Profile for spires - the dreaded SQUARE

spires aka James is a 28.96 year old boy, has been a member since May 13, 2006, has scored 5205 submissions, giving an average score of 2.59.

AIM: spires1776

Aug 25 '06 by spires

74 Comments

Watch this Share:

the dreaded SQUARE

Post some otherwise awesome subs, ruined by that damned bounding rectangle; like so:

Issue #1 - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

Page:

1 2

Stevethegreat on Aug 25 '06 at 12:35pm

whaa?

lovesushi on Aug 25 '06 at 12:35pm

you first!

spires on Aug 25 '06 at 12:36pm

crap! k

spires on Aug 25 '06 at 12:39pm

bumpity freaking hop

lovesushi on Aug 25 '06 at 12:39pm

ah ha ok. Hmm, there's been a few recently I shall have to do some searching...

spires on Aug 25 '06 at 12:51pm

bump!

lovesushi on Aug 25 '06 at 12:53pm

Ok this one I found quite cool, but no-one seemed to be able to explain the mysterious black rectangle...

Stevethegreat on Aug 25 '06 at 12:53pm

oh

like that

amy122166 on Aug 25 '06 at 12:54pm

i know what you mean...rectangles are well...ech!!...but
how would you have handled the one you posted...being that it's a book??

spires on Aug 25 '06 at 12:55pm

Doodle. - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

amy122166 on Aug 25 '06 at 12:55pm

^^^prime example!

spires on Aug 25 '06 at 12:55pm

there's millions of ways, amy. It does take thought and planning, and to describe all the ways would be hard and take long.

:)

blonde8007 on Aug 25 '06 at 12:56pm

yeah ive always hated rectangle designs. HATED.

lovesushi on Aug 25 '06 at 12:56pm

The book one I have to second amy122166 on; it'd be hard to break out of that design conceit!

C20Percent on Aug 25 '06 at 1:02pm

The Arcades Project - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

Most annoying square ever. I hate it so much.

spires on Aug 25 '06 at 1:04pm

I don't see the square on that design, C20

kellybelly223 on Aug 25 '06 at 1:14pm

oh man, there are a lot of them. That always bothers me too. I'm going to try and find some...

spires on Aug 25 '06 at 1:16pm

do it! I'll post this cute message on the sub page:

This has been added to THE DREADED SQUARE

DUN DUN DUN

kellybelly223 on Aug 25 '06 at 1:17pm

Touchdown Turnaround - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

amy122166 on Aug 25 '06 at 1:17pm

spires on Aug 25 '06 at 1:04pm
I don't see the square on that design, C20

i gotta laugh!! i think our brains are fried because i's friday or something.

OlliRudi on Aug 25 '06 at 1:17pm

fuckkk, i´ve been working on a pulp movie poster design very much like that detective stories sub for two weeks...guess i need to rethink the format

OlliRudi on Aug 25 '06 at 1:18pm

it doesn´t actually have a bounding rectangle though

spires on Aug 25 '06 at 1:20pm

can't wait to see it olli

kellybelly223 on Aug 25 '06 at 1:36pm

another - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

spires on Aug 25 '06 at 1:51pm

Fourbelune - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

KimberlyAnne on Aug 25 '06 at 4:07pm

oh mann. so.. if the person who created that design called 'doodle.' was to rework the sub, do you think they'd have a chance with it later on? not that it was me, or anything.

spires on Aug 25 '06 at 4:13pm

Most certainly, Kimberly! Great use of texture and pattern! Don't be afraid to let the design creep under the arms, and toterminate the design more elegantly.

