More than a cheap article of clothing, the T-shirt is a portable personal ad, its wearer declaring their political/musical/social affiliations for the world to see.

Since the Sixties, the T-shirt has provided a forum for expression where anti-war slogans mixed with early counter-culture classics such as ‘Keep on Truckin’’, and tie-dye mingled with the debut of that hardy perennial, the tour T-shirt – album cover graphic on the front, venue details listed on the back. This book reflects the diverse and rich graphic culture that has arisen from the medium, considering its use in areas such as music, politics and fashion.

Music has had a lasting relationship with the T-shirt, which has proved almost as enduring a medium for music-related graphic design as the album cover. Design companies such as Mo Wax, Intro, Stylorouge and Designers Republic have comprehensive back catalogues of cool T-shirts that not only reflect the spirit of a particular band but also the spirit of a particular time.

Equally, however, politics and high fashion use the T-shirt as a medium for expressing a particular message. Katherine Hamnett famously used T-shirts to oppose Pershing missiles, while Greenpeace, Amnesty International and similar organizations highlight their causes through T-shirt graphics.

Fashion designers such as Stella McCartney and Savage use memorable graphics on T-shirts as an integral part of their range, while T-shirts are also a core part of the business of surf and skateboard companies such as Mambo and Fuct. Equally, however, graphic designers such as Tom Hingston and Product 250 are expanding into creating designs specifically for T-shirts.


Publication date
2004

Topics
T-shirts -- Design -- Catalogs, T-shirts -- Design

Publisher
London : Laurence King Pub. ; New York : in association with Harper Design International

144 pages : 26 cm

This is a selection of cutting-edge T-shirts from the last couple of years. This book reflects the current diverse graphic culture of the medium, considering its use in areas such as music, politics and fashion

Buy -- Shoot -- 200% -- Love -- Sell

More than a cheap article of clothing, the T-shirt is a portable personal ad, its wearer declaring their political/musical/social affiliations for the world to see. Since the Sixties, the T-shirt has provided a forum for expression where anti-war slogans mixed with early counter-culture classics such as ‘Keep on Truckin’’, and tie-dye mingled with the debut of that hardy perennial, the tour T-shirt – album cover graphic on the front, venue details listed on the back. This book reflects the diverse and rich graphic culture that has arisen from the medium, considering its use in areas such as music, politics and fashion. Music has had a lasting relationship with the T-shirt, which has proved almost as enduring a medium for music-related graphic design as the album cover. Design companies such as Mo Wax, Intro, Stylorouge and Designers Republic have comprehensive back catalogues of cool T-shirts that not only reflect the spirit of a particular band but also the spirit of a particular time. Equally, however, politics and high fashion use the T-shirt as a medium for expressing a particular message. Katherine Hamnett famously used T-shirts to oppose Pershing missiles, while Greenpeace, Amnesty International and similar organizations highlight their causes through T-shirt graphics. Fashion designers such as Stella McCartney and Savage use memorable graphics on T-shirts as an integral part of their range, while T-shirts are also a core part of the business of surf and skateboard companies such as Mambo and Fuct. Equally, however, graphic designers such as Tom Hingston and Product 250 are expanding into creating designs specifically for T-shirts.

Helen Walters is a New York City-based journalist with experience writing, editing and publishing content across multiple platforms. The former editor of innovation and design at Bloomberg Businessweek, Helen now works as the head of curation at TED, where she oversees the team responsible for producing and publishing TED talks from the world's most interesting people. She has written a number of design-related books.

Following on the success of 100 per cent Cotton, Helen Walters now presents an entirely new selection of cutting-edge shirts from the past couple of years. It encompassses tees commissioned by fashion labels and bands, photographs of T-shirts worn by passersby on the streets of cities around the world, shirts specially created around the theme of "200 per cent" and those that designers wear as their own personal portfolios. There are also interviews with shirt-junkies whose collections extend to the thousands. The contemporary designers featured include Tyler Askew, Deanne Cheuk, GH avisualagency, Triboro, Fuck Yoga, Pottymouth, Danger, howies, JAKe, Mode 2, FL@33, Happypets Products, Vier5, Neasden Control Centre, National Forest and Oeuf.