With what simply seems like a blink of an eye 2011 has come and gone and with it some t-shirts have been released, bought, sold and reviewed! I wanted to take some time to shine a spotlight on some brands that I have really enjoyed over 2011. I also want to take time to once again thank everyone that has followed, supported, contacted, tweeted, advertised, read or interacted in any way with IAMTHETREND this year. You guys all have been absolutely amazing and have made this the biggest year by a landslide IATT has had.

This year IATT received over 800,000 visits and over 3 million page views from over 425,000 unique visitors. On top of that IAMTHETREND TV received over 100,000 views this year! I know a lot of sites absolutely dwarf these stats, but for a blog that I run in my free time I couldn’t be more proud.

Anyways on with the list. Happy 2012!

Favorite Tee of the Year:

I have been a huge fan of UGMONK since Jeff launched the brand back in 2008 when I first laid eyes on the brand. Jeff has been able to keep his brand fresh, consistent and exciting throughout the last three years. Within that time Jeff has also mastered the art of simplicity of design and this has never been more present then his “Minimal” release earlier this year. One of the tees from that release titled “Mountains” simply featured two overlapping blue and red triangles and in my opinion showed off that sometimes the simplest ideas and form are the most beautiful, making it my favorite tee of the year.

Brand of the Year:

Greg absolutely never fails to impress with his vision, love and dedication to his brand MIles to Go. Miles to Go has been a brand that I have loved since day one, but I really feel that 2011 was the year that MTG have really started to spread the wings. From a new logo, revamped website, extremely limited edition releases, brand consistency and vision to the fact that MTG continues to improve with every release Miles to Go truly showed this year what it takes to stand out among the rest. I can’t wait to see what Greg and Miles to Go his in store for 2012.

Honorable Mention: TheVNM, 8 Bit Zombie, Electric Zombie, UGMONK, Fur Face Boy

Most Surprising Release:

Possibly the best kept secret of 2011, Kyle Crawford literally came out of nowhere to drop his new line Grave Takers. Consisting of 43 different products not only did this release completely surprise it delivered. From cut and sew pieces, prints and tees Grave Takers arrived with a nuclear explosion of awesomeness.

Most Helpful Brand:

Kyle from Sugar Steak has to be the most responsive dude I have ever met. Shoot him an email and he responds within five minutes or less! I imagine him walking around with his phone in a belt holster ready to draw on it at any moment! Anyways aside from being extremely responsive Kyle has also been extremely helpful in writing some extremely resourceful articles for indie brands including the art of pre-orders, balancing your brand and life and many others. Needless to say we owe Kyle a huge thank you for taking the time to put those articles together.

Under the Radar:

The Imaginary Zebra is honestly one of those brands that seems to fly right under the radar quietly releasing amazing tees and building a huge following. I absolutely love owner, Benson Chou’s style and he has done an amazing job crafting his brand over the years. More people really need to follow his brand.

Favorite new brands of 2011:

Jake Mize has done a great job this year of building and launching his brand Inkefx. From quality designs, photographs and a fantastic looking website Jake has done an incredible job coming out of the gate swinging this year. If you are into simple straight forward design make sure to give his line a look.

LaMuerta busted onto the scene earlier this year after a bunch of hype leading up to their release and they completely delivered. Working with some of the best illustrators in the biz such as Killer Napkins, Johnny Crap and Mr. Gauky, La Muerta have absolutely turned heads with their designs and look. They have been on pace releasing a new design every month which in turn has made following this brand very exciting.

Sometimes simple is more. When many brands are busy filling up their tees with jumbo prints, intense illustration and inks from every color in the rainbow, COLUS has been content sticking to very bold designs lacking of any color whatsoever. What started originally as only white tees with black ink has recently flipped to black tees with white ink, and personally I am loving it. I am huge fan of how Colus’ designs simply pop off the tees. With a new lower price point you definitely need a few of these tees in your closet.

Honorable Mentions: Blood and Grease, Beneath Rejection, Grave Takers

Biggest Comeback:

Imagine getting ready for a huge craft fair/show to come out to your fan and realize that almost all of your shirt stock and show equipment was stolen from your van, in excess of $9,000. Well that is exactly what happened to David and his brand SEIBEI right before exhibiting at Renegade Craft Fair LA. When some people would throw in the towel, David decided to fight for the brand he has built and launched a Kickstarter to help raise funds to get SEIBEI back up and running. With a goal set of $9,000 to cover his lost goods David managed to raise over $30,000 and get his brand back on track. Truly one of the more inspiring tee stories this year.

