It’s been a while since the last Indie Tee Spotlight, hasn’t it! If my memory serves me correctly, it’s been almost 9 months since our last Spotlight interview with Hugo Murray of i/denti/tee. In the latest Spotlight I feature the very intriguing Brian Crabtree of Kafkacotton, a new brand that Brian dreamed up after rereading (and re-loving) Joseph Heller’s classic, Catch-22. I had the great opportunity to do a little catching-up with Brian, and he graciously allowed me to ask him a few question about his startup brand and his unique take on marketing it across America.

Coty: I’m guessing that Franz Kafka had something to do with you starting your unique line of T-Shirts. What inspired you to start Kafkacotton?

Brian: I definitely took our name from the author Franz Kafka. He writes these nightmarish stories which remind me of stark blacks and whites, long shadows, ominous alleyways -- cool connotations for a t-shirt label.

I started Kafkacotton because I think reading is fundamentally flawed. We used to gather around somebody with a good story and listen socially as a group. With books, we read our stories alone so I don’t know what books you like and you don’t know what books I like. These are connections waiting to happen that just don’t. Kafkacotton makes those connections in a hip, fashionable way. Instead of putting that book back on the shelf, why not slap it on your chest and talk about it?

I also want to help give everyone the chance to read. We do that by donating 5% of our profits towards fight illiteracy. You really have to hustle to promote a t-shirt company and knowing it’s all for a good cause keeps me motivated.

Coty: You started a very unique campaign that someone named “Gregor”, a life-size cockroach costume and the 48 contiguous states. Tell us about that.

Brian: Gregor the roach! Yes, he’s 6-feet tall, illiterate, German, and on a 48-states-in-48-weeks road trip. He’s visiting one college campus a week to raise literacy awareness, give away tees, and shoot hilarious videos which we post to our blog. We started in Florida in early February and, five states later, we’re in South Carolina heading northwestish. We’re just getting started but Gregor has already been featured on CNN Radio, ABC News, and CBS News.

Why the cockroach? “Gregor” is the main character in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis where a guy wakes up one morning and finds he’s inexplicably been turned into a giant insect. I had read Seth Godin’s Purple Cow and realized the most important thing was to not be boring. That’s key. You need to get people’s attention first so you can share your message second. Even if your message is positive and charitable, you need to get your foot in door or no one will ever hear it.

Coty: What’s the typical response you get when people first spot Gregor in the cockroach costume? What has been the most interesting encounter that you’ve experienced during your cockroach tour?

Brian: There are three basic responses: 10% are ecstatic and run up to give him a hug, the middle 80% smile and laugh, and the other 10% steer clear, watch him out of the corner of their eyes, and pray to god he doesn’t try to talk to them. The last ones are the most fun.

The most interesting experience would definitely have to be while trying to hitchhike in small-town Alabama for a video related to our new “On the Road” t-shirt. All went well until the police showed up …

Coty: You use Etsy for your storefront. What made you decide to go that route? Why not have a custom store integrate with Kafkacotton.com?

Brian: Good question. For a t-shirt company just starting out, Etsy is a great platform. Here are the major pros and cons to think about:

Pros

1. Filled with people looking for new, interesting designs.
2. The $0.20 fee per item is reasonable.
3. Very easy to set up.

Cons

1. Less control over your image.
2. Customers need to register with Etsy to make a purchase (that’s a big one).
3. Some customers will forget to list their size in the “Message to Seller” box while checking out. This wastes everyone’s time.
4. Need to constantly relist items to remain at the top of Etsy’s search results.
5. Your Google juice gets spread out among several relisted items instead of concentrated on one, permanent item listing.
6. Can’t set up Adwords goals (which basically means you can’t use Adwords).
7. Can’t rotate and test sales copy.

I’m glad we started with Etsy but, in my opinion, we have outgrown the site and we will actually be moving to our own cart system and revamping Kafkacotton.com in the next month. I’m really excited about the possibilities! [Coty: This is good to hear, growth is good!]

Just to be clear, even if you’re on Etsy, I definitely reccomend setting up a slick, professional website as well. A blog is critical and you need your own domain for that. Also, certain sites and people will not pay attention to an email sent from “@gmail.com”.

