Too Busy To Notice!

Stand out from the rest… whether you choose to be different
or just are, live your life because it is just that…
YOUR life!

One Shoe, One Slipper?

Most people are too busy with their lives to notice what other people think about them. This I find especially true in the mornings; eating breakfast at a hundred miles per hour, feeding the kids their breakfast at a hundred miles per hour, getting the bus to work, geting the train to work, stuck in a traffic jam in your car on the way to work, walking the kids to school, collecting the kids from school.

If you are like me and the above sounds a little like your routine... pause for a few moments during this cacophony of your kids telling you what they want for next Christmas, not the Christmas that is six weeks away - oh no, but the Christmas after that! Their minds are so stuffed full from adverts for "Frozen" merchandise or the crucial topic of who is the prettiest Disney princess! Pause for those few moments and breathe. Look around you at other people caught up in the same morning rush maelstrom and wonder who they are, what do they do after all this chaos subdues for a few hours?

Apart from the odd parent still dressed in pajamas or the tussle haired father who somehow has one shoe and one slipper on, does anyone care if they stand out from the crowd? Does anyone choose to be different; to express their own identity? Are we all too busy living our lives to actually live OUR lives?

Diverse Before The Hearse Arrives?

Most people do take time to dress in a way that represents them, listen to one or many genres of music from punk to trance - one that represents them, follow a particular sport that represents them - be it anything from football to scuba diving or support a certain political party that represents them. Whatever orientation, age, size, colour, or creed you are - we all have an identity and have a need to represent or be represented.

If your life is too busy to express your diversity, the years will fly by and before you know it, the last form of expression you will have is whether to be sent off in a pine or an oak casket. Perhaps you will get to have a say on the inscription on your headstone....

"Here I Lie, Too Late To Be Diverse Before The Hearse Arrived"

Be diverse! Pause to live a little... or a lot! Take the time to notice other people and their diversity - better still - celebrate it!

This topic got me thinking and inspired my latest graphic t-shirt design.
It is called "diversity" and plays on the idea of one diver expressing himself.

For Divers & Non-Divers Alike!


You can see the tees here:
Mens/Unisex & Lady-Fit

comMUTE

Using Public Transport in Silence

The daily commute! Sitting on public transport, everyone silent...
Sometimes you feel like a tiny piece of a bigger puzzle or just another part of the machine.

Let me start off by stating that I am no longer a commuter! I work from my home office now as opposed to commuting almost one and a half hours each way to work in a design studio for fifteen years or more. Needless to say, over the years, spending more than a quarter of my working day commuting to and from the studio I have had some interesting experiences and met some strange, funny and crazy people along the way.

To say public transport in Dublin, Ireland, is unreliable is very much an understatement. Granted, with the Dart light rail and the relatively recent introduction of the Luas tram systems (all of only two lines!) that unreliability is not a regular experience for commuters who live near a stop. 

However, I have on occasion had to wait forty minutes for a bus when one was scheduled to arrive every fifteen. When the bus eventually arrived I asked what the delay was; only to be rebuked by a shrug of the shoulders and the comment "Sure it's a lovely day and anyway it's nice to be out in the fresh air". My better half is from Germany and if the tram is a minute late, which is very rare, people stare at their watches and shake their heads in disbelief.

Passengers in a drug-like trance caused by the monotony of public transport.

Original photo by Kevin Utting (not endorsed). Adapted by Fishtank Tees.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ 

Once on the bus and having phoned the office to say I would be late, I settled down in the only window seat available to stare out monotonously just like everyone else. Okay, it's not all bad I hear you say;
it is warm and a comfortable way to spend an hour reading a book, listening to music or surfing the web. Not unless the middle of Winter is upon us and your face is almost stuck to the icy wet window trying to avoid the over exuberant knees of the passenger beside you. 

Catching some shut-eye after a long day.

Original photo by Annie Mole (not endorsed). Adapted by Fishtank Tees.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

I have heard people say they have met their future partners while on public transport. Not in my case. While I am very lucky to have a wife and children, I never found love on the 25A to Merrion Square.
In the days when I was a single commuter there was an episode of being an unwilling shoulder to lean on. A young woman who seemed like she had a late night decided to fall asleep. We've all experienced having to gently nudge the person beside us who was drifting off to sleep and onto our shoulder. This was a little more uncomfortable in that she decided to snuggle into me and smack her lips as if she was settling down for the night. 