Most Improved Brand:

To be perfectly honest when Capitl Clothing launched I wasn’t that impressed with them. I thought they had one solid design in their “Owl Knows All Tee” but other than that there really wasn’t too much there to grab any attention. Fast forward a few months and Capitl Clothing was able to win a photoshoot with photographer Josh Guim, launch a brand new line and launch a custom new website all of which are fantastic. You can definitely tell that Matt is taking growing his brand seriously. I look forward to see where this brand goes in 2012.

Best Rebrand:

Formerly known as Vampire Fur, which to be honest wasn’t one of my favorite brand names of all time. I was a fan of some of their initial released but owner Matt Haydu really ramped up his brand with the Venus Fallen rebrand. He released his best tees to date as well as launched a fantastic looking new website.

Please Release Some New Designs Already!

It has been way too long since both of these brands have released anything new! They are both two of my favorite clothing lines and they have been keeping us waiting way too long! Let’s get on it guys.

One of my favorite parts of Halloween is looking forward to seeing what Johnny Cupcakes has concocted for his annual “Something in the Cupcake Mix” release. Every year he seems to outdo himself and this year is absolutely no exception.

This year’s release is consisting of four shirts numbered to 200, which of course come in custom, thematically suitable packaging. 3 out of the four tees will only be available in JC physical stores in Boston, LA and London, while the fourth will be released online.

What is even cooler is that to hype each design Johnny has put together four different trailers inspired by each design. As of now two of the trailers have been posted and can be viewed below!

If you are not fortunate to live close to a Johnny Cupcakes store make sure you keep a watchful eye on JohnnyCupcakes.com as it sounds like they are going to randomly drop the tee online. Release dates for the Johnny Cupcakes stores are below:

Oct. 7
Johnny Cupcakes Los Angeles
7959 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA

Oct. 8
Johnny Cupcakes Boston
279 Newbury Street
Boston, MA

Oct. 22
Johnny Cupcakes London
10 Foubert’s Place
London, England

On this episode of IAMTHETREND TV, I take a look at the new limited-edition and online exclusive CUPGUN t-shirt! The Cupgun tee was limited to only 400 prints each of which is custom numbered as well as some killer limited edition packaging.

This tee sold out in a matter of hours on www.johnnycupcakes.com

Johnny Cupcakes sneakily put up a new tee last night that is an extremely limited online-exclusive called “Cupgun”. The tee is limited to only 400 prints which are each individually numbered and come with special packaging. The tee is on sale now for $49.99 and seems to be moving fast because as of now they are already sold out of large sizes!

I have already purchased mine and will be doing a future IAMTHETREND TV episode featuring the packaging and of course t-shirt when it arrives.

Get it HERE

Hello to all apparel lovers in the world!
This is Steve Knerem, I have written a few blogs for IATT such as “Confusing a Monster” and “The 5 Commandments of CROM.” Recently I had the opportunity to meet Jake Nuesser from Fight Chix at WMC fest in Cleveland, Ohio. We hung out for a few hours and we got to know what each other does in the apparel world. Actually the day before WMC fest I think I responded to a tweet from Jake and mention “Conan the Barbarian.” I think it was fate, we were supposed to meet!

So the day of WMC I was walking into Reinberger auditorium and I saw a vehicle roll in the parking lot with the pink and white Fight Chix logo. I stalked Jake for a minute and then introduced myself. That summer day in June I learned that Fight Chix is not only a cool and popular brand for female MMA fighters but Jake and his wife Elisabeth have a stronger purpose/mission which is to empower women world-wide.

Since WMC fest I’ve stayed in touch with Jake and feel it’s best for him to educate all of us about the Fight Chix brand. You can find them at www.fightchix.com

Hey Jake! Well it’s mid-summer and I’m sure you are melting in the sun as much as we are in Cleveland, how are things going for you and Elisabeth in Chicago and what have you been up to?

Things are great. We have been busy with Fight Chix for sure. We have a summer bash event July 23rd and we are hosting a prefight party for Strikeforce’s return to Chicago on the 29th at SpyBar in Chicago. In our free time we spend as much time as possible with our two kids doing summer stuff…catching cool movies, hitting the pool and trips to the lake.

So for those unfamiliar with Fight Chix tell us about the company and what your roll is.

I am the co-founder and handle 99% of the creative work. So that includes the apparel designs, website, video, social media and marketing. Elisabeth handles almost all the day to day business management, works on new business deals, handles all our wholesale accounts and stellar customer service. She has also single handedly worked deals that got us in Spencer’s, MGM stores in Vegas and into retail outlets in Europe and Australia.

After learning about the company I was really excited to read that you and Elisabeth felt you fulfilled a need for women and how events just unfolded before you back in 2006. It’s almost as if it was waiting for someone to reveal this need to the world and that’s where you guys stepped in. Would you say this is true for FC?

