Tribal Lion by aspa

Next is Tribal Lion by "aspa". I don't normally do it, but I had to include a design only image here since the t-shirt alone just doesn't do it justice (at least not at my screen size!).

Tribal Lion is one of a large collection of tribal animal head designs from "aspa" - others include the tribal lion from other angles, wild boar, tiger and more!

This design is gorgeously complicated with the spikes curling all around one another. The negative space is treated exceptionally well. I think this design is also quite reminiscent of Celtic knotwork with a bit of a tattoo-ish twist.

Get the shirt at the Insan Art Store or design your own!

Geek Ascii Art by SpokenVisuals

From the extensive vaults of SpokenVisuals' sweet collection of geek/christian designs is "Geek Ascii Art".

I'm not too sure about what to say about this design because it just rocks so hard! I wanted one the moment I saw it! When I have the cash, it's on my list of new shirts to procure.

If you're a geek and know some other geeks, you should definitely pass this one on to the masses for lots of tech-y enjoyment.

Get it in the Insan Art Store, or make your own! (this is a fun one to play with in the shirt designer - ladies, it looks great with pink on black!)

How to Submit your Designs!

Are you a Spreadshirt Shopkeeper? If you are then you can submit your shirt designs to be featured here on Five Shirts a Week.

Just visit this Spreadshirt forum thread and drop me a link to your designs in the Spreadshirt Marketplace.

If you have a specific design in mind to be featured, let me know. Otherwise, I'll pick one from all of your designs (and I'll probably pick another in the future, as I feature repeat designers/new designs).

I'm looking for fun and unique designs that are clean and well executed. Vector designs are a plus, but I also will feature good pixel designs, too.

I reserve the right to pick which designs to use and which to refuse. PLEASE, NO SUBMISSIONS of text based designs built in Spreadshirt's designers. Also, your submissions should be YOUR work.

I am sorry but at this time I am taking submissions from Spreadshirt Designers ONLY.

Squidbillies Fans!!! I have Early Cuyler's Hats!!!

AHHHHHH!!! I just saw tonight's Squidbillies episode and I almost pissed myself when I saw the bump beforehand...

...Adult Swim likes to put up fan chatter in between shows and this bump said something along the lines of "why don't you guys sell Early Cuyler hats?"

Funny, I'd been wondering that same thing for quite a while and then I finally took the job into my own hands.

So, if you're looking for Early Cuyler's hats, look no further. I've designed the complete Early Cuyler collection - every single design ever worn on a trucker hat (and then some) by Early! All the designs are available on shirts and a select number of designs are available on hats (the designs just don't translate well to the actual print area on a real-world trucker hat!)...

If you're looking for a shirt, hit up The Squid Shop - if you don't see something you like, you can also make your very own shirt using my designs.

If you're looking for a trucker hat, check out the Insan Art Store @ Cafepress to see which designs are available on hats!!!

Happy shopping!

Rocky Giraffe by CardVibes

While I'm on a roll with simple designs, let me introduce Rocky Giraffe by Cardvibes...

Rocky Giraffe is a really nice single color design with lots of character! Again, it amazes me how much one can get away with using one color, and having seen the multi-color version of the design, I think Cardvibes did a wonderful job simplifying the original into a vector graphic.

This design would be great for adults and kids. It certainly lends itself very well to children's gear but would also be a nice and playful, vintage-style design for the ladies and gents.


Get the shirts at the Insan Art Store or design your own today!

Happy Rainbow Cloud by gladditudes

Happy Rainbow Cloud by gladditudes.

There are two reasons I love this design - first, it's got such a nice "retro" feel, even though I'm not sure what decade I'd place it in (I think about it it could work as '70s, '80s and probably the '90s too...). Second, the simplicity of the design is striking - it's the kind of design that I personally have a hard time coming up with since I tend to be too detail oriented!

This is also a great example of combining several popular "symbols" (rainbow, cloud, smiley face) into a single, original and very wearable (and cute!) design.

Get this shirt at the Insan Art Store or make our own shirt with this design!

(on) Rappel by Insan Art

Second in the series of rock climbing related shirt designs is "(on) Rappel", by me, Insan Art.

Like the "climbing love" design, this is also inspired by a photo I took of my husband, again "hanging out", but this time, on rappel.