After several failed attempts of gentle nudging I woke her and asked if she would like to swap seats so she could lean against the window. She declined and on falling back asleep resumed to plump up the arm of my coat to cradle her cheek. I nudged once more and asked her to stop using me as a pillow; thankfully, she went downstairs to find a seat.

Living in a bubble.

Original photo by Pascal Maramis (not endorsed). Adapted by Fishtank Tees.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/


We all like our own personal space and when on public transport we tend to enclose ourselves in our own little bubble. This is achieved by popping on some headphones and turning the volume up to eleven, resorting to the thousand yard stare out the window while we day dream about being somewhere else or by simply reading a book or the newspaper. 

Trying to preserve some personal space.

Original photo by Pedro Figueiredo (not endorsed). Adapted by Fishtank Tees.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ 


There are alternatives to using public transport. Many people don't mind being stuck in traffic jams while others take the opportunity to be kind to the planet and themselves by walking or cycling.
If you do take to the roads on your bike, take care; here's a short video on cycling safety http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKFg5XptHvY

Get some exercise while you commute!

Original photo by Bernd (not endorsed). Adapted by Fishtank Tees. 
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Sometimes you will see an interesting poster or advertising while commuting but for the most part if you are a writer or an artist there is more inspiration to be gleaned from the different people who commute with you; from your immediate environment, whether it be a tube station or a bicycle lane. 

Okay, here is the shameless plug - If you want to stand out in the crowd while commuting, you could wear a "commute" graphic t-shirt from http://www.fishtanktees.com . To see the tees, here is a direct link http://buff.ly/1hEraqe available in White, Go-Green, Get-Ready-Yellow and Stop-Red.

Whatever mode of transport you use in your daily commute, stay safe!

Street cREDmas

So this is Christmas and what have you donned,
or indeed will you be wearing red?

The colour red has long been associated with Christmas and yes, Coca-Cola did have a major part in cementing a single image of Santa, but they were just using an image that had long been established. Santa was wearing red and white many years before Haddon Sundblom, the illustrator for Coca-Cola in the 1930’s, produced the famous Coca-Cola image of Father Christmas. Santa Claus dates back to 16th century England during the reign of Henry VIII, when he was pictured as a large man in green or scarlet robes lined with fur. 


So Coca-Cola did not change Santa from green to red; he was portrayed wearing both colours long before Coca-Cola. They merely fastened the colour red – obviously for their own commercial purposes. Either way, I prefer my Santa Claus to be red.

 

History shows that red is the first colour after black and white. Every culture has words for black and white. If a third colour exists, it is red. It is the colour of passion, love, danger, and anger. Red is the colour of fire and blood, the colour of life itself. The power of red is so strong even in its chemical make up, so much so that when an artist mixes it with another colour or in aesthetic proportions of a composition – the colour red is used... sparingly.

 







There are red flags, red light districts, red tomatoes, red nose reindeers, red riding hoods, red squares, red ferraris, red roses, red poppies, red rubies, red strawberries, red fire engines, red phone boxes, red post boxes, red squirrels, red lipstick, red apples, red arrows, little red roosters, 99 red balloons and indeed Red Hot Chili Peppers. There are so many things associated with the colour red. The list here could be endless. I could go on and on but one final association to mention is that red is the global symbol for... STOP!

 
International drinks manufacturers do take every opportunity to promote their brand. I myself at www.fishtanktees.com while not an international brand, yet :-) and while I do need to promote the Fishtank Tees brand, I would hope that in doing so I have at least been somewhat informative and even a little entertaining. My favourite colour t-shirt is probably always going to be black but I have created some designs that I think look pretty cool on red t-shirts. 

Maybe if you wear one this time of year (over a long sleeve...it’s a bit chilly out there!) instead of wearing the traditional “Christmas jumper”, you'll have some “Street cREDmas”
– here are a few links:

http://buff.ly/19AClfy
http://buff.ly/1jmJpTj
http://buff.ly/1fIGVJL




To finish off here is a little music by a band with the word red in their name and snow in the song’s title, Merry Christmas! http://youtu.be/yuFI5KSPAt4




















Santa photo by Miel Van Opstal (not endorsed),
attribution license. ref.: http://buff.ly/1hoKcyr
Chilli photo by Vernon Swanepoel (not endorsed),
attribution license. ref.: http://buff.ly/1hoJ3qM
Stop sign photo by Chrishna (not endorsed),
attribution license. ref.: http://buff.ly/1hoORAx

Hugging Trees ecoLOGICally

IT SHOULD BE LOGICAL TO BE ECO-MINDED

When I think of the words “eco”, “environment,” “nature,” the first thing to sum them all up that comes to my mind is “Tree”. While being environmentally friendly does enter my consciousness at least once a day, probably like most people when putting some empty packaging into the recycle bin... I am far from what some might refer to as a “Tree Hugger”.