Well I was working as an in house designer, Elisabeth was working double time as a hair stylist and bartender and we had just had our son Jase. It’s fair to say we had a lot on our plate. I had educated Elisabeth on Mixed Martial Arts and she fell in love with the back story of the fighters and then the sport. I have a background in martial arts since I was 6 and have trained with fighters from the UFC and taught classes etc.

After a rough night working at the bar Elisabeth and I were talking and watching old fights on TV, and Elisabeth says “I really love the sport, but I hate that there is nothing for girls to wear—it’s all blood and skulls” So I jokingly said “why don’t you make your own clothing line” And that was all Elisabeth needed to start brainstorming a name. She came up with Fight Chix that night—I did a logo a few days later, then a website. We actually started the company as a hobby with the plan of maybe making an extra $100 spending money a month. We started it on Spreadshirt.com and then took the plunge getting a few shirts printed locally then going and selling at a local MMA show. We snowballed from there and now have our first shirt pass the test at Spencer’s with two more testing this month, we are in retail outlets all over the world and we also sell online a t www.fightchix.com

I personally feel FC has great opportunity to make a big impact in the world. Not just for the MMA sport but to women and men. Have you been contacted by women’s groups or shelters of some sort for either support or appreciation for what you do?

We have and we do! We have done several fashion shows this past year to benefit different groups. My wife was a single mom before she met me, so our first show was to benefit the group that aided her when she needed help as a single mom. We have done shows to benefit the Military. We have gotten a lot of support from the troops, so the chance to give back is an honor. Specifically we donated to Fisherhouse.org where 96% of the money donated goes right to troops and their families. We have also done shows that benefited the Children’s Memorial Hospital. We really changed our focus from just MMA when we asked our customers “What does Fight Chix mean to you” and we got flooded with responses from non-MMA fans, who were just strong women who overcame life’s struggles to reach their potential. Everyone has a personal fight, so everyone can relate to being a Fight Chix.

I’m impressed with your company and how it has grown. I would like to talk a bit about the art and design. Fight Chix seems like the message came first and the art fell into place for the company. You did a really nice job with the logo, color selection, tee designs and garment selection. Can you describe your thoughts behind designing the art and choosing the garments?

We really looked at what the market offered and then compared that to what we wanted to offer. All the MMA brands that are out there always made women’s apparel an afterthought. It was a guys design printed on a girl’s blank. And the blank tee was always for a girl that was a size 0 and wanted to show her stomach! Elisabeth is 5’8” so she instinctually wanted a longer cut for the shirt, and this was a huge hit for all the women buying our stuff. From a design standpoint I want to not go down the Affliction road and tried to stick with a mix of type and iconic elements to build the brand but still be catchy to someone who has never seen the brand. People might not know the logo, but would wear a shirt that says “I break hearts and faces” because it makes them feel hot and tough at the same time. So the design was built off the initial logo and the personality of the line—being strong, confident and sexy.

How important is it in choosing a t-shirt garment for an apparel line?

I think it is really important. As we have evolved it has been a balancing act of putting out a killer product but making it cost effective enough to actually make money. Up to this point we have not had any major investors and have run the company on our own blood sweat and tears…so making the product something WE would go out and buy has always been a rule of thumb. The shirts we use have to be a good combo of super soft, flattering cut, and cost effective. The design can be really cool, but especially for women, the shirt has to LOOK GOOD and FEEL GOOD, or it won’t be worn.

It seems like in the apparel industry a company goes either one way or another. Either they brand their logo such as what you did or what Johnny Cupcakes did or they brand themselves with a style. Can you talk to us about your thought on branding?

Its funny how things played out for us, because it was all very instinctual, I knew about branding from being a full time designer. I knew things had to be consistent, the logo had to pop, and the general public had to “get it”. When I sent the logo to Elisabeth, she told me she had visions of our logo in stores, in the sport and other places and was like “YES, THIS IS IT”. So having that reaction to the logo was awesome. We really try to keep the logo or the silhouette in almost all the designs. We will tie catch phrases to the brand too, like “The Sexy Side of MMA” or “Empowering Women Worldwide” to give the brand flavor. We want women to go to their closet, knowing the day is gonna be a tough one, and grab their Fight Chix shirt…and then feel like Wonder Woman! We have actually seen it happen. We have been to local MMA fights and seen women put on our stuff and walk a little taller. We have sponsored athletes and seen their competition look afraid, because they were wearing Fight Chix. Our goal has been for women to wear Fight Chix, and feel like they can take on the world, and also be a part of a movement and hopefully that shows through in our branding.