This design can work on it's own, but the possibilities of added text are endless! (I thought the idea of the kids "just hanging out" shirt was cute!)



Get the design on a variety of products ready-to-buy at the Insan Art Store or visit my shirt designer and make your own!

"Indonesia Lotus" by giltlotus

Introducing "Indonesia Lotus", part of the gorgeous collection of Asian inspired vector shirt designs by "giltlotus".

One of the things I really admire about gilt's designs is how she manages such an elegant simplicity in her otherwise complicated and intricate designs.

The "Indonesia lotus" design is a 3 color vector graphic, allowing the user to change the colors of the design to match shirts and your own taste. The lavender shirt at the left features the design in the artist's default colors - the yellow/gold color is by default set to the metallic gold flex (check out a nice close up of the metallic gold print in real life, from the post Tutankhamen Mask by mjrproductions).

Get the shirt at the Insan Art Store or Make Your Own!

(Correction: I accidentally originally portrayed the artist as a man, when in fact SHE is not a man at all - correction made!! Sorry Gilt!)

"Gangsta Rip" by tat2ts

Now, those of you that know me will attest to the fact that I am not big into the "skull and bones" kind of thing, but this design was just too cool to pass up!

"Gangsta Rip" by "tat2ts" is a great example of how pixel graphics CAN be good shirt designs! I first saw this design when "tat" was showing off old sketchbook drawings that he had turned into shirt designs. The design is clean and well executed - he did a wonderful job of transferring the piece from scan to usable design!

The part I love most has to be the "rip" part of the design! I'm a huge fan of "trompe l'oeil" art (art that fools the eye, used commonly in murals - something that looks completely real but is totally constructed using light and shadows) and this is a fabulous instance of such an image used on clothing!


"Tat2ts" is actually a tattoo artist and it shows in his work! We'll definitely be seeing more from him here on Five Shirts a Week!

Get this shirt at the Insan Art Store or Make Your Own!

Climbing Love by Insan Art

Whoohoo! Shirt design number five of the week is my own "Climbing Love",
available exclusively from the Insan Art Store at Spreadshirt!

I'd been working on ideas for rock climbing related designs lately and knowing that the "I love" ("I" with a heart) is an insanely popular design on Spreadshirt, I decided to make a climbing version.

The climber featured in the design is none other than my husband, rendered from a photo I took of him "hanging out" at our local rocks. The design works well alone or text can be added using the Spreadshirt designer for your own personal touch!

Speaking of the Spreadshirt Designer (aka the Confomat), those of you new to this interactive tool might not be familiar with some of the available features. One of the most unique options is the ability to pick your own colors for vector graphics (such as "Climbing Love").

As an example, to the right is the default color scheme for the design. When the graphic is chosen within the confomat, each colored section will have a number. Select the section you want to change, then choose a new color for that section from the color palette at the bottom of the confomat window. Your chosen color will automatically update on the design. This option makes it so easy to customize vector designs to match certain shirt colors and your own personal taste. The green and brown version of this design on the shirt above is an example of the changes you can make!

Check out "Climbing Love" and my other climbing designs in
the Insan Art Store at Spreadshirt today!

Tutankhamun Mask by mjrproductions

It's been an exciting week here at Five Shirts a Week! I'm excited to introduce the first official submission to guest designs (Sitar Hero was a design that I grabbed...)

The design is "Tutankhamun Mask" by mjrproductions. I am so happy to promote mjr's design here - it is a great example of a really clean and well-executed vector design.

You'll notice the variation in colors between the two prints on the shirts above. Both are printed using Spreadshirt's flex/vector printing technology, however, the brown shirt on the left features the non-metallic yellow/gold colored flex, while the blue shirt on the right features metallic gold colored flex.

The metallic colors available through Spreadshirt don't really show up properly in their product previews. Lucky for us, the artist has provided this really nice, actual product close-up!! (right)

Design your own Tut shirt today!

Sitar Hero from downwithdetroit

Hi Everyone! I'm proud to announce that I will now be featuring guest designs from Spreadshirt designers here on Five Shirts a Week!

A month or so ago, I had an interesting conversation with a guitarist friend of mine about sitars. He claimed that he would get rid of his entire, extensive instrument collection, all for a single sitar. A day or two later, I was browsing the Spreadshirt marketplace and came across this "Sitar Hero" design, by downwithdetroit. It's a really great idea for a Guitar Hero spoof and it made me think of the sitar conversation I had a few days earlier.