To discuss being eco-friendly (having a beneficial effect on the environment or at least not causing damage to it) in its entirety, would need to cover many areas - far too many to mention here. I am mainly referring to being ecologically minded in the creation of art and the use of art to advertise the ecological ideal.

The impact of global warming and an increase in emissions have brought artists and designers to ponder a more “environment aware” method in their creative and manufacturing processes. Picasso was recycling in his creation of art back in the early 20th Century, when he created collages and sculpture from newspaper, packaging and waste materials.

A great example is Picasso's "Guitar Sculpture", exhibited in The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

 

With regard to advertising the ecological ideal as an idea, some of the most creative work has been done to promote the World Wildlife Fund. I think a really great example of this is “Deer” for WWF, Romania, by Ogilvy & Mather Bucharest, with the message: “Rubbish can be recycled. Nature cannot.”

At fishtanktees.com I have designed a t-shirt with an ecological theme. It was designed to encourage people to think about thinking environmentally. A design that incorporates a tree and a brain with new leaf shoots. The text that runs around the tree reads:
“HUMANS should relate to animals, plants and each other in their surroundings;
it should be logical to be eco-minded.”
Hence the title “ecological”, highlighting “logic”. So, stand tall like a tree wearing your ecological tee!
 
While I may not be a "tree hugger" in the extreme sense, I do care about the environment enough to design a t-shirt out of respect for the subject. I guess I hug trees... ecologically.
See the ecological t-shirt here http://buff.ly/1a1s0bI

  



































  
Whether you hug trees or not, here is a nice video of nice people and nice trees.
It is "Hug a Tree" by Son of Lycans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=S2qHt9UkycE

SUGAR SKULLS & STAR SKULLS

TATTOO & T-SHIRT SKULL IMAGERY

The skull has long been one of the most used symbols to represent death and our awareness of the limitations of physical existence. This has changed in recent times, as with the graphic tee most skulls are designed for fashion rather than being emblematic of the fact that we are not immortal.

Many people’s familiarity of skull imagery in modern times is with the skull t-shirt and indeed in the tattoo industry’s sugar skulls. During the ‘Day of the Dead’ celebrations in Mexico, deceased family members are honoured using sugar skulls. The symbolic meaning of a sugar skull is based in the design around the eyes. Flowers represent life and cobwebs death. Candles represent remembrance. A tattoo can have any meaning you put to it. While there are many examples of tattoo mistakes, I think most people who get a tattoo, do take the time and make the effort to research its meaning. However, sometimes the sugar skull image becomes a fashion statement superseding or ignoring the original meaning.   

Sugar skull tattoo photo taken by Alex O’Neal
(not endorsed) on October 16, 2010.
License use: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

This is not unlike a real bugbear of mine in that many people, famous and non-famous alike, will wear a band t-shirt and could not list one of that band’s albums or indeed not be able to name their favourite Ramones song while their ‘fashion tee’ depicts a circular logo spelling out R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

At fishtanktees.com I have designed a skull t-shirt titled ‘starskull’ that uses white graphics of stars forming into a skull image. The starskull t-shirt is emblematic of the fact that we are very much mortal but more than that, it celebrates our origins. We are carbon based, our origins began within stars. As an expansive thought – we are their offspring, disconnected only by space and time. The idea, that while our physical existence is limited, we have in a way always been here and as such we never truly cease to exist. There is no real beginning and no true end.

As with tattoos, t-shirt imagery can represent whatever you want it to. Whether your idea is based in tradition, science or just for fun, I think it is important to recognise that while sometimes it is OK to just wear something that is popular, it is far more interesting if you can have your own opinion about it and have an understanding of where it originates. 

Oh, just in case you are wondering, my favourite Ramones
song is ‘I wanna be sedated’ from the ‘Road to Ruin’ album.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Eajk2uDWaP0