Good piece, just needs a little more freedom :)

whootie on Aug 26 '06 at 11:08am

thank you, spires, for making this blog. i hate rectangles/squares too.

and i love the pictures in fourbelune.. it's really sad that it has a box.

spires on Aug 26 '06 at 11:09am

no problem, whootie. I suspect that this blog has some long-term potential for growth and interest.

margolove on Aug 26 '06 at 11:16am

The one kellybelly posted, "Touchdown Takeover," was really bothering me too. It's such an amazing, detailed design, and (to me at least) it's ruined by the rectangle. What a shame.. maybe they'll resub it with the edges extended some.

spires on Aug 26 '06 at 11:20am

Since it's a play on an album cover, and the square is somewhat mitigated by the linework towards the edges, I'm not going to post in that sub's comments. I feel it is strangely appropriate to that sub, and if the edges were extended, the concept might be in jeopardy. That also means, that the concept itself has a built-in limitation that would be very difficult to overcome.

I have sympathy for the designer because the concept is clever, but the limits of the concept have been reached in my opinion.

margolove on Aug 26 '06 at 11:23am

oh, the whole "album cover parody, so a rectangle is appropriate" thing hadn't really clicked in my brain.. I'm glad you pointed that out, though, it makes a lot more sense now.

revcruz on Aug 26 '06 at 11:32am

Hi margolove and spires! Talking about my design? ;-) Yup, I was going for an album cover effect, since I was referencing the Abbey Road album cover after all, and I was bound to end up with a rectangular design. I saw your blog and thought, hey, my design's been getting similar comments. We'll see, I just might end up reworking it (if I still have the time...) and see if I can free it from its' rectangular limits. "might"...

margolove on Aug 26 '06 at 11:34am

hehe, yeah. And.. it really is an amazing design! Congratulations on making something so beautiful :D

revcruz on Aug 26 '06 at 11:36am

Thanks! If it doesn't make it as a T-shirt, I hope hellogoodbye considers it as an album cover :D

ladygekko on Aug 26 '06 at 12:52pm

Come on, the fourbelune one is a forgiveable square... It is organic, versus being a click and drag box in paint. Ick.

spires on Aug 26 '06 at 1:43pm

from a distance, that looks like a rectangle. It belongs on the list.

slurmtastic on Aug 26 '06 at 2:25pm

Under The El - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

spires on Aug 26 '06 at 2:30pm

thanks slurm, I forgot to actually add it.

derrrr

:)

Robertico on Aug 27 '06 at 4:30am

I hope you're not trying to deride the popularity of certain shirts by just going *gasp* this is square, LINK!
Square, retangle, or anything with angles around a design in a shirt doesn't automatically make it bad.
I don't think it's fair to just negatively criticize a shirt because it fits one particular standard.

slurmtastic on Aug 27 '06 at 4:51am

I think the purpose of the blog is to find designs that we actually like and that are very high quality, but whose only fault is their rigid, boxed in look. The rectangles, etc. do not translate well onto shirts. Though you are right, Robertico, just because a design is rectangualr, that does not make it bad. In our opinions, however, some of these designs would have better chances of being printed if they blended into the shirt better. Yessir. And chocolate cake.

slickhop on Aug 27 '06 at 1:30pm

...quality thread, good criticism.

spires on Aug 27 '06 at 2:39pm

I'm not against the box per se, but designs that don't work well in the box.

This is a wonderful exception, to a box design that works well:

Bring it. - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

spires on Aug 27 '06 at 2:43pm

CORRECTION

This is a wonderful exception to the general rule: a box design that works well: ***

mediashapes on Aug 27 '06 at 2:46pm

This would have been a good shirt with a square design. Apparently, it was only sold as a print.

spires on Aug 27 '06 at 2:47pm

I agree, that's a gorgeous piece

on a white shirt it would have worked perfectly

spires on Aug 27 '06 at 2:49pm

Wonderful in a box:

She loves me not. - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

monkee_xDD on Aug 27 '06 at 3:51pm

^ i hope that gets printed (:

Robertico on Aug 27 '06 at 4:42pm

^_^;; *wipes sweat from forehead*... I'm glad you all being objective about it. I shall keep my eye on this thread argh!
Some of those designs up above do look great in a box. I do find Under the El a terrif design especially because it does have an cartoon feel to it, so I think it belongs in a box. The submission "Bring It" is awesome!, I rated it a 5$ and I'd buy it.
Just don't let yourself become jaded about "squares"! *laughs* ;D