http://www.threadless.com/ Fri, 01 Jun 2012 01:32:40 -0500 Sat, 20 Aug 2005 13:14:08 -0500
Huge prizes should have lured more designers into this, but the contest was the 5th running concurrently and wasn't given enough time after the others' deadlines for interest and quality to build. People finishing up their submissions for the Semi-Perm or Beyond the Pit contests had less than a week to work-up designs for this.

The theme was also a bit more limited, which made it less appealig than some of the other more open-ended contests around at the same time. This is one you had to think about. And although I like the song plenty, its lyrics are a bit direct for a lot of visual play to occur.

So, the relative difficulty of designing compounded with the clusterfunk of contest deadlines, resulted in a fairly sparse competition in my opinion. Not to detract from the abilities or designs of those who will win, but I am sure this is something they were excited to see.

Anyway.... My picks are such:

#1- Submission 18 - Iwouldbejosh

The one who would be josh takes what's fairly direct and makes it more obtuse and gets a great result in the end. Dressing the dodos up was a nice touch and compliments the band's fashion aesthetic in a cute way. I look at this and think... too bad those dodos don't know they'll never be able to make a "comeback". And, I think, that captures the overall mood of the song in a way that nothing else did. Reminds me of Marcel Dzama for some reason.

#2- x - eratiket

Simple art that works well to capture the expressionless, antiquey feel of the video. It seemed there was some leaning toward using the video as inspiration, and I think this one does that well.

#3- The Sleepless Theatre - swingliner

Very nice design that has a couple design faults. The brain and butterflies bit, I'd argue is a fitting addition but it is too prominent in the overall design and pulls the viewer away from focus, which is the finger puppet exhibition. Also, the bottom corner placement doesn't seem logical for this design as it fights against the negative space instead of utilizing it for balance. Having this be the centered vertical stripe it wants to be and sizing down the brain and butterflies a bit would allow the viewer to digest it more comfortably and thus make a more memorable design.

Runner-Up- sing along - Awesomeinc

A symbolic lyric sheet that hits like a shotgun blast to the chest. Clever, but a little weak in its current incarnation. Letting the symbols break out of their rigid box a bit would enhance the art style and the design overall.... and using the banana color as an actual third color would allow this to be placed on a stronger, muted color (like sage) where it would really be exceptional.

Good luck to everyone! Did I miss any great entries?]]> Sun, 14 Aug 2005 12:10:57 -0500
1,2,3
It's beautiful now in ..? (Cruz)
Her Latest Design (Manos)
manhole rat (BLUEbus)

all three are nice, complete designs - not just clever illustrations - that can exist on their own and, i think, capture the multiple fronts of the contest them. Cruz did some top notch work with his serene use of negative space. Manos' use of the statue of liberty tagging the city is a great use of symbol and a pretty solid design, despite the "easy" reliance on lady liberty. And, I just think BLUEbus' rat is great for its simplicity and smart color selection.

Runners-Up
My Home (Ultraman94)
Must Be Something in the Water (Si-Clark)
NY (very) Special Rangers (sveninho)
Wildlife (bourbon)
New York, ARGH (jbaxter4)
Homo Superius (travis76)
medUSA (Manos)

Ultraman's entry is easily my second favorite of the kong/primate entries, and is probably a more direct play off the theme... could have been balanced a tad better with something flying on the left-sde... but still very good. Si-Clark and sveninho put up a couple of clever illustrations, but i'm just not convinced they are the best designs. bourbon and jbaxter4's shirts are very nice work, but it seems to me to be the very-expected convention t-shirt... that's both a compliment and a criticism. travis76's woefully slaughtered design is a snappy pop-culture reference that pulls in a little bit of new york flavor (as opposed to vice versa) - i think a little more solid color choice/work and a stronger placement could have made this a hands-down contender. Manos' second (?) entry is, again, a clever use of one of the more popular new york icons.. even though the face looks a littttle off to me, i really just thought "Her Latest Design" was a better piece. (any of these have a good shot, i think)

EDIT

the bright lights (conan doyle) (now one of my top picks)
SUPERSPECIES ESCAPE (Robsoul) (placed into my perhaps overcrowded Runners-Up list)]]> Wed, 03 Aug 2005 21:35:37 -0500 Wed, 03 Aug 2005 18:51:46 -0500
<3 <3 <3 to this tee.]]> Tue, 19 Jul 2005 18:01:43 -0500
...if God was here
First is just a playful illustration re: that classic moment from the Five Man Electric Band's "Signs" where our hippie hero jumps up onto a fence and yells at a house, "Hey! What gives you the right! To put up a fence to keep me out, but to keep mother nature in!!" (and then the lyrics become the t-shirt). Great way to stick it to the Man, imho.

...where were they going, w/o ever knowing...
Second is an attempt at artistically representing the Tao as it relates to people... a fairly simple yet incredibly complex idea. As I was looking through the wikipedia for some kind of ten-word summary to throw in a post here or under the design, I started to realize how flawed a representation it is... what's funny is that the wiki entry actually cites the tradition of inherently flawed attempts to portray the Tao through art. So, right now, I'm feeling pretty good about being part of some giant, perpetual failure of humanity. Me, Fastball, dudes who might like this design just because there are a couple heads getting exploded by arrows... we're all interwoven when it comes down to it. And isn't that, after all, kinda sorta somewhat what everything's about.

Yeah....]]> Mon, 11 Jul 2005 17:07:14 -0500
any ideas why?

http://www.threadless.com/submission/46682/Love_(and_Death)_in_the_Time_of_Hollera]]> Tue, 05 Jul 2005 20:05:23 -0500 Tue, 05 Jul 2005 20:04:02 -0500 Tue, 05 Jul 2005 20:03:32 -0500