Coty: Out of Print Clothing has a line that, conceptually, is quite similar to Kafkacotton. Both brands bring classic books to the T-Shirt. How would you say Kafkacotton differs from what Out of Print Clothing is doing?

Brian: There’s even a third literary-tee company called, Novel-T! We all started in the last six months which I think is pretty hilarious but also shows there’s a real need here.

Kafkacotton is the only label creating new, original graphic designs inspired by the classics. That’s where I want to be. My passion is being able to take a book that may be 150 years old like Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass and create a design that resonates with people in a new way. In that particular book’s case, I worked with Reilly Stroope who did an absolutely phenomenal job.

I’m also all about community. When I want to start on a new book, the community votes and picks it. Before I print the shirt, I post two or three completely different designs and the community votes on their favorite. For instance, I’m working on two 1984 designs right now that will go on the chopping block next week. Sometimes my favorite design gets cut but community is all about trust and you can’t fake that.

I haven’t talked about this too much yet but I’ll also be accepting design submissions in the future. Stay tuned for that!

Coty: And finally, what kind of books do you enjoy reading and what is your de facto favorite book of all time?

Brian: I agree with Thoreau that we should, “read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” I mostly stick to classic literary fiction and love a good, memorable character. My absolute favorite book is Joseph Heller’s Catch-22:

“Justice?” The Colonel was astounded. “What is justice?”

“Justice, sir –”

“That’s not what justice is,” the colonel jeered, and began pounding the table again with his big fat hand. “That’s what Karl Marx is. I’ll tell you what justice is. Justice is a knee in the gut from the floor on the chin at night sneaky with a knife brought up down on the magazine of a battleship sandbagged underhanded in the dark without a word of warning.”

Thanks to Brian Crabtree, or should I say Gregor, for taking the time out from his busy road trip across America to chat! Now, you guys go and buy some tees from Kafkacotton!

Every day I come up with a new witty Threadless TypeTees Slogan in hopes of earning a place amongst the Threadless wordplay elite. At the end of every week I post a round up of that weeks slogans here on my blog. What can you do to help the cause? Vote! Just click on a slogan (preferably all of them) and then vote by click “I’d Wear It!” – it’s that simple! If you want to see and vote for all of my slogans then just click here or on that photo of me with the Rockband guitar. Vote for me and I will cook you an spinach omelet with mushrooms, ham and lots of cheese if ever we meet in real life.

Week 8 (February 19, 2010 to February 25, 2010):

“In case of fire: stop, drop and boogie the night away.“

OK kids, you should never kid when it comes to fire. BUT..the old tip of stop, drop and roll makes me want to do a boogie woogie like its 1963. Not sure why. LOL.

“Mangos. Such a sexist fruit.“

It actually would be funny if Mangos were called WOMANGOS. Doesn’t seem to roll off the tongue in quite the same way, huh, HUH!

“Turquoise: kind of green, sort of blue, and very indecisive.“

Oh, I really like this one! Because sometimes, colors can be indecisive. Take violet, for example – that color always seems as if it wants to be more blue then it does purple. And don’t even get me started with teal. Ugh, that teal.

“Drawers keep shirts safe, but they can’t draw for beans.“

It really is a shame that drawers aren’t multi-talented. Then again, they do an excellent job of keeping my pants and socks safe as well. And lets not forget those undergarments.

“Sexy Is Relative.“

Because it is!

“I might be a little weird but I am very friendly.“

You can be as weird as you want to be. As long as you’re friendly, we’re cool.

“Spinach: Proven to increase bicep size (in sailors only).“

Because we all know what happens when Popeye eats a can spinach! I love to have spinach with my salads, though, the Spinach Effect seems to have no influence on me.

In this episode of Co-Tee TV I wear Don’t Bother Me I’m local by Found Item Clothing and review the Haiti Relief Tee by Gesu Cristo, a grassroots social justice movement. Gesu Cristo decided to help instead of watch and this year they partnered with Touch Orphanage in St. Marc, Haiti. Gesu Cristo also donates 100% of our their profits to the charities that they support.

DO YOU WEAR A MEDIUM? Do you want the Gesu Cristo Haiti Relief Tee? If so then simply leave a comment and I will choose one person to win the shirt!