So instead of asking you to look into a crystal ball and predict your future simply put, what are you and Elisabeth feeling your future could hold? It looks that you are getting the press, the recognition, the fighter, the sales and support. FightChix.com is run very well and you are all over the social networks. What’s the next level for FC?

The next level for us is to keep growing! The sport of mixed martial arts is very young, so there is a lot of room to grow there. We also want to continue to transcend the sport and grow as a lifestyle brand for strong empowered women who are not afraid to be sexy AND strong! We want to increase the number of shirts being carried at Spencer’s. We have a licensing deal in place right now handles both Spencer’s and MGM Casino properties. We want to increase sales on our website and we want to keep our numbers high in all the stores we are currently in. One of the main things we don’t want to do is become over saturated. We limited our licensing deal on purpose, and almost all the shirts you get a Spencer’s will be exclusive to Spencer’s. We do the same with shirts on our website and in our other retail accounts like www.mmawarehouse.com or in the Midwest, Eminent stores.

We also do website exclusives and retail exclusives. Since we are still growing, we want to keep the brand fresh for people who have followed us from the start, but we also want to keep it exciting for anyone who has just discovered us. We have talked about eventually doing our own retail store, or maybe even combining all our talents into one—and having a small MMA style gym and salon with a Fight Chix boutique. A place where you can go and get a killer workout, then get an amazing cut and style, and finally purchase some hot apparel that is a combo of both!

Well I’m very excited to have talked with you about your mission and your artistic decisions for FC. So to leave all the readers with one last question…Do you have some creative favorites you have learned from or like to follow?

I have used GoMedia’s products and love their work. Through them I found IAMTHETREND site and visit it often to see all the awesome work people are creating. I found Johnny Cupcakes through that site, and honestly anyone who isn’t impressed with Johnny is lying! His story is an amazing inspiration.

Recently I came across a brand that hasn’t been released yet, called MMA Bloodlines. Look for it—its SICK! I also love the artistic drawing style you have (check out Steve Knerem’s website people)! I love Rob Dobi, Derek Hess, Angryblue and was really impressed with David Genler at WMC2. Through the history of the brand there is inspiration from creative’s of a different kind. Mask from TapouT was a huge inspiration—not from a creative standpoint, but from his never say die attitude and his belief in his brand the ideals behind it. Bruce Lee, a man that single handedly created a new movie genre and is more popular now, than he was in the early 70s. His personal life philosophy has shaped my life, the ability to adapt to life’s challenges is essential always. My wife inspires me daily, she IS the brand, strong, sexy, empowering.

I always love hearing about people’s story yours is awesome. Keep fighting I’m sure we’ll meet again. It’s been my pleasure. I wish you and Elisabeth all the best and look forward to seeing more FC in stores across the country. Best of luck!

Find Fight Chix:
www.fightchicx.com
Twitter: @fightchixJake, @fightchix (Elisabeth and she has WAY more followers)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FIGHTCHIX

If you want to talk to me personally, hit me up on twitter or search Jacob Nuesser of facebook!

You can find the work of Steve Knerem at:
Website: www.steveknerem.com
T-shirt line: www.steveknerem.bigcartel.com
Twitter: @steveknerem
Facebook: http://facebook.com/steve.knerem

Let it be known that absolute favorite style and color t-shirt is American Apparel Tri-Blend Heather Grey, but with that said nothing to me looks better in summer than white and bright colored tees. I have scoured the internet to bring 50 of my favorite white and bright t-shirts! Summer has only started to kick into gear and there is plenty of time to fill out at that summer wardrobe.

This list is probably the most subjective list I have put together as it features what are in my “opinion” some of my favorite white and bright colored tees. That being said, I am of course going to miss some winners, but as I am a one man show, it’s going to happen! So no bitching! If you have a favorite white or bright colored shirt that you think should be on the list feel free to leave it in the comments below!

List is in no particular order and each link goes directly to where you can purchase that tee!

As always please be kind and retweet and facebook like this list! They take a long time to put together!

