A while back, I won a contest and had some non-iron-on patches made of my design:



I got quite a few, so if any one would like one, please send me an e-mail at my threadless user name at yahoo dot com with a mailing address. First come, first served.

Buying a t-shirt might not save the world, but it can certainly help one person/ family at a time. From Springwise:

One of the challenges for charitable organizations large and small is to get potential donors to feel the need for help in an immediate and personal way. By selling t-shirts imprinted with the stories of the specific individuals in need of assistance, Rosa Loves raises the necessary funds while also giving donors a tangible connection with the people they have helped.

Each Rosa Loves t-shirt is created to help a specific person, family or community, and 60 percent of its sales go directly to providing that assistance. The story of those in need is told on each t-shirt through not just a graphical design on the outside, but also a written description of that story on the shirt's inside, just over the wearer's heart. T-shirts are hand-numbered and created in limited runs; once the needed amount has been raised for a particular cause, Rosa Loves stops printing and selling the associated t-shirt. A series of t-shirts over the holidays, for example, was designed to provide holiday meals to 10 families in the St. Augustine, Florida, area, where Rosa Loves is based. In just two weeks, the shirts sold out and Rosa Loves had enough funds to supply the needed meals.

The site's founders explain: "It's usually thoughts like, 'those people over there,' that perpetuate a sense of complacency and lack of concern. Rosa Loves wants to shed light on the stories around us, to give them a real face, a real name."

The Rosa Loves website

From Design 21:

Design the official logo for “Stories from the Field: The United Nations Documentary Film Festival”

The Stories from the Field festival is presented by Media Communications Association International, New York Chapter (MCA-I NY) in partnership with the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI) and The New School.

Until now the communications material for Stories from the Field has contained variations of the MCA-I NY logo with the United Nations logo and the title – as shown in the example here. The organization is looking for a logo that represents the festival, rather than the organizations that present it.

The logo would be used on the festival's calls for entries, programs, posters, flyers, stationery, collateral materials and the website. It would also be used to brand the various satellite festivals that are in formation.

The Logo should be composed of 2 elements:
– An icon representing the festival
– The festival title

Your Entry should feature 2 variants:
– Short version of the logo: Icon + “Stories from the Field”
– Full version of the logo: Icon + “Stories from the Field: The United Nations Documentary Film Festival”

Notes for the full version: Stories from the Field should have more prominence than UNDFF (think of the difference between a title and a tag line). The use of a colon is not mandatory so long as the hierarchy between the main (“Stories from the Field”) and secondary (“The United Nations Documentary Film Festival”) parts of the full title is clearly established.

While you may elect to show examples of applications of your logo design in various formats, you are not required to design anything other than the logo itself...

Background on the festival

“Stories from the Field: The United Nations Documentary Film Festival” first took place in 2005 to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations and support the Millennium Development Goals. Media Communications Association International (MCA-I) is a global community of professionals dedicated to the business and art of visual communication. Founded in 1968 as the International Television Association (ITVA), and renamed the Media Communications Association International in 2001, today's organization now serves a diverse membership of producers, directors, writers, camera operators, technicians, industrial performers, journalists, publicists, graphic artists, programmers, and media executives.

In 2004 MCA-I joined with the United Nations Department of Public Information to create a film festival to showcase documentaries made by various UN or UN-affiliated agencies. For a film to qualify it had to reflect one or more of the points contained in the ongoing theme of the Stories Festival: the Millennium Development Goals.

In 2005, 80 films were submitted and selected films were screened at The New School’s Tishman Auditorium in New York. In 2006, the festival was opened up to the public. Awards are given to Best UN Feature (15 min. and longer), Best UN Short (under 15 min.), Best UN PSA, Best Public Film (60 min. and under), and an Audience Choice Award for Best (UN or Public) Film. This year the program expanded to include panel discussions and workshops, and in 2008, the festival plans to add a special category for young documentary makers...

To read the Millennium Development Goals in full: un.org/millenniumgoals

To learn more about the festival: storiesfromthefield.org

Submission Deadline

Monday November 26 2007 at 11.59pm UTC (Coordinated Universal Time)

From the Brave New Films website:

Brave New Threads

We have been wanting to offer Brave New Films, FOX Attacks and The REAL Rudy t-shirts and apparel for a while. We couldn't think of the best way to do it, until now. From Field Producers to our vibrant online community, Brave New Films is defined by you. So why stop at shirts? We want YOU to design our shirts. After you submit your design, we'll put it up to be voted on. The designs with the most votes will be put into production and help us raise money for future campaigns.
Guidelines

Submit your designs in reduced-sized JPEG format to tshirts@gobnf.org . If you are selected as a finalist, we will request the final artwork. Final artwork should be in 300 dpi, at final size. So if you intend the image to be 7" by 8", it should be 2100 by 2400 at 300 dpi. Please don't use more than 4 colors and less is better. The preferred file format is Adobe Photoshop (PSD), but TIFF (TIF), Adobe Illustrator (AI), or a high quality JPEG will also work. We'll be printing on American Apparel 2001 Fine Jersey Short Sleeve t-shirts.