Leave a comment in the comment section and I will randomly select one (1) winner to receive a Gesu Cristo Haiti Relief Tee.

For an extra entry, be my fan of Co-Tee TV on Facebook and post a comment on my wall telling me that you want the Gesu Cristo tee (1 winner will be randomly chosen from the pool of people that leave a comment here and on my Facebook fanpage, leave a comment in both places and get two entries). Good luck!

Contest ends on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 11:59 pm Hawaii time. The winner will be announced later that week!

You can also watch this episode on Vimeo, Viddler, YouTube, blip.tv and download and sync all episodes to your iPod or iPhone by subscribing for free to Co-Tee TV in the iTunes Store.

Coty’s Thoughts:

Haiti Relief Tee by Gesu Cristo. Pros: Your purchase of one of these Gesu Cristo shirts go towards a great cause. 100% of the profits go to charity to help with Haiti Relief Aid. Shirt comes with a custom hang tag and neck tag for that professional look and feel. The print is super soft. It’s a charity tee but you’d never notice from the design. The shirt design reminds me of a vintage 80’s look, with the neon pink and blu colors as well as the pixelated shapes – nice! Cons: Unfortunately because of the size, I was not able to try the shirt on. Some other things of note include the price, which is a little high, but remember that this is a charity tee and that money goes toward a good cause. Price: $28.97.

Don’t Bother Me I’m Local by Found Item Clothing. Pros: Be bright, be bold and stand out in the crowd with this shirt from Found Item Clothing. If you want eyeballs to be directed your way then this is THE shirt for you. As with all Found Item Clothing tees, this shirt comes packaged in a separate plastic bag from the mailer so you can rest assured that it will be safely delivered to you without any funky smells or stains. Cons: Like I said, this shirt is bright and bold – which might not appeal to everyone. You’ll either love this shirt or you’ll hate it! Price: $21.95.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Portland Summer 2009 Trip and Meet-up with Found Item Clothing

What About Bob

One Shirt One Cause

Call Me Thirsty

10 of the Worst and Fat-Filled Starbucks Beverages

If you want to send me a product to review, please feel free to do so. You can find my information in the contact menu above. Thanks!

I had the opportunity to chat with the Threadless 2009 Bestees award winner for Design of the Year. Emmy Cicierega’s It’s Toile About You earned her the coveted award and $20,000 cash. I had the fortunate opportunity to chat with Emmy about her win.

Coty: So in the video with Charlie Festa letting you know that you won the Design of the Year Award, you seemed truly surprised. What was going through your head when he said you had won the $20,000?

I was so surprised! I had such amazing competition and I already felt like it was a fluke I had made bestee of the month to begin with, so I was pretty sure winning this wasn’t in my future. I’m so glad I was wrong.

It didn’t feel real when Charlie told me, and it didn’t for a few days even. It certainly feels real now!

Coty: What was the inspiration behind It’s Toile About You?

I’ve always loved vintage repeating patterns. I use a lot of them in my artwork, and I always try to hand draw unique patterns myself instead of using premade ones, so I had been meaning to try my hand at Toile for a while now.

When a friend told me that Threadless had belt printing capabilities, I was so excited! All-over printing is something that not a lot of shirt printing companies can do, so I knew I had to give it a go with Toile.

Coty: It’s Toile About You is, to date, your only design submission at Threadless. And it earned you Bestee Design of the Year. Do you have plans to submit more pieces of art to Threadless?

This amazes and kind of bothers me! I didn’t expect to have such great success my first time around, but wow! It will be very hard to work up the gumption to submit again (so many high expectations!), but rest assured that I definitely will.

I don’t like submitting things that I don’t really really want, so I’m gonna have to sit down and really think about a design that I truly want. I am definitely not done with experimenting with belt printing, it is my favorite!

Coty: Threadless certainly has an amazing community of awesome artists and out-of-the-box thinkers. How did you first stumble upon Threadless?

I am friends with many artists, and we all hit up threadless for great artsy tees at some point or another. It’s just what the cool kids do! I didn’t really hear about threadless from anyone in particular, it is just a cultural staple among artists. And rightly so!

