I have been working on this shirt since I had to evacuate from New Orleans in September. It has taken a long time mainly because all of my heart and soul has gone into it. The type means \\\"Never Forget\\\" in french.

i think that sinse youre from new orleans, this design works well as a personal piece. but if i was wearing this as a shirt, people wouldnt know the back story of this design and it would end up looking tasteless. i really like how you drew those skulls, though.

5 for getting out of there alive!

I agree whole heartedly with everything karateburger said.

i guess i can understand that. i don't see how it would end up looking tasteless though.

I'm from New Orleans too. That's kinda morbid though. It's a sweet design, but I have to agree with karateburger too.

kateburger hit it dead on...sweet design but as someone not from New Orleans I think it would not be well received if worn to the mall or something...congradulations on getting out though...

first of all everything that happened was morbid, there was no brightside here. there are still bodies floating and drowned in the streets. those that know and have been back, the city we once knew and loved is no longer. it is gone. maybe one day it will come back but for right now it is a mere ghost of what it once was. so never forget what a great city it once was. and never forget those that were lost. due to faulty water pump systems, and a government that left its own people and abandoned one of its own states. and one of its oldest cities. the golden rays of the sun rising over the crescent city are meant as a sign of hope. its morbid because the situation was morbid and we should never forget it.

i'm from new orleans, i got out alive, and it's true, morbid is an understatement to describe what happened here. it's a dose of realism, the "never forget" in french is a nice touch, but if it were in english, it would help make sure that non-new-orleanians don't think of it as a negative thing. i would certainly buy this shirt for myself, and fellow friends who went through what i did -- 4 feet of water in my home, and knowing that all kinds of losses occurred. lives, and otherwise. i think it's a fitting testament, also, to the tragedy of ignoring a serious problem (ill-built levees AND relief to those stranded in their homes or shelters) and to a city that will have to work extra hard to rebuild into a ahsadow of what it was on august 28th, 2005. it will forever be a changed new orleans. oh- one other thing: more recognizable things on the skyline, please? hibernia, LL&E, maybe st. louis cathedral (not downtown, or skyscraper0ish, but iconic, nonetheless)... if this shirt is made, and not in the 12 club, i will definitely buy one.

I think that part of the charm of threadless is that "what the heck is going on with that dudes shirt, man?" kinda reaction. That's why so many designs end up getting printed without text... If someone asks, and if you tell them, they can instantly recognise the rising tide and the 'dome and the buildings. It's part of the mystique. It's a shirt with a deep meaning, and I really like it. 5$

at first I didn't like it but because of reading the comments I think it's awesome...the only thing that could have been done was make it more recoognizeable so that it has a little more meaning at first glance

it's a damn good design i'd buy it. besides if you dont know what the shirt is about it just looks like a shot from the water.

I'm also a New Orleans evacuee and I think this shirt is a good way to keep Katrina in people's thoughts. I just have a problem with the skulls in the water... it's a little too morbid for me. You are a very artistic person and I think you could come up with a better way to acknowledge the deaths .

The morbid factor doesn't mean a damn. It's the "Hey! New Orleans still needs your attention. We're still fighting, we're still here and we're still trying to overcome whether or not you see it blasted in your face 24/7 via CNN!"
I want one.
I want to wear it. I want to let everyone know that it's not over yet. If morbidity or horror is the way to refresh the precarious situation New Orleans is in, then damnit bring it on and splay it across my chest.
All I want for Christmas is to be home again. Falling short of that, I want this shirt.

eh i'm also a tattoo artist so i guess i have a love for skulls. i also grew up in the punk and hardcore scenes so skulls and gore and stuff have always been a major part of my life.

Well, doll, I'd have to say that this shirt really embodies the spirit of the city as well as the catastrophe that happened there. Although it is a beautifully designed graphic, I would have to admit that i would like to see some more recognizable building in the skyline, but I think that is because I am an architect and from New Orleans. I'd still wear this shirt proudly and would try not to let anyone forget.

i laugh at the person who called it "kinda morbid." ignorance is bliss i guess.