1. Swallows & Daggers | £15.99 | Buy Here

2. Ugmonk |$24 | Buy Here

3. Johnny Cupcakes | $35.99 | Buy Here

4. Arkaik | $19.99 | Buy Here

5. Dpctd Apparel | $22 | Buy Here

6. Miles To Go | $25 | Buy Here

7. Death, Shred | $26 | Buy Here

8. Colus | $20 | Buy Here

9. Sugar Steak Apparel | $20 | Buy Here

10. Dont Feed The Animals | $24 | Buy Here

11. Origin 68 | £18 | Buy Here

12. Gold Coin | $30 | Buy Here

13. Go Ape | $20 | Buy Here

14. Golden Eagle | $20 | Buy Here

15. Atslopes | $20 | Buy Here

16. Electric Zombie | $20 | Buy Here

17. Valley Clothing | $22.99 | Buy Here

18. Random Objects | $23 | Buy Here

19. Fur Face Boy | $19.99 | Buy Here

20. The Hundreds | $24 | Buy Here

21. 410 BC | $36 | Buy Here

21. SEIBEI | $22.99 | Buy Here

22. CX City | $23.95 | Buy Here

23. SUCK! Clothing | $25 | Buy Here

24. The Vague Idea | $33 | Buy Here

25. The VNM | $30 | Buy Here

26. Prestigious | $26 | Buy Here

27. Sockmonkee | $12 | target=”blank”Buy Here

28. Lincoln Supply Co | $25 | Buy Here

29. MASKED | $26.99 | Buy Here

30. Fullbleed | $18 | Buy Here

31. Mumford Clothing | $18 | Buy Here

32. Monsieur Eureka | $21.99 | Buy Here

33. 8 Bit Zombie | $18 | Buy Here

34. Kinkking | 21 € | Buy Here

35. Nomad Clothing | $23.95 | Buy Here

36. Regan Smith Clarke | $25 | Buy Here

37. RAWRS | $18 | Buy Here

38. Time To Panic | £13.95 | Buy Here

39. Branded Baron | $20 | Buy Here

40. Urban Misfit Society | $24 | Buy Here

41. Ruckus Apparel | $32 | Buy Here

42. Loud Silence | $20 | Buy Here

43. Seventh Ink | $24 | Buy Here

44. Omunky | $22 | Buy Here

45. Kaught Looking | $21 | Buy Here

46. Insomniac Apparel | $49.95 AUD | Buy Here

47. Make Believe | $25 | Buy Here

48. Design By Humans | $19 | Buy Here

49. Draw LTD | $20 | Buy Here

50. Zadok 44 | $18 | Buy Here

BONUS The Imaginary Zebra (this was originally on the list but was removed because their site was down) |$27| Buy Here

Collaborations are a lot like a relationship, you can take two totally beautiful people and have one ugly kid. Likewise, two ugly people can create the next Blake Lively. The same thing can happen with a tee collaboration between brands and artists, you can take two awesome logos or styles and mash ‘em together into a wicked piece of garbage. For this reason you must selectively pick the brands, bands, or artists you link up with for collaborations. Work with brands that a similar to yours, carry a quality reputation, and aren’t simply trying to ride your wave of success. I recently finished up the very first Sugar Steak collaboration tee and below are the three questions I asked myself prior to doing this.

1) Does the style, target audience, and/or brand reputation work together?

I think we would all agree it would be stupid for The Hundreds to do a collaboration with Ed Hardy. If you don’t agree, stop reading this now. I mean, one brand is known for quality, originality, exclusivity, and consistent progress. While the other is associated with muscles, Jersey Shore, Costco, and complete sell-out branding. Now I already know someone who went to business school is reading this and thinking “Kyle you suck, The Hundreds would capture so many more customers if they worked with a known brand like Ed Hardy! I mean Ed Hardy is EVERYWHERE!” And my answer to you would be, get off IATT, go hug your business textbooks, and take your crew to The Buckle so you can all buy matching shirts. Sure TH might gain some new customers, but they would lose the respect of the loyal fans they have worked so hard to earn and ultimately lose a lot of repeat customers. People camp out for days to get their hands on a new Hundreds shirt, that means something. Not only are the two brands very different in style, but they cater to very different audiences, and carry very different brand reputations and respect. This is why you see The Hundreds collaborate with brands like Diamond Supply Co, E-40, and other brands/artists that epitomize what The Hundreds represents. When you are looking to collaborate with another brand you need to keep in mind what your brand represents and what the brand in question represents. Make sure your styles match, or have the ability to match together, the best collaborations come from companies that can target the same audience and carry reputations that will complement each other.

2) Will this cross-promotion be mutually beneficial?

Collaborate with brands that are on a similar scale as yourself and/or carry potential that will bring about positive recognition. As your brand starts to become more recognizable you will get approached by several up-n-coming brands suggesting a collaboration or cross-promotion idea. The reason for this is simple, they want to piggy-back off your success. They are looking to help themselves and hope they can leverage what you have worked hard to create. Sure they probably respect your brand and love what you offer, but you need to realize how a collaboration like this can potentially hurt your brand image. It’s one-sided, it will help their brand, but not yours. If you have built your brand name to a place where it is respected and represents quality, you need to stick with brands that have done the same. Don’t be afraid to turn people down for this reason. Sure they might think you’re a dick and say you act all high and mighty, but you have a brand reputation to uphold, it is YOUR brand and you obviously did something right to get it to where it is. Don’t be afraid to protect your image. On the flipside you may be approached, or you may even want to approach a new brand because what they are doing has potential. In that case, go with your gut, recognize talent when you see it and make the choice you feel is best. Now to those of you that have been turned down by brands
for collaborations and cross-promotion ideas because your designs or status wasn’t up to par, don’t get down on yourself. The truth hurts, but the truth will help you improve. Every brand has to start from the bottom, at one point Johnny Cupcakes was laughed at by other brands, but look at him now.