Coty: And I’m sure the question that most people are interested in: $20,000 is a huge chunk of money and you mention in the video that you would like to buy a new tablet and take some life drawing classes – anything else planned for the rest of the loot?

I am FINALLY going to go for driving lessons and get my license! This has been on my to-do list for ages, and now I am rather out of excuses!

I am going to put a lot of the money away as a nest egg and try my best to be as responsible as possible with it. Not the funnest answer, I know, but I’m gonna give myself a fun-budget too and make this the best summer of my life! This might include me buying new headphones, cowboy boots, many sundresses, sushi for friends, and of course donating to some of my favorite charities!

Thanks EMMY!

Post in the comments section and tell me what you like to do for fun (hint: it can be anything!) and I will randomly select one (1) winner to receive a $25 Threadless Gift Certificate that you can use to pick up It’s Toile About You or any other tee you choose!

For an extra entry, be my fan of Co-Tee TV on Facebook and post a comment on my wall telling me what what you do when do for fun. (1 winner will be randomly chosen from the pool of people that leave a comment here and on my Facebook fanpage, leave a comment in both places and get two entries). Good luck and congratulations Emmy!

Contest ends on Monday, March 15, 2010 at 11:59 pm Hawaii time. The winner will be announced later that week!

ABC’s LOST has, for me, probably been the most suspenseful, exciting, and entertaining television show of the last decade. Geeks will probably be talking about LOST for years after the show goes off the air, theorizing and speculating to their hearts content. I love the fact that a lot of answer are being told, but it’s bitter sweet considering that there are only 10 episodes left. By the way, I’m loving crazy Claire. Am I the only one?

Having said that, I present to you 101 LOST T-ShirtsFor The Ultimate LOST Fanatics. This list was requested by Freelance Artist and TeeFury Art Director, Jimiyo. I hope you enjoy it! And by the way, this was not the first LOST list, so be sure to check out the Troundup’s link at the bottom if you’re interested in seeing his list!

I’d love to hear which one of these are your favorites and whether or not you own any of these tees! And if you know of a LOST related shirt not on this list then please tell me about it. Leave a comment below in the comments section and let me know!

If you enjoyed this post then please, please, please, tell you’re friends about it! A simple Tweet or post on your Facebook page will help to get the word out, and a link back on your blog would be greatly appreciated!

If you stumbled on this blog via Twitter, Facebook or elsewhere then welcome! Please feel free to peruse the site and if you like what you see then I’d recommend adding Co-Tee TV as a friend on Facebook so that you can stay up-to-date on future posts!

1. Dude by Jimiyo (Redbubble), $23.94.

2. Last by Meme Engine, $24.95. Via ATShirtBlog.

3. Hoffs/Drawlar by Wake Up Time To Die, £18.

4. Missing by Glennz Tees, $19.95.

5. Found by Busted Tees, $20.

6. Polar Beer by Ian Leino, $18.

7. John Locke by olechka (RedBubble), $24.94.

8. LaFleur by My Party Shirt, $17.95.

9. I Want To Get Lost With Ben by freakyfashions (Skreened), $23.99.

10. Hurley Gets Takeout by mrdavenport, Concept Tee Not Available For Sale.

11. John Is Not Dead by ShirtCity, $19.95.

12.  The Black Rock by Wake Up Time To Die, £18.

13. Desmond Is My Constant by Busted Tees, $20.

14. Brother (Onesie) by babywood (Etsy), $13.

15. Rousseau by LOST Danielle Rousseau: Expedition de l’Ile (CafePress), $24.

16. Survivor Flight 815 by Weezy Designs (CafePress), $22.

17. Juliet Is Da Bomb by flinkman (Zazzle), $26.95.

18. Black Rock by Zooky Shirts (CafePress), $22.

19. Word Cloud by ABC, $24.95.

20. What Would John Locke Do by Jimiyo (Redbubble), $23.94.

21. LOST Warning by mongo (Skreened), $19.99.

22. 922044:16 by stumpyhorse, Concept Tee Not Available For Sale.

