The Imaginary Zebra just continue to impress me with each release they put out. The designs seem to get more and more clever and well executed and the overall quality of the line jumps up along with it.

The new summer release titled “Series 4″ features 5 new designs spread across 6 different tees. As always I am really digging owner Benson Chou’s unique and recognizable styled artwork. Everything just has this super clean and fresh feeling to it, from the line work to the colors chosen for the art.

I am also loving the attention to detail that The Imaginary Zebra has put into their line. From custom sewn hem tags, to tee tags, professionally executed photography and even lower back prints that change with each t-shirt design, they are really swinging for the fences.

Each tee retails for $27 with everything printed on American Apparel. You can check out and pick up the new line at www.theimaginaryzebra.com

*NEWS FLASH* Selling t-shirts or any apparel item online comes with the inherent hurdle of not being able to try on items before you buy them! Aside from fit part of buying clothing and trying it on is to see how it looks in a real world application and how it fits with our style. So how do we overcome that hurdle?

Well unfortunately until someone develops teleportation we are pretty much stuck to viewing sizing charts and look books. Look Books provide a great way for a potential customer to see how a companies tees look out “in the wild“.

Unfortunately a lot of tee companies overlook the importance of a look book when launching their brand! Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with taking simple product shots against a plain background, and actually I encourage that because it shows the tee against a non competing background. BUT, don’t make the mistake of overlooking the aspect of showing your tees in a more exciting element! Paint a picture around your line to suit your brand and more customers will follow.

Look Books can take many shapes and forms, from interactive brochures, slideshows and even just a series of cohesive pictures in a labeled gallery. Let your imagination run wild and show the world how much you care about your line!

Below are 10 ten links to great examples of Look Books that really bring a brands clothing line to life!

View Glamour Kills Look Book

View Make Believe Look Book

View UGMONK Look Book

View Panic Pop Look Book (Must Be 18+)

View Electric Zombie Look Book

View Simplified Clothing Look Book

View The Imaginary Zebra Look Book

View Alumni 2012 Look Book

View Paint The Stars Look Book

View Suck! Clothing Look Book

The Imaginary Zebra is really a brand that has been flying under a lot of peoples radars, but these guys are poised for a HUGE 2011! Owner and designer Benson Chou has been doing just an incredible job cranking some killer designs.

His latest designs include Mosiac Zeeb, which is a very cool pixelated look to the Imaginary Zebra logo, as well as the very funny and cool looking Air Zeeb picture. (ever wondered what a zebra looked like dunking a basketball?)

Most of the tees from TIZ run about $22 to $27 and all are printed by Threadbird, so the quality of print is definitely going to be there. I am also loving the introduction of the hem tag on the front corner and of course the back print along the bottom of the tees as always.

Check out the full line at www.theimaginaryzebra.com

Johnny Cupcakes Artist Series $39.99
Dave Quiggle, Illustrator and Tattoo Artist from Southern California via Erie, PA

Zombie Liqourice: 3 New Tees: www.zombieliquorice.com Godmachine, Aaron Kerr and Joshua Belanger $20

DeezTeez. Flip the shirt up to instantly turn into a zombie, only $15

2K Sports made good on their $1 million “Perfect Game Challenge” promotion for MLB 2K10. The winner? A 24-year old Alabaman man named Wade McGilberry.

He used Kenshin Kawakami against the mets, it took him six tries, he had a cuple of scares, one 3-2 count, a grounder deflected to the shortstop in the first inning and a fly ball to the warning track in the eight, Kawakami, through his interpreter, told MLB.com, “I want to know why he used me.”

The Imaginary Zebra: Destroy Their Facebook Page check it our HERE

INTERVIEW:
www.sacerandsavive.com

SALES:
Skeg: www.store.skegits.com Use coupon code: SPACID for 25% off

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Atomic Child: http://atomicchild.com/
Worked with: Randr Tees, Four Year Strong, 8Bit zombie, All American Rejects

Play With My Tee Tees:
American Apothecary: www.a-apothecary.com (water based inks: pima cotton) %10 of proceeds go do drug outreach programs
Packaging: B
Printing: A
Price: D $108!!! Wowie Zowie
Presentation: B
Overall: B

I Love Antix: www.iloveantix.com
Packaging: C
Printing: A
Price: A
Presentation: B
Overall: B

Kalel: www.kalelclothing.com All $20
Packaging: C
Printing: A
Price: A
Presentation: B
Overall: B

Tee Picks of the Week:
Adam: Dead, Serious! Clothing:
Wolfpack: http://deadseriousclothing.bigcartel.com/product/wolfpack

Beau: Hips & Hair – spray on inspiration $28 limited quantity of 30. This design comes directly from a painting I did in December of 2008. I strive to make designs that come from more original sources, than just graphic art stuff. The deeper meaning is that I wanted to show how inspiration can come in the form of anything…even a spray can.Hand printed on American Apparel.

Youtube Video of the Week:

This also marks the first line with a new approach from TIZ. Instead of releasing lines in typical fashion along with the seasons, TIZ will be releasing their lines in series based collections. Each series will be numbered and and no number will be repeated.

With this switch to series based releases TIZ believe that this will allow them greater flexibility in their releases. As they state “season don’t wait and therefore there are deadlines”, by not keeping with strict spring, summer, fall and winter releases TIZ will be able to be more spontaneous and release on their own time schedule.

I really like the idea of each series being numbered and thought of as a collective unit in time. While most t-shirt lines want their lines to be “timeless” TIZ is more concerned with creating a connection to that moment in time when you bought that shirt and the occurrences at that particular time.

Regardless of how they plan on releasing their lines I was impressed with the tees themselves. I really dig the logo and think it makes for a great and memorable tee design. I’m also a big fan of the soaked design, for some reason I am always a sucker for tees that try and do something outside the box and incorporate the actual tee into the design.

Overall a very solid offering from the company. Check out the entire line at: www.theimaginaryzebra.com