3) What’s the point to this collaboration?

In my opinion there are two reasons why collaborations happen. One, for cross-promotion and increased awareness to new customers. Two, to mix-it-up and get a fresh perspective or design style. If you’re just doing a collaboration simply because someone gave you the idea and you figured “Sure, why not.” Well then, good luck to you, hopefully you don’t waste your time and money. A collaboration tee should be planned out like all your other releases, in fact you should put more thought into a collaboration because it’s not just one but two brand names on the line. If you don’t have a good reason why you’re doing a collaboration, then don’t expect a whole lot to come from it.

Ok, now that I have yakked on and on. It’s time to put my money where my mouth is. Like I said earlier, I recently finished up the very first Sugar Steak collaboration with Saintgraphic, an artist from Italy, and trust me all of these questions went through my head. You can see the mash-up of our two styles in what I’ve dubbed the “Campfire Collaboration” available for pre-order now in the SGRSTK online store.

I am absolutely loving everything about the newly release line from Suffoca. The new line which features 5 T-shirts, one vest (tanktop) and a beautifully constructed custom cut & sew hoodie is great from front to back.

Let’s start with the new hoodie. This beast is a custom cut and sew product from start to finish including quilted stitching on top panel, embroidered Suffoca tag & Beanman Silhouette and a very awesome extra front pockets that fit your phone or iPod perfectly. The back printed also features a nice print and it is all finished with a soft cotton lining for £45.00 or $73.00 USD. Not the cheapest hoodie in the world but this thing is a beauty.

Aside from the hood I am loving the new designs on the five new tees. The artwork is unique, recognizable and extremely wearable on each tee. The tees sell for £30.00 or $49 USD, which unfortunately with the weak US dollar is definitely out of my price range for tees but they are indeed nice to look at!

Something else that I love that Suffoca did with this new line is launch a very cool video collection that highlights their brand, fans and even Johnny Cupcakes doing the robot. That can all be see on their Vimeo page HERE

Check it all out at www.suffoca.com

All I have to say is “It’s about time!” Finally a clothing company that has been setup with the goal of creating cool indie clothing for kids! Bumps and Bruises was created with young hip parents in mind who wanted something fun and different for their kids.

Yes there have been some companies that have made an effort to market towards kids such Johnny Cupcakes, Miles To Go, Threadless and Ript Apparel. But I have really believed that there is room and still is room for clothing lines that are targeted towards young parents or “hip” parents looking for cool threads for their kids.

Aside from a great idea, Miami based Bumps and Bruises are doing things right. Just one look at their website, product shots, videos and designs and you know these guys mean business. These guys truly care about creating quality products and paying attention to the details such as including screen printed tags.

With the recent success of the brand, Bumps and Bruises has started to expand into tees for adults as well. Looks like a great start to a new indie clothing line looking to fill a niche.

Check out the full line at: www.bumps-bruises.com And make sure to check out their promo video below:

Bumps & Bruises Promo Video from Bumps & Bruises on Vimeo.

Could you start by giving us a small bio, name, age, favorite color, etc?

Hi, My name is Clark Orr, when this is published, I’ll be 27. I was born and raised in DeLand, FL where I currently reside with my dog Edison. Hmm, my favorite color (arguably) is black. I listen to Rock n’ Roll all day, and make illustrations and designs for some fun people.

At what age or point in life did you first get into art and what drew you to it?

I’ve drawn, created, and invented ever since I was young. My dad is a sign painter from the old school, so I’ve been around his artwork since I can remember. At a young age, I was way into toy packaging/graphics: TMNT, Transformers, Madballs, and most of all, The Real Ghostbusters. In middle school I collected comic books, skated, and spent hours every month looking at cd covers in record stores. It became more evident that I was more interested in trying to replicate comic art and eyeing the newest deck designs than I was in reading, or landing the next hardest trick. I distinctly remember in sixth grade, my homeroom teacher asking us what we wanted to do as a grown up. I said a skateboard designer. In high school, I started proper graphic design.