23. Charlie Pace: You All Everybody by woozykk (Zazzle), $24.30.

24. I Survived Oceanic Airlines by ShirtCity, $19.95.

25. Lost Numbers by Coleção, No Longer Available For Sale. Via HideYourrms.

26. Widmore Industries by LOST World (CafePress), $24.

27. Lost by Greg Abbott, Concept Tee Not Available For Sale.

28. Sayid For President (Toddler) by babywood (Etsy), $14.

29. LOST Characters by KA Designs (CafePress), $24.

30. Desmond Hume from Lost – Shepard Fairy Poster Style by Jimiyo (RedBubble), $23.94.

31. Geronimo Jackson Concert Tee by ABC, $24.95.

32. Previously, On Lost by I Am James Martin (Skreened), $20.

33. Official LOST Fan Club Shirt #1 by ABC, Shirt was only available to Fan Club Members and was released in October 2006.

34. Official LOST Fan Club Shirt #2 by ABC, Shirt was only available to Fan Club Members and was released in October 2006.

35. I Wanna Get Lost With Sawyer by ShirtCity, $22.95.

36. The Oceanic Six by arty (Skreened), $19.99.

37. Team Jacob by Kettle Toast, $24.

38. Things Are Not As They Seem (Toddler) by babywood (Etsy), $15.

39. Don’t Tell Me What I Can’t Do by Ollies Designs (CafePress), $24.

40. Dharma Initiative by Cmdr.Kerner. A fan made LOST shirt based on a Dharma can. Printed at Pixum.de.

41. Mr. Clucks by The Hatch (Zazzle), $17.95.

42. Numbers (Toddler) by babywood (Etsy), $13.

43. Hanso Foundation by SuedeTees (CafePress), $24.

44. Numbers by 4 8 15 16 23 42 (CafePress) $30.

45. Lost Symbols by ShirtCity, $22.95.

46. Who Is The Leader by ABC, $24.95.

47. Widmore Race Around The World by mongo (Skreened), $20.99.

48. Turn Wheel Move Island by JoeK (CafePress), $24.

49. Hurley Bird by Wake Up Time To Die, £18.

50. Desmond Is My Constant by ShirtCity, $19.95.

51. LOST Dharma Mosaic by ABC, $24.95.

52. Numbers and Names by ABC, $24.95.

53. Live Together Or Die Alone by Wheels, Concept Tee Not Available For Sale.

54. Drive Shaft by Wake Up Time To Die, £18.

55. Lost Numbers by ShirtCity, $19.95.

56. Locke Candidate Crossed by nestor_ps (Skreened), $18.29.

57. Whatever Happened, Happened by LOST Shirts and Apparel (CafePress), $24.

58. Hieroglyphics In A Dharma Can by ABC, $29.95.

59. Geronimo Jackson Skull by ABC, $24.95.

60. I Want To Get Lost With Kate by ShirtCity, $22.95.

61. Geronimo Jackson by ABC, $24.95.

62. I’d Hit That by Detour Designable (CafePress), $22.

63. Hurley Is Lost Without Libby by Oceaniclost (Zazzle), $21.45.

64. Mittelos Bioscience by Wake Up Time To Die, £18.

65. Just Don’t Tell Him What He Can’t Do by Olly Moss. This shirt was only available on Christmas Day 2009 at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles.

66. Long Live Locke by Long Live Locke Blog, T-Shirt was given away as part of a contest.

67. I Survived Flight 815 (Toddler) by babywood (Etsy), $13.

68. Dharma Initiated by iliyaaa (Zazzle), $25.25.

69. Quotes by Holiday Clothing (CafePress), $24.

70. Lost Since 1977 by ShirtCity, $19.95.

71. Lapidus Air by Mongo Angry (CafePress), $22.

72. What Lies In The Shadow of the Statue by Wake Up Time To Dies, £18.

73. Lost Hawaii by Hawaii Lost Fan Club, $14. Made exclusively for the final season premier on Waikiki Beach.

74. Not Penny’s Boat by CafePress, $22.

75. Dharma Car by ShirtCity, $19.95.

76. Live Together Die Alone by freakyfashions (Skreened), $23.99.

77. Do you Have Any Idea How Badly I Want To Kill You? by LOST Shirts and Apparel (CafePress), $24.

78. 108 Clothing, No Longer For Sale Available.

