The t-shirt design contest has become something of a cliche in the industry, almost as much as the “cheap limited run shirt” concept. Many try to cash in on the success of Threadless or DBH (or Teefury and Woot), few truly succeed. That said, from time to time it’s interesting to leave behind the US companies and see what companies from other countries are doing. One such company is Battle Tees, a French design contest with a “duel” theme. The staff at Battle Tees pick a theme, choose two finalists, then have the community vote on their favorite. The winner gets €200 (€2 for each of the 100 shirts that get printed), and those who voted for the winning design get a €7 coupon! It’s a pretty nifty way to encourage people to participate in the community.
If you like any of Battle Tees’ shirts, you can save 20% on your order with our coupon, which lasts until December!
Not too long ago, Battle Tees wrapped up their “Manga” contest. For the unitiated, manga is Japanese comics, typically drawn in black-and-white in a myriad of styles, ranging from muscle-bound action hero shounen to sparkly, feminine shoujo. I rather like the piece the voters chose as the winner; compared to its opponent, “Karasu”, “Nervous Guy” has less of a focus on a character and more on the highly expressive qualities of the manga art style. It’s much more abstract — you can’t really tell what is going on in the panels — but in my opinion, that’s what makes it better suited as a t-shirt design. Let’s face it: there are some types of t-shirt subject matter that will just make you look awkward and geeky (in the bad way) in a social setting. Manga — and Western comics, for that matter — usually falls into that category. “Nervous Guy” plays up all of manga’s unique visual characteristics without sacrificing style.
You can purchase this design here, on an American Apparel tee for guys and an AA “2-sided top” for gals.
The “Keep Calm and Carry On” sign is a graphic that’s been riffed on more times than I can remember, especially in the t-shirt world — even I can’t deny that there’s something inexplicably appealing about that clean typography, combined with the little crown icon at the top. I’ve grown blind to the majority of them simply because there are so many, but even then something about “Propaganda Mobster” made me chuckle. It might be the model photos.
Also available on American Apparel shirts for €22!
Battle Tees also recently closed submissions for their newest contest, this time themed around the striking countenance of the Mandrillus Sphinx. They also upped the prize to €400, in accordance with doubling the print run. You can view all of the finalists here – there are a lot of neat illustrations in the mix. You can see my picks below:
Coupon: 20% off with junctioncoupon20; lasts until mid-December.
Store: Battle Tees
Leave a Review: Here
Other great deals to checkout:
Freshest Shops
Check out the New Tee-Directory
The largest collection of t-shirt deals and coupon codes in the whole world*
*possibly; we've never counted or anything
Thanks for checking out Tee-Junction for all the best t-shirt coupon codes, discount codes, voucher codes, special offers and promo codes!
