For a while now, I've been going through the Threadless subs to talk up my fav's in my personal blog, but today, I'd like to dedicate a Threadless blog to solely Threadless affairs, namely naming 15 underscored Threadless subs for 2008. These aren't my favorites necessarily, but they're all solid pieces, all ones I'd consider buying if printed, and all quite a bit lower-scored than I think they deserved.

Since I only really got dedicated with my voting in the fall, most of these are admittedly newer pieces... I imagine I'll have a more even spread to work with next year. I'll be listing these alphabetically, out of fairness, and displaying an "Adjusted Score" beside each... basically, an increased score weighed as a combination of my own enjoyment mixed with how I feel it should have averaged out in scoring. Feel free to discuss below, or add some of your own... lord knows I haven't seen everything there is to see.


One of the first shirts at Threadless I fell for, despite being pretty dramatically unlike the normal fare. It's simple and I love the textures (and being of Italian descent, I can't say no to anything that reminds me of prosciutto). Adjusted score: 2.7


Something about the colors, the size, the cleanliness of the overall piece and the charm of the various monsters. I can see the piece suffering a bit given some of the uncertainties of the design, but at the end of the day, I just can't figure out how these guys faltered quite as much as they did. Adjusted Score: 2.56


I love Von Monkey's lumpy hairy creatures... "I just called to say" is one of the tops on my "shirts I'd want to print if I had a store" list. Yes, I have one of those, and don't pretend none of you do too. So it comes as no surprise that I'd be just as drawn to three of them. They're just great characters, and against the nicely detailed mountains and with that halo of a moon behind them, it creates a wonderful little effect. Also like how the design looks against the shirt itself. I can understand the straight cropped bottom hurting this a little, but not that much. Adjusted Score: 2.77


This is the highest scoring shirt on this list, which could make the inclusion of it at all a bit arguable, but I stand behind it. Everything about this shirt, from the size and colors to the style and concept screams must-buy and must-print, so even though it's technically a "printable score," it's nonsense to me how this isn't just counting the days til an inevitable print. Adjusted Score: 3.13


While many of the Horror subs went toward the grotesque, I quite preferred this little number, partly because it had a far more subtle take on the theme, both in colors and details, and partly because of how starkly it stood out against the rest of the entries because of it. It's simply more everyday wearable, to me, taking the more abstract route, and even if it wasn't meant to win the contest, it certainly should never have ended up scored this low. My only guess would be a simple horror fatigue by the time this late entry hit scoring, which is really no excuse at all. Adjusted Score: 2.91


For some reason or other, Igo2cairo was one of my first consistent high-scored designers 'round these parts... I didn't even notice it until I went back to compile this list. This is still one of my favs from him, and certainly the one I feel is the furthest from where it should be scored. Once again, I see a totally Threadless concept, a well-executed realization of it, and a score that makes no sense to me. Adjusted Score: 3.03


Perhaps a vanity favorite more than anything, this design's sloppy simplicity really gets under my skin and camps out there. It really feels like the shirt equivalent of the lo-fi indie music that has been gaining a cultural foothold now more than ever... it's like the shirt has its roots in Pavement. Maybe my perception of Threadlessites is simply wrong, but for that alone, I'd have presumed more success. Adjusted Score: 2.61, a bit low still for my tastes, but one has to be at least vaguely reasonable.


Clearly I'm in need of a shirt proclaiming the love of pig-based products, and clearly Threadless wants to thwart me of this. Still, even a McCain-esque loathing of pork can't deny that the characters here are endearingly cute, and the style feels wonderfully vintage, which puts it on a pedestal above the generic stupid-man-joke it could have been. Not that my own bit of stupid-man doesn't appreciate it on that level too. Adjusted Score: 2.54


Simply put, the linework and characters and everything here make me baffled at such a middling score, especially when the designer's latest monochromatic linework piece scored dramatically higher. A better piece, sure, but this one still has enough that it should have squeaked in at least a bit closer. Adjusted Score: 2.88


I unabashedly think this is one of the best things I've ever seen. I don't know why, but I think part of it is how natural and fleshed-out the character seems, even despite those oppressively huge pearly whites. It shows a very unique mind at work, and a skilled hand as well, and while the pure weirdness may be something the site would balk at to some degree, the stylistic choices make me feel it deserves better. And by better, I ideally mean a print. Adjusted Score: 2.99


I absolutely love the whimsy here, the playful colors, the general sense of fantasy. This design is the sort of thing where you can lose that "adult" bull and get lost in a youthful sense of wonder. Besides that, it's done clean, and has a solid joke and theme, and I love the idea of wind-up buildings. Adjusted Score: 3.08


The colors here are what really blow me away, but I also quite dig the humor in this verbose homage to the Ed Sullivan era of teen idols. The style brings it back to that era, and the crowd is priceless (the fainter alone is easily enough to knock this up a couple decimals). With the lively palette and scene, I can't imagine it not rocketing to fame. Adjusted Score: 2.82


The concept here is a total winner, to me... the idea of a centaur cowboy with minotaur cows just seems like it's ready for primetime, and the art gives the whole proceedings a nice western flair. 'Course, I also love creme shirts, so that's another perk for me. Adjusted Score: 3.01


I've scored many Ginette designs over the year, but the fact is that while I might think they're underscored, I can understand how the masses might not grasp it. This one, however, deserved better no matter how you slice it. It's the sort of slogan shirt I love because there's something going on in it. The design fits the concept, the type needs the design to make sense, and it has a cynical snark to the message that I appreciate the hell out of. Adjusted Score: 2.67


Finally, we end here. I think what I appreciated most about this one is the absurdity of how daunting, how well guarded, and how lethal this island lair is, just for the sake of its simple prize. The concept would have probably been too simple for a massive payoff, but a higher one doesn't seem unreasonable. Adjusted Score: 2.78

So that's what I came up with. Anyone have anything to add?