79. Jack Shephard: Live Together or Die Alone (Toddler) by babywood (Etsy), $12.

80. Welcome To Dharmaville by ShirtCity, $22.95.

81. Time Traveling Bunnies by Habaneros Gear (CafePress), $24.

82. Caution Smoke Monster by ShirtCity, $19.95.

83. LOST Parody Shawarma Initiative T-Shirt by Monkey X (TeeFury), No Longer Available For Sale. Via Slashfilm.

84. Inside Joke by The 4TF Smokey Shop (CafePress), $24.

85. Your Mother Is An Other by InkTees (CafePress), $24.

And finally to wrap up the list, you’ll find 15 tees featuring the various Dharma Logos. The first few feature the official logos, and are available at the ABC TV Store. The rest are parody Dharma logos that have been adapted to T-Shirts.

86. Dharma Symbol by ShirtCity, $19.95.

87. Dharma Stations Gradient by ABC, $24.95.

88. Official Dharma Logo by ABC, $24.95.

89. Dharma Lamp Post by ABC, $24.95.

90. Dharma Motor Pool by ABC, $24.95.

91. Dharma Orchid by ABC, $24.95.

92. Dharma Recycle by ABC, $24.95.

93. Dharma Cafeteria by ABC, $24.95.

94. Dharma Tempest by ABC, $24.95.

95. Dharma Medical Staff by ABC, $24.95.

96. Dharma Swan Logo by ABC, $24.95.

97. Dharma School by ABC, $24.95.

98. Dharma Security by ABC, $24.95.

99. Dharma Ohio by whattherock (Skreened), $20.99.

100. Dharma Meltdown by sindeegee (Etsy), $10.

101. Dharma Power by hits and hobbies (CafePress), $24.

Also check out Colin’s list at Troundup:

6 Lost (TV) T-Shirts in Honor of the Premiere by Troundup.

Wheww, you made it to the end of the list! If you enjoyed this post then please, please, please, tell you’re friends about it! A simple Tweet or post on your Facebook page will help to get the word out, and a link back on your blog would be greatly appreciated!

Because there’s always enough bacon to go around. Unless you run out of pig. You can also find Make Bacon Not War in the brought back from the dead Downloads section (in the site menu above). You’ll also find a less nauseating, non-striped version of Make Bacon Not War in the Downloads section.

Who wants this as a T-Shirt? Leave your comment below.

For your desktop or laptop:

Download Make Bacon Not War - 1920x1080 - (200.61 KB)
Download Make Bacon Not War - 1920x1200 - (203.61 KB)
Download Make Bacon Not War - 2560x1440 - (277.21 KB)
Download Make Bacon Not War - 1440x900 - (168.41 KB)

For your iPhone:

Download Make Bacon Not War - iPhone White - (58.13 KB)

And to settle any qualms about Bacon Gate, here are links to bacon lists that existed BEFORE my list of 101 Bacon Products for Fans of the Other White Meat:

Bacon Bacon Everywhere: Top 10 Ways To Love Your Bacon (November 2008)

11 of the Worst Bacon Products Ever Produced (July 31, 2009)

The 10 Weirdest Bacon Products on the Market (October 21, 2009)

20 of The Craziest Bacon Products Around (January 12, 2010)

Wallpaper inspiration credit awarded to OvenRude aka Matt Borchert. Thanks Matt for making my evening so eventful.

Dream Gold is an indie brand based out Toronto with the mission to share the lifestyle of well-being and supremacy through their love for fashion and the arts. They just released their second line of tees and I have to say that based on the preview photos, it is far improved from their first release. I love how they built on their initial Heart of Gold tee and delivered two tees that are bold and full of fun. They’ve also got a slew of buttons for you to choose from.

The two new tees, Aqua Biceps and Psychowl are both printed on American Apparel blanks and are available now from the Dream Gold online shop. The shirts are priced at $19.95 a piece but you can score both shirts for just $30.95 by picking up the Golden Deal offer. You can actually pick up 2 of any of the four new shirts with the Golden Deal offer. My suggestion – pick one up for you and your girl (or vice versa)! And if you decide to pick something up then use the coupon code “COTY” and score 15% off your entire purchase! With the coupon code the price of the Golden Deal offer drops to about $25 – such an awesome deal!

