Inspiration and ideas

I have been searching around the net and found quite a lot of sites that sell unique and quirky t-shirts. The sites vary in structure and I'll do a short analysis of each I list here.

Sites that you can submit designs:
http://www.threadless.com/

Threadless is one of the most popular t-shirt websites on the net, and one of my personally favourite sites for purchasing t-shirts. The designs are all unique and quirky, with a range of themes from animals, music, humor, typography and more. Threadless is a community based system, where designs can be uploaded by anyone and they are "scored" by the public. Designs that are most popular are turned into t-shirts and the designer receives money, merchandise and further money if the design is re-printed. The site has its own blog that has interviews with artists and competitions, this self advertising.

I picked some designs that I feel incorporate an illustrative quality, featuring animals and/or a clever meaning. These are the sorts of designs I aspire to create:

 
 



 http://en.lafraise.com/ is a French version of Threadless and operates in a similar fashion.

Cafepress.com
Cafepress is another user based website, it operates by facilitating designers to printing on products and selling them to customers. Designers upload their designs, cafepress displays them on mock t-shirts and other products and will print and post the product when purchased. They take a commission for the sale.

Other sites that feature pop-cultured themed t-shirts:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/
http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/Homepage.jsp
http://www.designbyhumans.com/
http://www.camiseteria.com/default.aspx
http://shirt.woot.com/?utm_expid=31924516-4&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.visualswirl.com%2Finspiration%2Fcustom-tshirt-website-designs%2F
http://www.snorgtees.com/index.php
http://www.teefury.com/
http://t-shirtmagazineonline.com/