T-Shirts undoubtedly play a big part in the design field, probably more so now than ever. But when there are so many options and so much variety, really well designed t-shirts seem to get lost in a growing oblivion of gray thread. But…they’re still out there. And some of the best ones are showing up on independent online store fronts.
So I’ve brought together an ultimate collection of resources for both the graphic t-shirt designer and consumer both for inspiration and for exploration. I understand there are hundreds of these, but I feel that these examples are some of the best. Simply click on the respective graphic to go to the respective shirt site.
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SHIRT FIGHT
Shirt Fight seems to provide a great combination of retro and vintage elements, making for some nicely designed t-shirts.
THE HIPSTERY!
If you want real retro, The Hipstery! brings to you some great old feel graphic t-shirts. Their site is also well designed to represent the shirts they showcase.
Design By Humans
Design By Humans holds a simplistic showcase of user made t-shirts. The site is fairly new but seems to be one of the fastest growing. Their site design is fantastic as it lets the product breathe with negative space and slideshow displays.
Dripping In Fat
Dripping In Fat is actually well known in the ‘professional’ world as it has attracted some amazing graphic artists.
Itself
Itself often prides ‘itself’ off expanding through social networking communities. Regardless, it is a limit edition site that holds great graphics and a great community for t-shirt enthusiasts.
Supermotif
Supermotif is yet another user submit t-shirt site. The site design itself is fantastic, and its shirts tend to be just as stylish.
The Affair
I’m not sure what’s cooler…the site design or the t-shirts themselves. Either way, you’ll be hooked on this site once you dive in. I just love the Flash animations! FWA approved!
Labrador
Labrador is awesome in its own respect. Not only is it a small independent run shop, but it specifically tailors to animal inspired design, which often turns out beautifully.
Type Tees
Type Tees is owned by Threadless and is specific to typography based designs. I’m not the biggest of fans when it comes to Threadless, but it’s still worth checking out.
Ugmonk
Ugmonk sets itself apart by abiding by a stylish minimalism that really creates for a clean feel in an overwhelmingly complex t-shirt market. And by complex, I mean overly complex designs…
StatAttak
StatAttak is a very small in house company with some very big deal, hand printed designs.
Burn Suburbia
Burn Suburbia is interesting in that each design is representative of the designer’s home town. A neat concept, and a basis for some really great t-shirt designs. It is also a fast growing community.
Ampersand Shoppe
Ampersand Shoppe is a t-shirt company that deals specifically with designs revolved around, well…you guessed it…the ampersand (&). The site is incredibly simple, as are the shirts themselves, but still quite intriguing.
Busted Tees
Probably one of the more well known sites by now, Busted Tees is run by the guys behind College Humor. Again, I’m not a huge fan, but being a fan of College Humor, I have to rep them. They do have some real hit shirts every once in a while and are still worth glancing at.
Yellow Bird Project
YBP, a non-profit, is special because everything sold is for charity. They also produce intricate t-shirt designs that never fail to please.
DesignGive
DesignGive is another company by designers, for designers, who also deal with charity.
Emptees
This is a place where designers from all around come to show off, talk about, and just love the life of t-shirt design. It’s a simple website and a nice archive of inspiration.
i/denti/tee
i/denti/tee is a t-shirt design store for music lovers. Enough said.
Select
Select is another line under Threadless that promotes the work of emerging artists along the side of the already well known.
Skreened
Skreened offers awesome print solutions for designers. You can browse and buy, or upload your own. You can even process single orders.
Threadless
And then there is one of the most popular of them all…Threadless. It has one of the biggest followings, one of the more simple site designs, and certainly some of the most busy competitions. I prefer Design by Humans myself, but it is always worth taking a look at Threadless.
TShirt Store
TShirt Store prides itself on always finding new talent, and also printing on 100% certified ecological cotton. Whether that’s a big deal to you, I don’t know…but their site is minimal and awesome.
Graniph T-Shirts
They’re always looking for artists, illustrators, designers, photographers, everything…Graniph is an easy to use store with some nice t-shirt designs.
RIPT
RIPT prides itself on one of a kind t-shirts. Each design is only available for 24 hours, which makes things interesting, and also hooks a solid fan base.
Full Bleed
Full Bleed is just a nice t-shirt design community. The designs are always pleasing, the quality is solid, and the site itself is inviting.
Subliminal Clothing
Subliminal apparently is hailed as having some of the most exquisite of independent designed t-shirt graphics. It’s a small company and only offers a certain amount at one time. They are also a BigCartel run site.
200 Nipples
200 Nipples is actually quite clever. They sell one shirt at a time, but they sell 100 of them (2 nipples a shirt!). Each shirt is numbered 1-100 and the price is in coordination with the respective number. So yes, the 100th shirt sold will be 100 dollars!
T-Shirt Hell
This is where all the rude, disgusting and funny shirts are sold. We’ve all seen them.