A week or two ago I received a package from Dream Gold so expect to see a review of one of their new shirts on Co-Tee TV very soon!

First of all, let’s be clear: I’ve been a big fan of Lowdtown Friends & Freaks since they first opened up shop. So I was quite sad when I found out that founder Ray Masaki was recently contacted and asked to have all items featuring his Mouthcan logo removed from his online shop.

The problem was that artist Greg Mike owns the copyright to a “similar” logo. Needless to say, Ray was forced to takedown merchandise in which he had invested thousands of dollars in. I’m not sure why Greg Mike didn’t let Ray sell off the rest of his stock featuring the Mouthcan logo (I mean seriously, is Lowdtown that big of a threat to your designer soda cans and logo tees?). In any case, it is what it is. Just remember, when karma hits you back, it hits back pretty hard.

Fortunately for you as a consumer, Ray has marked down ALL items at the Lowdtown shop. The tees are priced at $6 and the crewnecks are priced at an amazing $12. He promised that Lowdtown Friends & Freaks will be back and better than ever with a rebranding sometime in Summer 2010. Look out for it.

If you want to read Ray’s story then click here.

Here are the logos in question:

Greg Mike’s Logo:

VS.

Lowdtown Friends & Freaks:

Which do YOU like better?! Do you think Greg Mike was right in asking Ray Masaki to remove ALL of his merchandise featuring the Lowdtown Mouth Can Logo?

This is a guest post by Kathryn Vercillo, the blogger for Edgi Clothing which makes cute tees for men and women.

There are probably two things that nearly everyone wants in their t-shirts: cool designs and good prices. Unfortunately, these things don’t always go hand-in-hand. Some of the tees with the best designs can cost a pretty penny. However, if you can make the t-shirt last longer then you can get more wear for your money. Believe it or not, giving your t-shirts a long life doesn’t require much effort on your part at all.

Ignore the Laundry

The more often that you wash your clothes, the quicker they’re going to fade or get worn out. By simply wearing your t-shirts two or three times before you bother to wash them, you more than double the life of many tees.

Basic Washing Rules

Eventually, of course, you’re going to have to wash your tees. Following a few basic rules will help them to last longer. First, turn them inside out before washing. Second, use cold water (you can soak the tee in warm water first if it’s particularly dirty). Third, use natural detergents and keep the amount to a minimum; excess soap causes clothing of all kinds to deteriorate more quickly. Finally, hang tees or lay them flat to dry; skipping the dryer saves the t-shirt over time.

Stop Tugging on your Tee

We always think of t-shirts as items that we can be rough with. We yank them over our heads without a second thought. However, the more that you tug on your tees, the more likely it is that you’ll wear them out. Be gentler with them as you take them on and off and they’ll last longer. Also, make sure that they fit right and are made of a comfy material because then you’ll avoid unnecessarily tugging on them throughout the day.

Keep a Big Tee Collection

Here’s your excuse to buy more great t-shirts. Give your tees a little bit of breathing time in between each wear and you’ll find that they last longer. The more tees you have, the easier it is to rotate through them so you’re not wearing any one tee too often.

Extend Its Life with Alterations

Finally, don’t just give up on tees once you’re done wearing them as T-shirts. Recycle them into new shirts, other clothing and household items to get even more wear out of them. And guys – donate a few of your big tees to your girlfriend to sleep in; she’ll appreciate it!

Photo above by Flickr user ktsadowski.

Facebook has pretty much become ubiquitous with having any type of presence on the web. If you’re a brand, have a website or sell stuff on the web then you probably have a Facebook Fan Page. Indie brand A Little Bit Weird has decided to use their Facebook page as something more than a dumping spot for their media. They have opened up a storefront on the fan page to compliment their main online shop.

I really think this is a great idea. I don’t think that I’ve seen any other indie brands selling their tees directly from within Facebook so this is quite a refreshing move by A Little Bit Weird. Go ahead and check out their page, below you’ll see two of my favorites from their shop, Father Time and Guys Bear, both of which are available for $24.