As far as what drew me into art goes, I guess being creative is a very human-connective, spiritual thing for me, it resonates when I’m on point with it. I just ended up with the visual arts side of creativity as my passion. I’m very attracted to art and graphic design, probably in a similar way that a musician is attracted to rhythm and harmonization or a writer is to words and storytelling. I had a knack for art and composition, so I went for it and haven’t looked back since.

Let’s get the Johnny Cupcakes stuff out of the way. Back in 2008 you became the art director and lead designer for one of the most famous indie clothing brands on the planet a job a lot of artists would kill to have. After only a couple years in that position you decided to give it up, what went into that decision and how hard was it to make?

It was a really difficult decision. I love the brand, it was like my baby, it still is, ya know. I also loved my job, and I went from a steady paycheck back into the freelancing hustle, kind of scary. But my conscience kept telling me to move on. It’s hard to explain, but I finally knew it was time. There were a couple practical reasons for my leaving, the first part being that I got really burnt out. It’s taken me till recently to be honest enough with myself to realize that’s what happened. The brand is still a very small company. Despite it’s success and notoriety, all the office employees and managers do the job of like 3 people, not exaggerating. That’s just how an indie brand works. You could imagine the amount of work and responsibility I had as the sole full-time designer for about two of those years. And to be creative every day on top of all that is intense. It was also very difficult to find another full-time designer for us; someone that could hit the mark and help carry the load, so we went without. We were fortunate enough, however, to have Danny Jones (Yasly) and M. Brady Clark to help out with freelancing from time to time and Jenna Rivers with us doing Cut and Sew.

As much as I was burned out and stressed, the other half of my decision was about me needing to be able to work on different kinds of projects and not just focus on one brand. I realized that I am the kind of artist that needs to be able to work with say a band one week and a clothing line the next. I need variety and new challenges to progress as an artist and in general, to be sane. When I told Johnny I was returning to freelance, he was super supportive about it. It was really cool. I didn’t leave the company right away. From that point, it took me about 5 months to find a replacement and do training, etc. I wanted to make sure everything was set to run smoothly after I left. I still say “we” and “us” when referring to the brand, because even though I left, it’s still my family.

How was it working with Johnny in the early days and helping him form his brand?

Johnny is an extraordinary dude, he’s one of my best friends. There are not many people like him, which is part of why the brand is as big as it is, I think. I don’t know anyone who is as thoroughly stoked about what they do as he is. He’s always been like that. So it’s awesome working with someone who’s that passionate about what they’re doing.

In the early days of Johnny Cupcakes, it was really new and exciting for me. When I started working with Johnny around 2003, it was a new brand, really, so there was a lot of possibility. He already had some designs, but I sort of had a blank slate to work with. I took some ideas he had going on and ran with it, to help lay more of the groundwork. I didn’t know much about underground independent clothing brands then, there wasn’t really much of a “scene” for it like there is now. It was exciting having pretty much free reign to design t-shirts for a brand that I knew of through the hardcore scene.

At the time, I wasn’t a great illustrator, nor did I know the technical side (how to separate inks for the screen printers), so everything we did was really simple and cute. I designed pieces on my own but I also used clipart some, that was kind of the style back then, and I was still new to design, so it made it easier. I remember one day, maybe a year after first working with Johnny, he said someone made fun of his brand on a message board for using clipart. From that point on we no longer used stock art for any JC shirt. That was a real turning point for the brand, and for me as an artist. That really set the look for the brand that we still have today, straight forward, fun, bold, and custom.

Back then, I also designed the website(s) and made the first webstore. I would update our sizes everyday, we barely knew how to run e-commerce. Lucas or Johnny would call – “X-Bone plaid – Girls Small and Medium – outta stock”, etc. We would look at the web stats, and get stoked at like a couple hundred hits in one day. Ha. Around 2004 or so, the brand started growing almost exponentially it seemed from then on. I was a little absent for a couple years later, while I was graduating college and beginning my full-time career in freelance. In 2008 I joined the JC team full-time. It still blows my mind over the impact the brand has had. I really suffer from a sort of, “too close to see” phenomenon when it comes to the success of JC. That’s why it’s funny to me hearing someone else describe the brand. Regardless of the perspective, it started out grassroots, and still is to this day, even though it’s on a different scale. That’s something that we all love about it.

What have you been doing with your time and art since leaving Johnny Cupcakes?

I’ve actually designed a great deal for JC since I’ve stepped down (but on a freelance basis of course). I also recently helped layout and design parts of the new JC London store. Aside from JC, I’ve reconnected with a couple of old clients and made some new ones that I’m really excited to be working with.