Love the design, even without reference to New Orleans.

the drawing is really good and the concept is well executed -- i just think people with no real connection to New Orleans would look like posers wearing it. that's not to downplay the event at ALL, just that in my opinion i'd feel sort of shallow wearing a shirt about this. i watched the events of Hurricane Katrina unfold on a tv screen, from the comfort of my living room. :(

i'm sorry you went through that though, and the design is great.

I appreciate the message you're trying to present, but I don't think it's working just yet. My first reaction was that this is in really bad taste, but maybe that's because so many shirts on here are, and I kind of expect them to be.

A little late, don't you think? Maybe you should do a tsunami one while you're at it.

i think there is a visual confusion of messages happening here.

if you take away these comments and explanations - what happens? it looks, at first glance, like a souvenir-tourist type shirt, with it's simple execution and happy rays over the city. next you see skulls floating around in the water with the fleur-de-lis and then you get what it is attempting to convey - kind of. i think what you wind up with is visual irony. "never forget" but yet it looks kind of happy with the sun rising... but there is death represented in the water - so what am i not forgetting? that happy day when it was beautiful out but there were skulls floating around? ...i think the artist probably has much more passion and conviction about this subject than what the shirt conveys.

so, it is confusing message with a mediocre execution. any design - shirt or not - needs to effectively communicate its message, and i am not sure what this shirt is saying, are you? again let me stress, WHAT THE SHIRT IS SAYING. not the message board. you can't have this discussion taped to your back when you walk down the street wearing the shirt. and if you want impact make it impactful.

please don't read me wrong! of course, this is a topic which garners a lot of emotion, i am sympathize with and pray for the victims of this great tragedy and have no idea what that must be like. however, those emotions need to come through the shirt and be clear and understandable on it's own. i guess i am saying it lacks the kind of passion i would like to have seen for such a grim and important topic.

thanks for reading this. of course, it is all subjective.

to the jagoff who thinks its a little too late: let me tell you something. this isn't some reality tv show that the season is now over. everything is still majorly fucked up. the city is stil in a state of peril. my grandmother’s house is still gone. my friend's houses are still gone. the first floor of my house is still fucked. there are still parts of the city that don't have electricity. maybe you should take a trip down there and tell me if its a little too late.

I have to say, I have never been to New Orleans, and it had always been a goal of mine. The tragedy there hasn't deterred me at all, in fact I wish I could afford to go down there and devote time to trying to help those in need. Unfortunately all I can do is donate as much from my paycheck as I can afford, and just hope things improve.

Anyone criticizing this shirt should take a long look at it. Yeah, it's kind of morbid. The whole damn situation is. And as for the bright happy skyline...you could look at it my way. Maybe it's a sign of hope? I personally view it as a way of saying everything will be alright, and that it's human nature to triumph over adversity.

I know it's easy for me to say that everything will work out, since I'm comfortably located in new york, but still. I personally think this is a damn good shirt.

I'd buy it, and wear it proudly. Even if people didnt get the message, the design itself is still worth something.

never forget

I don't see how it's tasteless and who cares about wearing the shirt to the mall. The whole issue with the shirt being morbid... I think the skulls are there but are subtle enough. They're not the focal point of the shirt... hope and rememberance are and getting the message out that it's not over yet as Jade said. I love the design and the message.

i would prefer the text in english and perhaps make the sun a bit more full instead of just lines..., much respect for using a creative outlet to express your feelings about the situation! I give you credit for being able to do something like this.

However, I am really sad because the money being made off of this shirt and others designed by people in new orleans is not really going to help the people who have died or are stranded. Our capatilistic tendency is to help ourselves and those we love before helping anyone else. I perhaps would like some dollar signs floating in the water to to represent how only the people with money made it out and the poor were left to die.

didnt mean to rant but everyone else was going on about this n that about how morbid it is. its not morbid, ITS REALITY and what the hell are you doing to help those who have to live with this MORBID REALITY?

thats really weird. the skyline looks slightly like Wichita...but anyways i like it.

hmmm, reminds me of THE BRIGHT RIVER. cool. i like it.