era. This is one of my favorites.

Day 72

In my search for other indie T-shirt companies I have noticed there is quite a scene happening over in the UK. I have already come across and reviewed several. The newest one is Thunder Apparel. These guys use simple graphics sometimes and more complex designs other times. They all make bold statements that are sure to make you pop out in a crowd. Give them a visit.

Day 71

Johnny Cupcakes came out with this shirt a little while ago, but I still wanted to plug it today. In one of his early blogs Johnny mentioned how he always wanted to collaborate with some of his child hood heroes. One of those goals was to heroes was Nickelodeon. This shirt shows the mash up between Johnny Cupcakes and one of my favorite Nickelodeon cartoons, Angry Beavers. It’s very inspiring to see how his dreams have turned into reality. Something I aspire to do as well.

Side note: The guy in this add is the Johnny Cupcakes head designer Chris DeLorenzo.

Day 70

I love clever ideas and the guys over at The Breakfast Club one for St. Patrick's Day. In the spirit of an already established style they are tattooing another great icon. However, this time they have stepped away from the big screen and moved over to the breakfast table. It looks like my childhood favorite, Lucky, is getting the "inked" treatment. As they typically do, The Breakfast Club will be releasing this shirt in a very limited quantity. Keep an eye out this week for the drop.

Day 69: The Big Announcement

And the name of the top secret product line I want to produce this year is…..DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

What is Soda Bomb?

Soda Bomb is a mash up of soda flavors and explosive devices all blanketed in a nostalgic style. I have a love for the greaser style of the 1950’s. My wife and I have both said that if we were able to pick any time to live in, it would have been that era. It was a time when kids had baseball cards in the bicycle spokes and a date was walking down to the 5 and 10 to get a soda pop with that special girl. Just because it’s 2012 doesn’t mean you aren’t able to enjoy that era. Soda Bomb’s goal is to make you want to grab some palmade and slick that hair back.

Why Soda Bomb?

Many things remind of me of that era, but why did I choose Soda and Bombs? Well for starters, it’s a play on words or a double entendre. The term “that’s so the bomb” is what got the gears turning. However, in addition to that, I also have a sweet tooth for soda and I am slightly intrigued by twisted and edgy imagery. For me it seems natural to create a product line that combines these things and keeps people guessing at how many different combinations there could be.

How will Soda Bomb be presented?

Soda Bomb will be primarily a graphic T-shirt clothing line. In my mind there is nothing better than jeans and T-shirts. I want to encourage that style especially given the era we are trying to market. In addition, I plan to have stickers and buttons so you can show your love for Soda Bomb beyond your favorite T-shirt. One of the things I am most excited about is the potential for creative packaging. When you receive a Soda Bomb product, I want the entire experience to be fun and enjoyable.

When can you expect to see a Soda Bomb product?

It’s coming…lol. My goal is to have a First Edition One Time Only shirt available in May. That’s only about 6 to 8 weeks from now so it’s going to sneak up quick. I haven’t fully decided all the details, but most likely this will be an E-bay shirt sold in a very limited quantity. This will be your chance to let the world know you were the first to discover Soda Bomb.

Day 68

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love vintage things. I like vintage cars, motorcycles, soda signs, clothes, and so on... Today I want to introduce you guys to the masters of Vintage T-shirts. Junk Food Clothing. The name alone is cool, but the T-shirts all look like your worn out favorite. Check them out.

Don't forget, tomorrow is the big product name announcement.

Day 67

I recently joined the Twitter scene and have been very excited to discover so many other T-shirt designers. One of the most recent T-shirts lines I have come across is called “Candy Effect”. They use simple designs that feed your sweet tooth. Very creative ideas, fun, and pretty cool. Check them out their goods here. http://candyeffectclothing.storenvy.com/

Day 66

I know I haven’t shown much of my work over the last week or so. That has kind of been on purpose. I have been gearing up for my big reveal this Saturday. Part of this T-shirt venture is studying and learning what other designers are doing, as well as networking and planning. So despite the lack of recent work being shown, work is being done. Hang in there for a few more days, and we will all enjoy some solid design work on Saturday. In the mean time, here is another cool Tee I found online.

Day 65

This a new shirt by Max Grundy. I thought my New Hampshire audience may be particularly interested in it given the banner reading. It says "Vive In Libertate Aut Morere" which is Latin for "Live Free or Die." Amen.

You can find it here: http://www.maxgrundy.com/storeapperal.htm

Day 64

I've been enjoying my search for other T-shirt designers and cool T-shirts. Well this one is double cool. What's cooler than an Ewok? Predator right? Well what if you had a Predewok? Oh yeah. Coolest shirt ever.

Since I know some of you guys are going to want this, just follow the link and place your order. http://www.604republic.com/prod/predewok_t_shirt

DAY 63

I've been doing a lot of digging around for other Independent Tee Shirt Companies, and came across Seventh Ink. They are pretty cool. A little darker than some of the other stuff I've been posting, but I like them. Check out this sugar skull shirt they have available.

Day 62

Johnny Cupcakes released a few new T-shirts today. One of them is this cool Fighting Irish Tee. Let March madness begin.

DAY 61

This is a really cool shirt supporting a timeless cause.

Day 60

I watched one of Star Wars movies with my oldest son last night. So in the spirit of the Jedi, here's a really cool Tee by Johnny Cupcakes.