If you go to the "Brave New Threads" website, you can download their logos. They also provide a t-shirt color palette on the site.

From the Eyebeam organization website (via Inhabitat):

1. Eco Icons

Create one or many information graphics that could be used to make visible environmental / ecological concerns

Thematically, these are icons that engage the politics of information and the persuasion of graphics. Examples of icons could include logos for web sites, stickers to place on objects or buildings, drawings/patterns to draw or stencil on to streets and buildings, stickers/tags that could be shopdropped in stores with information about the environmental impact of a product. You can invent a whole range of icons and their uses. Be creative!

The Eco Icons Challenge will end Monday, November 5, 2007.

2. Eco-Vis

Create an eco-visualization based on at least one set of ecological impact data

Your job as an “eco-visualizer” is to reveal hidden ways of thinking and to suggest alternative frameworks to a theme or various themes, and at least one data set. This could take the form of dynamic data visualization, a print graphic, a real-world intervention, or some other inventive form. The key is to create a greater understanding of the theme or data through clear and inventive design.

The Eco-Vis Challenge will end Saturday, December 8, 2007.

From the Mike Gravel for President website:

"Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel is looking for a few talented graphic designers to volunteer to lend their talents to the campaign by submitting new designs for logos, t-shirts and other promotional materials. Please email low-res samples to cpetherick@gravel2008.us

Designers, whose submissions are adopted by the campaign, will be given full credit on the Senator's web site. So let's get designing, folks, and help us spread the word!"
Learn More: Gravel '08

You won't get paid, but maybe Gravel will do another video stare-off wearing your swanky campaign t-shirt or button.

If you are a fan of ephemera like I am, the fire marshal is about to condemn your abode as a fire hazard because you enjoy collecting design that most people throw away. But you also know that this "transitory art" is the pulse of both society and design and tells the story of cultures and perceptions as seen by the ordinary, everyday mass in a unique medium.

Chinese Label Art: 1900-1976 by Andrew Cahan (published by Schiffer Books) tells such as story of Chinese society and commerce, with examples largely culled from Cahan's own collection. He has had a near-lifelong interest in Chinese culture for well over forty years, which provides for fascinating reading. Here are some of the wonderful illustrations in the book:

I was interviewed on Friday, July 6, by the Harvard Business School about my experience and opinions on the Threadless business model and internet experience. It was really fun throwing my two cents into the pool of voices that hopefully will inspire other business entrepreneurs and managers to truly trust the voices of the customers -- not a consultant that tells them what the faceless masses want.

Some of the questions I was asked included:

1. How did I learn about Threadless and what prompted me to join?

2. What keeps me coming back to participate at Threadless?

3. Would a distribution partnership with a chain store retailer change the nature of Threadless experience or my opinion of Threadless? (theoretical question, guys...)

4. What differentiates my experience at Threadless from other internet chat groups/forums that I participate in?

Zahra and Brian ("the HBS film crew") also tailored questions around my personal experiences, which was really cool (having worked in a lot of nonprofit programs, they were interested in my opinion on political design at Threadless, for example).

The whole interview experience was designed in such a way that made it very hard for me to look like a complete and utter babbling idiot (which is my normal state) -- so if you are in the metropolitan Boston area and have some time, send an e-mail to the team at threadless@hbs.edu.

PS: The HBS crew do need to return to Chicago for one more interview with the Threadless folks, so people from Chicago might want to mention an interest in participating in the case study as well -- it never hurts to ask!

Win a BRAND NEW 5.5" by 4" DigiPro Drawing Tablet just by taking the "Which Classic Movie Are You" and "What Famous Leader Are You?" tests at Similar Minds.comand match my results!

Post your results by Saturday, July 7, to be considered for the contest -- remember you must take both tests! List your submission in this way:

MOVIE:
LEADER:

Tired Joke #1 ("Simon Cowell")


Tired Joke #2 ("Paula Abdul")


Tired Joke #3 ("Randy Jackson")


Tired Joke #4 ("Ryan Seacrest")