Design your own shirt with the "Sitar Hero" design today at the Insan Art Store with Spreadshirt Designer! You'll find the design under the right drop down menu in the "designs" tab. When loaded initially, this drop down menu will say "top graphics". Click on that drop down and you'll see the "grabbed designs" option. Choose that and you'll see the Sitar Hero design. Too lazy to design your own shirt? You can always visit the main Insan Art Store, where the shirt is available pre-made in 3 organic styles.

Happy designing!

Introducing the Squid Shop!

Hey Everyone! I've finally got the Squid Shop up and running!

It's the official shop for the Early Cuyler Collection! The Early Cuyler Collection is designs that were inspired by the hats worn by Early Cuyler, the patriarchal squid on the Adult Swim cartoon, the Squidbillies.

Get all the designs worn by Early - new designs are added weekly, as new episodes air and hats are introduced. The designs are available in the Squid Shop exclusively on organic/eco-friendly apparel (you can also make your own, if you don't like the organics). Shirts start at $13.90.

For those of you wondering why the designs aren't available on hats (and some ARE here), please refer to my previous post on the collection...

So, visit the all new Squid Shop today!

New, simple links to stores and blog!

Hi everyone!
In my continuing effort to better my online t-shirt stores, I've created some sub-domains that point to my stores and this blog!

I know that everyone says you should have a ".com" go to your store. I already pay for a great hosting package for insanart.com which has 100 sub-domains included. I think these work just as well! (especially for the price, I'm broke!)

Here they are:

The Blog: http://5shirts.insanart.com
the Squid Shop: http://squidshop.insanart.com
the Insan Art Store @ Spreadshirt: http://t-shirts.insanart.com
the Insan Art Store @ Cafepress: http://store.insanart.com

Happy linking!
(PS..I highly recommend 1&1 Internet for hosting!!!!)

Early Cuyler Collection is Here!

Well, after 3 weeks on vacation (from the blog, only!), I am back and I am proud to announce the release of the Complete Early Cuyler Collection - aka "the Redneck Squid Collection"!!! The collection contains 42 -and counting- designs inspired by the hats worn by Early on the Adult Swim cartoon, "The Squidbillies".

My husband an I adore the Squidbillies. It is totally weird, fun and unusually fresh and raw. In nearly each episode the patriarchal squid, Early, wears a new, hillarious hat (usually, but not always related to the episode). After watching
season one repeatedly I got to thinking about designing the hats. Finally, when season two started airing I decided to do it.

So there you have it. Each week I plan on adding the new design - I had to append 3 designs while working on the project, but the collection is COMPLETE - even last night's design is done!
I have to apologize to the all hardcore fans out there who were really looking forward to their favorite design on a trucker hat. I will explain why some are not available and why most, if on a hat, are different.

In the Squidbillies world, a squid's hat dimensions are something like the size of a piece of paper, 8.5x11, oriented vertically. In the the REAL world, the print area on a trucker hat turns out to be something like 2x5 - that's 2 inches high by 5 inches wide. Not exactly the same aspect ratio!!!

Phew! Enough explaining & back story. The two designs I'm featuring today are the infamous "Booty Hunter", which appears in the beginning of each episode, and the "Firesquid" which also makes numerous appearances during flashbacks to Early's younger days.

Get the designs ready to go on shirts at the Insan Art Store @ Cafepress - or, since I don't have them available pre-made in my Spreadshirt store yet, you could head over to my all new Spreadshirt Designer Store and design your own shirt* using any of the Early Cuyler collection designs - the ONLY complete collection available, currently with 42 designs!

So, get yourself some redneck squid swag, and stay tuned!! Lots of exciting and new things happening around here this week!

* Note: Some designs are not available on certain shirts and most non-shirt products.

Welcome back, me!!!

Yes, yes, that was a long week off! I've been extremely busy though!

So, I've got over 50 new designs to roll out. Also, I've finally figured out how to effectively market other peoples designs from Spreadshirt - it will be through my all new secondary store with Spreadshirt that allows the buyer to create their own shirts with my designs, select designs from the Spreadshirt marketplace (or their own).

Monday! Look out for exciting, all new designs and posts from Five Shirts a Week!