FRENDZ.CLUB – Endless Feelings
FRENDZ.CLUB’s FRENDZ for CHARITY (F(4C)) series saw the creative agency invite collaborators spanning art, culture and music to design T-shirts for a cause across the month of April. In August, the team reprised F(4C) to launch their Endless Feelings tee in solidarity with Beirut, with all profits going to the Life Lebanon Emergency Relief Fund. This time around, 50% of profits will go to Life.
Radio Alhara – filmishmish
Launched by five friends living between Ramallah, Bethlehem and Amman, though it’s only been running for six months, Radio Alhara has quickly carved out a cult niche for itself in the music world. Their filmishmish tee (from the Arabic term, Fil Mishmish في المشمش, meaning “in the time of the apricots” or “when the apricots bloom”) ran in tandem with their online three day festival against injustice in Palestine and the world.
Ana Popescu – Hizen-Kashima
Originally from Romania but now based in Austria, visual artist Ana Popescu uses pencils, felt tips, markers and acrylic paint to create her distinctive, bright works. Her Hizen-Kashima T-shirt started life as a piece she made for her visual diary while on a month-long residency in Studio Kura, Itoshima, Japan. Its clean colours, and abstract, dreamy quality is characteristic of all her work.
Taraki x Aaran Sian – Release
Taraki works alongside Punjabi communities to help reshape approaches to, and understandings of, mental health, and their Release T-shirt sought to start conversations around male mental health in particular. In the words of designer Aaran Sian, “The man crying not only conveys deep emotion and sadness, but shows that he is ‘letting it all out’ and that Taraki can provide a safe space for individuals to share their emotions. The design aims to challenge the stigma surrounding male mental health in the South Asian community.”
Sarah Kerschhaggl – Leave No One Behind
Sarah Kerschhaggl’s Leave No One Behind T-shirt sought to help women and families living in Moria, a refugee camp on the Greek Island of Lesvos, with the profits going to Becky’s Bathhouse. Aiming to provide a safe space for women and children, Becky’s Bathhouse is a wellness centre providing hot showers and a safe, welcoming space for women and children living in the camp.
Marnie Cox – Groove
When she set out to make a tee, illustrator Marnie Cox wasn’t sure her images would work on a T-shirt. “I’d wanted to make a T-shirt for a while, but thought I’d trial one with an old illustration just in case it was a flop,” she said. “I went through some work I made in my final year of uni and ended up choosing Groove.” She made some minor tweaks – “I kept the original colours (blue and white) but inverted it so it could work on a white tee.” – and the resulting tee proved to be a hit.
Kim Van Vuuren – Aperol Club
One of our Barcelona Takeover artists back in 2019, Kim Van Vuuren is a bit of an Everpress favourite, and if we had to pick one, Aperol Club might be our top choice of all her designs. When we caught up with her to discuss the effects of the Covid-19 crisis on artists, she reflected on how much of a lifeline her campaigns were too. “As a society we’ve been asked to sit still, and for me it’s felt like an opportunity to hit the reset button and really formulate a plan to sell all my work online,” she said. “I’ve also been working on more T-shirt designs. This week I’m relaunching two campaigns and introducing a new design, so that I can continue to support myself during these trying times.”
IdealisteWorld – My Mind Is Up On The Mountains
Scrolling through the IdealisteWorld Insta account is like leafing through a catalogue of carefully curated esoteric imagery with a slightly psychedelic bent. Whether it’s archive footage, off-kilter images of iconic figures, or slightly wacky furniture, the beauty of this account is in its unpredictability. This sensibility was brought to life perfectly in their My Mind Is Up On The Mountains tee, which referenced the ‘60s and ‘70s in its graphics.
DimSumRecords – Mind Body Riddim
DimSumRecords tend to eschew reissues of their merch, keeping their focus instead on pushing through new ideas and iterations of work. Lucky for us, though, they made an exception for Re-Press. With its ‘Practice gratitude/Dig for new music/Get creative/Eat fresh dumplings’ slogan, their Mind Body Riddim tee carries the feel-good message that DimSum are all about.
R&S X M.WILLS
This R&S Records longsleeve saw the record label team up with independent designer and visual artist M.Willis. Originally from the U.K., but now based in Melbourne Willis has worked for a roster that includes clients as big as Adidas, Nike, Warner Music and Island Records. As well as this, he works on smaller, cult projects including artwork for Amsterdam based label MAT and the L.A label Babylon, and he brought this approach to the glitchy design of this long-sleeve.
Dohee Kwon – It’s Building Up Now
Dohee Kwon, or @kimchisuperpower as she’s otherwise known, is quickly becoming an Everpress stalwart. The illustrator, who is based in Seoul and Chiang Dao, has a multifaceted output. As well as collaborating with other creatives on tees, she ran an ongoing series of Life T-shirts (which encapsulated her favourite moments) and designed It’s Building Up Now, dedicated to those moments of euphoria.
Joe Baker – Group Hug
To raise awareness of the devastation wrought by the Australian wildfires, and raise funds for WIRES Wildlife Rescue charity too, the visual artist and illustrator Joe Baker created his Group Hug tee. With a medley of animals in Joe’s signature full-throttle style, for Re-Press it’s been rejigged as a long-sleeve, for the colder Autumn months.
Samaritans – Real People
Samaritans’ Real People, Real Stories campaign is about raising awareness of male mental health through the stories of men who’ve sought help themselves. That’s partly why T-shirts were such a good medium for their campaign; slogan tees are all about getting a message out there. The message for this one came from Ollie. “If you’re going through a tough time, the best thing you can do is talk and share it,” he said. “Sometimes it’s OK not to be OK, but things can always get better and there are so many more options.”
Michael Challita x Iman Raad – The Revolution Is Born
Taking its slogan from a poem by Nizar Qabbani, this long-sleeve raised money for disaster relief in Beirut, with all profits to be donated to Beit El Baraka. The bilingual design was the work of Michael Challita and Iman Raad, a Lebanese-Australian designer and patternmaker and an Iranian artist and graphic designer respectively, who are both now based in New York.
The Roadbeer Society x Valentin Galmand
To immortalise their ethos on a tee, The Roadbeer Society paired with Bordeaux-based illustrator and interface designer Valentin Galmand. Known for his inviting, larger-than-life images, Galmand perfectly captured the hazy, carefree roadbeer attitude. In their words, “It’s enjoying time with your friends, outside and with a beer in hand.”
Read More: Our 28 Favourite T-shirt Designs of 2019.
