ok, u won me over....i like....i'd like to see the white stuff more messy and add a third guy coming closer to ya, overlapping like you already did...nice

Id like your submissions a lot more if youd just stick one of your dudes on a shirt and fill in the lines with a solid color.

all the background noise just takes away from your killer illustrations.

i agree with fwis: the background on thius makes it almost impossible to focus on the line drawings. maybe if there was no white inside the characters, giving the impression of opacity?

Ive only been browsing here for a few days, but if my opinion is worth anything your designs are some of the best on this site.

Love your style :)

I agree tho that the background is a lil distracting.

Maybe it would work better with a subtle green :P

nice. no changes. none.

love the figures, but there's too much going on.

DO NOT fill the dudes in, it would take away from their sketch factor

yeah. i like the cross-over between the rough and the smooth. its something you get in all my designs. part of my aesthetic.

plus i think the guys on there own would be too dull for me. not enough narrative there. the background is relevant to the 'story' (ok some story but its a concept) plus that cream is almost tonally the same as the green so the brown guys really stand out.

so talk!

i'm ok with sketchiness but the overlaps can be visually irritating
i feel that filling the characters won't detract from the feel and narrative and would give a more coherent picture
the guys do not stand out and the cream is not the same as the green, tone or otherwise
sketching its probably the best way to get an idea down graphically but at the same time its also undeveloped
the unfinished aesthetic shows that either you want it to be "unfinished" or you can't decide what to do next
obviously you weren't satisfied with just the sketch as you explain, and added some "extras"
here it looks like 90% reaching completion
try "finishing" off the image and see if you like that better... could work..
and your narrative... um...
i like the trees!

no no no. its the contrast between the clean symbolism of the background and the sketchiness of the foreground that i find attractive and visually appealing. thats why i think the characters stand out - they are in a different style. thats why the background is so simplistic and symbolic.

i feel that the characters on their own are finished. and the backgrond on its own is finished also. and together I think that they work fine. uh. its not like this is the first thing i did and put it up. i have versions that are filled and versions that the characters are toned and traced in illustrator. and out of thse i liked this the best. ya see? its a personal choice i guess.

talk! more!

This is real good now. 'twas good before. 'tis real good now. Gooooood Jawa.

i think you need to worry less about what you like, and worry more about what's gonna make a good tshirt that people would want to buy.

fwis has put it bluntly what i failed to get across...
seriously.. have you tried filling the characters? let's just say in white!
they look good on the presentation...
in the end, i just hope i can help you refine the design... (that's why i'm posting again..)

when a designer feels that his work is complete. he will never improve beyond that limitation because he has already stopped thinking. anyway just because he's stopped designing, it doesn't mean his work is finished in the eyes of others. in my mind's eye, i envision something much more.

psychicteeths's comment shows your design has "improved" (at least from his persp)

if i wanted to design a tee-shirt that all you people liked then i wouldnt have any identiy as an illustrator or a designer. it would be design by committie.

i dont really give a damn about making a tee-shirt that people here want to buy. im doing it (and i know this may sound crazy) for myself. From posting up here ive already got in contact with a few uk tee-shirt places that are interested in my work so i guess i must be doing somethign right.

at the end of the day i have a job where i make money and design and illustrate. That is where i work for clients to briefs and other peoples needs. In my free time i design and illustrate for me only. As a personal thing. And that is why i post tee-shirts up here and that is why i make the design choices i make. Its what I like not what YOU like.

As to you knives - i feel that this particular peice had reached a perfect balance and thus was finished. i had alread whited out the insides of the people and explored a number of different avenues and ended up here. This is my favorite solution. it doesnt in anyway mean that i have stoped 'improving' it just means that this sketch is complete, i have learnt my lessons from it, and i like the result.

Your 'minds eye' may well want it to look another way. but i really dont care about that. To me it is finished and i am proud of it. Perhaps if you see all these resplendant solutions to tee-shirt problems you should post a few yourself?
Always a good one that.

ah early morning rant over and out.

