T-Shirt concept submission to Uneetee.com. Middle of last year, I originally created this design to prove a point; after several submissions to the collective, I noticed that the community responded extremely well to designs with birds, ninjas, or foliage. So I thought, “Here’s a great exercise”; and I illustrated a composition with all three. It was a fun experiment, digging into my library of source vector graphics and going to town all over this fabric. The most work proved to be  creating the blue jay highlights and making sure the detail of the textures balanced with all of the background elements.

I have to say, the t-shirt industry is very similar to the corporate design culture in that it absolutely carries it’s own flavor and influences, but is definitely effected by trends. It’s been inspiring to see the wicked creations these tee illustrators are bringing to the table. And it’s been a pleasure being a part of the community. I’ve spent a lot of years catering to a certain design/illustration standard and I’m excited and encouraged to finally have the means and the opportunity to further explore alternative approaches to illustrative techniques. Still a newbie on the scene and I’m in love. =)