8 posts tagged “design”
This week my sister shop, TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES, is listing some new fall-winter items while working on the TOYC spring-summer collection.
First, the double t-shirt dress is now offered in navy:
Also, appropriate for fall/winter, the v. popular dress is now available in a long-sleeve version:
And finally there is the GHOST JACKET:
I have one in dark grey, and it has been very good to me during these chilly fall days.
There are some other reasons I love this jacket:
-It's got a 2-way zipper in the front.
-To quote Ben J.: "2 crew neck sweatshirts reconfigured : neckline = armhole, one sleeve = collar/hood, one sleeve divided = deep cowl pocket + sleeve extension"
Also, it is very roomy like a poncho, but it rises up in the front and back. That way, your legs still get seen and have some length.
Ben will be listing some other items, so keep an eye out!
Back to work for us!
xo
c
Tonight I unveiled two new designs.
You saw the prototype of one of them last week: the oversize cowl top.
I've made it for men and women:
These days I'm all about tank tops and sleeveless tees.
Okay, the second design:
It's called "What Might Have Been Or Will Be":
Inspired heavily by: spirals, text, butterflies, pains, depths of field, collaborations, and Karen Carpenter.
These designs are not for sale on Etsy right now.
However, they ARE for sale in my new Supermarket shop.
You know, to kick things off and all...
I want to make a new t-shirt design inspired by the Staten Island boat graveyard because it inspires me.
(If you ever get the chance to see this boat graveyard in person, please take it! It's unreal.)
I made some very quick sketches the other day, but I haven't gotten anywhere with it at all yet.
(Sorry about the scanning quality. I was in a rush.)
I have to be in a zone (where it's just my thoughts and a pencil and paper, nothing else) when I am designing. And I have to be very happy and proud of a new design once finished.
I feel like I'm constantly distracted these days, so it's hard for me to really concentrate.
I would want a design based on the Staten Island boat graveyard to be very awesome. I'd want to feel very proud of myself after I put down my pencil and said, "There! I'm done. That's my new design."
Just had a thought (which could lead to a rant)...
If I see ONE more t-shirt with a bicycle silkscreened on it...
Jeez, people. C'mon!
I feel like that's so uninspired. Totally not brave at all.
I'll stop there.
Was that tacky of me?
Sozard.
A big fat congratulations is in order for my pal Ben J.
He won an NPR/WNYC t-shirt design contest on the Leonard Lapote Show---and which was judged by Isaac Mizrahi! So, this morning he got to be interviewed on the radio by Leonard Lapote and Mizrahi.
It was really exciting to hear. And I taped it, too.
Here's the Godet t-shirt he designed:
It was also a little surreal to hear Ben on the radio talking to Mizrahi because we've been watching that new show on Bravo called "The Fashion Show". So, the coming-together of these two worlds was a bit unreal.
Check out the WNYC site for the t-shirt design contest.
Etsy also congratulated Ben in a nice Storque article that you should also check out.
On Sunday, before stepping out into the cold rain that's been terrorizing Brooklyn for the past 3-4 days, I rediscovered Walter Van Beirendonck's fall/winter 09 collection and got really excited and inspired.
So, I thought I'd take the time to share some of my knit inspiration:
(I REALLY want that sweater and those pants. They're just too amazing.)
Sandra Backlund's work is very impressive/meaningful to me because it's all handknit by her. (And also sometimes her mother helps her when the work load piles up, she wrote me in an email awhile back.)
Now I wanna leave my studio and go home and knit...
Mmm.
I must say that I wasn't too happy to wake up to a gloomy/grey/wet day when yesterday was so beautiful. Not a fan of these days. I like dry, sunny, happy days.
Anyway, I'm currently working on a new shirt design---and I must say that it's pretty awesome and kinda cute.
You'll see it in time.
EmJo has a project (or something) she's working on, and she wants people to photograph themselves AS SOON as they wake up in the morning. No trying to make yourself look good or anything. (Apparently she thinks we look great already. Sweet.)
So, here's me as soon as I woke up this morning:
My eyes always look so strange in the morning, I think. And I look angry, even though I don't mind waking up. I'm a fan of it.
I also took a photo of Gordo, her cat, too:
He's a cat, so he pretty much looks like that all day.
Except for when he wants to sit on the sink counter next to me while I'm sitting on the toilet in the bathroom.
Too much?
I was interviewed twice today: one was filmed---gosh, I've been all stopped up lately, so I'm probably gonna sound all nasal---and the other was for some German newspaper (the German equivalent of the NY Times, I think).
Actually it wasn't just me---my pal Chanel (aka owner of the awesome shop Junk Prints) was interviewed, too, but separately.
And then the former president (I THINK that was his position---it was either that or CEO or owner or something) of BMG music stopped by the studio space. I'm not really sure why, but I think because Matt Stinchcomb, head of Etsy's marketing team, knows him. (Matt used to be in that band the French Kicks. I never listened to them, but other people I know did.)
I didn't meet that BMG guy, though. I was knitting.
Besides, I'm sure he and Rob had certain things to discuss.
Who knows.
It's all so random.
Today's been weird.
I think it's because I've been in the studio all day long.
But this is going to be my life from now on.
If I want Cubist Literature to work---if I want to work for MYSELF and not some job I hate---then it's going to take some long hours, some sacrifices, some serious dedication, some babies, some beer (I hope!), some felt, some recycled/vintage/thriftstore clothes, some...
I'll stop.
But I've been busy all day long.
I went home for about an hour and a half so that I can eat some Chef Boyardee and do a crossword puzzle.
I fuckin' love crossword puzzles, even if I can't ever finish them.
I REALLY love doing those puzzles with a friend.
(Lillian G. (aka Lazy Susan) and I did a couple on the subways when she was here. We finished them both. Holler.)
Okay, here's a photo list of the things I made today:
And I'd already listed this cuff in the shop, but I had more of the yarn left over, so I decided to knit a couple more.
I REALLY love that yarn so much. It's handspun, but I'm not sure by whom.
I unraveled the yarn from a hat that I got---not for me to wear, but the hat was just donated/given to me because the owner didn't want it anymore. I guess.
I'm really excited about these next six months.
I hope that I have what it takes to run some sort of legit/substantial/consistent business.
I'm really nervous about the sacrifices, though, of course.
I'm not looking forward to $1/day budgets for food.
I'm getting the impression that I'll need a partner.
So, I think I'm currently looking for one. I'd prefer another guy to work with. And who's good at sewing and knitting and being awesome and original.
I'm just thinking out loud.
I'll stop RIIIIIIGHT now.
I'm proud of myself because the basic web designing that I do has gotten to be a bit easier.
I redesigned my website yesterday afternoon and evening. And it didn't take 10-13 hours like I thought it would.
It only took about 3-5 hours. Maybe more.
I still don't understand a lot about coding and web design---obviously---but I only teach myself how to do/make things that I want to do/make.
(Like yeah... I COULD do the fancy knitting techniques and such---I am positive I could---I just don't want to.)
Anyway, here is the new site.
HERE.
CLICK.
In other news, here is one of the shirts I made today:
It's that octopus again.
I forgot my tripod at my apartment, so in order to take the photo of the shirt, I had to stack up all the books I have here, put my camera on top of that, and then I had to stand/kneel RILLY awkward to model the shirt.
The moral of the story, you guys, is this:
NEVER FORGET YOUR TRIPOD AT HOME.