I don’t think you should take peoples comments so seriously if you're doing it for yourself.

By putting a design up on this site, you are allowing your work to be judged by others & some may have a more critical objective than others.

They’re just giving you feedback.

If you don’t care about other peoples thoughts on your designs then why be so defensive?

im not being defensive. I love this debate stuff. I just am voicing my opinion. like everyone else!

i hate those comments pages where people go 'rubbish' or 'great' and thats it. i mean this here thingy is for communicating isnt it? talk is good.

i mean i could not say anything. but wheres the fun in that?

heh, fair enough.

holy....

this dude gets some serious comments...

get off threadless and start your own t co.

nice work

i love these comments.

even the ones i disagree with i respect them enough to respond. all chat is healthy.

alright
so you're sick of fucking clients telling you what to do without having any idea themselves

threadless isn't that place where people post comments forcing design changes
i don't intend to compromise you precious design identity suggesting impossible things like filling stuff in etc.
they're just suggestions, its up to you to decide what you want
if its finished so be it, fine.

it took me a long time to overlook the "ranting" and realise that you're being selfish because you presumably spend most of your time working on someone else's stuff, unable to show your "identity" as a designer

i "hope" you're not really as selfish as you sound (read your own comment again)
i'm actually trying to think of you as better than some egomaniacal artist who thinks he's god's gift to t-shirts

check that "attitude"
even if you're just in it for the money
you don't have to tell us you don't care
that's honesty i can live without

i just love these inverted commas. they're "phat".

the only attitude i have is to like what i have done. if that is being selfish then i guess all artists, illustrators, or anyone who creates is selfish.

i certainly dont think im gods gift. I know that a lot of people hate the stuff i do. The important thing about it is that i like it.

i dont know if that is selfish or if that is self belief. but either way it drives me on.

as to 'in it for the money' (besides being a great supergrass album i own) i cant see how that is relevant to me whatsoever. Threadless isnt about money. the work i do here isnt about money. You agree with Fwis that i should design more for other people and less for me. That is surely designing for the "money" (acalim, printed te--shirts and whatnot). Arent i the exact opposite of that? er....yes.

you should look at the comments i got for my last submission dude, (gotowaryoudamnmonkey). As you can see, it shows an example on how picky people are getting on specific things they want from threadless. I understand what your going on about, it seems a lot of people only respect certain fashion styles and dont understand when designers try somin different.

I view threadless as a open space for designers to express new styles in graphic design. Its a great place to see new phazes in fashion and technical design.

Fairplay to your designs, there original and good. keep ranting... thats all good too... i better shut up now ..safe!

Jawa, you have worded my thoughts perfectly. I got in a similar debate with knivesout recently.
It seems the community at large is here to sell t-shirts, while there are a select few of us trying to
make interesting "art" that just happens to be on a garment (I have to place quotes on ART now or the "designers" tend to attack). That's not to say we wouldn't want our designs to be printed and sell like crazy;
that would be fantastic, it's just not the point. The annoying thing about this forum is when you try to explain this, people think you are being argumentative or "defensive." I like your work, & unlike my own, you have a specific style that you have mastered. Individuality will always confuse the masses - but that's no reason to change.

Aw peeps. Guys thanks! I thought i was going to be ostracised in this place forever.

But seriously - even though i disagree with knivesout i still think its important to respond. As you say im not being defensive im just trying to do my thing.

Keep it up. And thanks for the comments.

byron dude. you are well up there in the threadless community with your butterflies piece. its great to hear from someone that has got some props actually agreeing that the making is more important than the money. nice one dude.

Hey, keep that on the downlow - I don't want 'em withholding my check.
Seriously - much thanks.

i did not read all the damn stupid long comments on this.
but its good.
The second character is like osama bin laden...lol

and yes byron, i bought you tee..thats my fav design!! well done

interesting characters, background doesn't relate.