I’ve also been working with Benny Gold on his line. Benny is an inspiration for me, so to work with him is an honor – great guy, great brand. Also, I’ve been working with the hip hop label Rhymesayers and some of their artists. Been working some with Real Skateboards and Spitfire Wheels (my sixth grade prediction came true), a few other companies, and a slew of band merch designs.

My artwork/career eats up pretty much my whole life. I get busy and stay busy, so I don’t have much free time. I need to change that, cause there’s more to life than “what you do”, or so I hear. I want to travel more this year. I’ll be going out to the JC London opening in a couple weeks and then out to California shortly after. Also, my mom and dad just moved so I’ve been helping them with the move and renovations. Just started a Geocaching crew with some friends – Risky Business Crew! That gets me outta the house more.

You have quite the range in artistic styles, what do you attribute to this?

I would say it partially comes from necessity. At the end of the day, I’m a commercial artist. I don’t always get to pick what I do for my clients, so I have to adapt, while executing my vision. I have different kinds of clients who have different expectations and needs. One day I’m doing a death metal design and the next I’m working on a corporate brand identity. I really enjoy that variety. I love super-stylized artists, that’s just not really me. Also I would say my range is largely due to my various influences. Most artists create what they want to see (or try to) and what they like seeing. I’m hugely influenced by everything from traditional tattoo art, to pulp/sci-fi/horror comic illustration, to WPA poster art and mid-century advertising, to Swiss design. That said, many designers tell me I have a look or style, which I agree with. I would say my art usually has a classic or vintage feel with bold lines and a focus on movement, and is custom (if I had to explain my style in a sentence). I think the sweet-spot is to have a style, but not be confined by it. I hope that’s where I’m at.

Did you have any formal education or schooling in Art, and if so how do you feel it molded you as an artist?

I’m pretty much self-taught, however I got my Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts at the University of North Florida (not really an art school). I enjoyed my classes, professors, and classmates there, but I wish I would have spent that time, energy, and money interning, studying on my own and apprenticing; learning more about art and theory in a more hands-on, practical environment. I would actually suggest that route to other artists. Or if you can afford a nice art school or portfolio program. Most “successful” artists I know didn’t go to school for it… My dad actually has taught me a great deal, especially about typography, theory, and composition.

What have been some of your proudest moments as an artist?

I think each JC store opening we have is a big moment for me. Probably also when I was at the point where I was definitely making a full living off my art. Mostly, I’m proud to have people in my life that are proud of me and what I do, if that makes sense.

Any big projects in the works you would like to share?

Yes, right now I am working on rebranding myself – my design company. I can’t say what all it is right now, but it’s in the works and it’s gonna be a big thing for me, really exciting. I’m going to keep everyone updated, you can check for new updates on my twitter or on my website.

What is your favorite medium?

I’m a pencil and paper kind of guy, that’s where all my designs start. I’ve been drawing more non-work related pieces lately, scripts, lettering, and tattoo-style compositions. As far as final product mediums, shirts take up the largest percentage of my work, and I’m really digging working on skateboards lately – they’re a unique challenge for sure. I’d like to get more into full brand identities/strategies, & album and product packaging.

What is the best part of being an artist?

The best part of being an artist is all the babes. But honestly, the best part is when you create something new that is just as good or better than the last thing you created. Getting better as an artist and seeing the fruits of hard labor, is very satisfying. It’s also a unique sense of accomplishment to see something go from sketch, to a full, finished composition. Michelangelo said that in every block of marble was a sculpture and it was the artists job to find it. So to “find the sculpture” on each project, is great.

Where do you spend most of your time on the web?

I’m not a huge web-surfer, but some faves are: SwallowsnDaggers.com (tattoo blog), ffffound, Theprp (hardcore/metal heads rejoice), omgposters, Twitter, Uncrate, Dribble, and ThisAmericanLife.org.

If someone wanted to hire you are you available and if so how can someone get a hold of you?

You can catch me at www.clarkorr.com info is on the site. Feel free to hit me up. Heads up though, I have to be very selective with new clients/projects I take on, especially because of my availability. I’m also on twitter if you wanna be pals – twitter.com/clarkorr

Any last minute shout outs or announcements?

Sweet, never got to do this. Word to my fam and friends, I feel really blessed to have the love and support that I do. Word up to the JC crew and to my design pals in the struggle – You know who you are. It’s all good baby baby.

Totes are usually a relatively inexpensive product that allow you to fashionably carry around your laptop, groceries, books, clothes and whatever else you can cram into a small bag! With more and more indie clothing lines starting to carry totes I figured I’d put together a list of awesome tote goodness for you all to enjoy!

So without further adieu I bring to you the list of 20 Awesome Totes and Tote Bags!