It’s the season of spooks and TeeFury is gearing up for a month of the macabre! We’re both excited and honored today to have designer extraordinaire BeastPop (aka. Jared Moraitis) make a splash launching his special Takeover Collection today. Read on below about the veritable monster squad of talent he assembled for this special set. Take it away Jared–
Hoo-boy! It was a thrill and an honor to be asked by the fine folk at TeeFury to curate my own special collection, and I take this sort of thing seriously. I wanted to steer clear of trendy junk and focus on solid designs with a bit of staying power, and I wanted to gather together mostly artists who either haven’t had much (or any) exposure in the shirt-of-the-day scene, or who I felt deserve more attention. It was also a great chance to collaborate with some artists who I’ve been wanting to work with, and to see how our styles mesh and merge into something unique. I went with a sort of Halloween theme, featuring monsters, villains, and creatures of every stripe (since my blood runs orange and black all year ‘round anyway), and these artists know how to deliver along that groove. I hope you all like the collection I’ve assembled, and I hope you find at least something here that piques your interest enough to buy.
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(Hungry for more? Jump over to check out this special episode of Creep & Treats inspired by this design)
Ain’t No Thang by Hillary White Rabbit (wytrab8) — Hillary is one of those brilliant and twisted minds whose ideas are right along my wavelength and that hit me right in the childhood. Usually, whenever she posts her newest design, I’m either slapping myself for not thinking of it myself, or wondering what depths she has plumbed to unearth such hidden treasure. When I thought of artists I’d like to collaborate with, she was at the top of the list and when she told me she had a THE THING (one of my favorite movies) design idea I might like to work on, the deal was sealed. The idea for this AIN’T NO THANG design is all hers, along with the layout sketch. She allowed me to take it and run with it, she gave some color guidance, and the end result is a magically ridiculous and fun synthesis.
(Find more of her amazingly odd tee designs HERE)
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Toy Gory by Kyle Hotz — Kyle is an amazingly talented comic book artist & illustrator whom I’ve admired for a long time, and have had the pleasure of befriending on Facebook. His intricate and fine brushwork and sense of dynamic lighting and anatomy thrills me every time I see it. He’s been kind enough to let me color a few of his illustrations, and I knew I wanted to take a shot at his twisted TOY GORY design, which was loads of fun to work on.
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The Ever Lifting by Jeff Welborn — Folks who can create near-finished looking grayscale illustrations in their sketchbooks have my eternal admiration, and Jeff is one such artist. I knew as soon as I saw his illustration over a year ago that it needed to be on a shirt, so I offered to help make that happen by taking a polished ink pass and coloring it up, with his final approval. Another unique synthesis with very pleasing results.
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Dagger of Darkness by Jehsee — Jehsee is one of those artists who I admire for not only having a distinct, recognizable style that he carries with him into every new piece, but also knocking it out of the park with cool, unique design touches. Everything he makes is magic, and I couldn’t leave him out of any collection I’m in charge of.
(See more of Jehsee’s TeeFury designs HERE)
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Toxic Beauty, Eating Brains by Moonlight & Gojira vs Heavy Metal by Ghosthause — Ghosthause is another artist with a very distinct style and a knack for combining angular design style with gorgeous, bright and lush color. His sketchbook and commission work is stunning enough, but his polished final illustrations are a pleasure for my eyes to pore over. I had to include at least a few of his designs in this collection.
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Corpsicle & Play-Dead by Phil Postma — Discovering Phil’s art was like opening a treasure chest that had been buried in my own brain. I swear he has been reading through my list of design ideas, or is my long lost twin — looking through his portfolio of designs was like peering into my own brain. We seem to think along the same wavelength, and have had a lot of similar ideas. Phil not only does amazing character design and cartooning work, but he’s ace at doing faux packaging design and logo work, which I admire greatly. He’s even whipped up a few quick packaging mockups for some of my illustrations!
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Fruit of the Tomb & El Cazador’s Cabana by Gimetzco! — Andrew Bargeron is an ace graphic designer. He’s got a streamlined style that manages to be sleek and modern yet retro at the same time. He very much forges his own path in the design world, refusing to cater to trends and flavors-of-the-day, which I also admire. He’s got a head full of great ideas, and the talent to realize them.
(More Gimetzco TeeFury tees HERE)
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Jinkies by Belle Dee — Belle has a unique love of old school horror and halloween, which I love, and which is immediately apparent from browsing through her work. She deftly combines those themes with an often deceptively cute & cartoony design and illustration style. The results are magnetic, and I want more people to know her work.
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Pukenstein by Jellykoe — Actually a very cool husband/wife team of Spencer and Kelly, whom I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting in person at a convention, they make the perfect pair when it comes to bringing cute monsters, creatures and robots to life, whether it’s on shirts, prints, stickers or stuffed creatures and pillows (Spencer is the designer/artist and Kelly is the seamstress). I knew I wanted to have something of theirs, and Spencer was kind enough to update an old favorite for this collection.
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No Ghosts by Justin Gammon — Justin is a twin (whose brother also makes great artwork), a fine fellow, and a gifted artist. He makes a lot of great stuff, but when I saw his particular spin on an anti-ghost organization’s logo, I knew I had to include it in this collection. Solid design with a sharp and bold style.
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Scossorhands by Billy Fowler — Another artist whose work I’ve admired online, and who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting at a convention, Billy has forged a unique style all his own, which combines soft, willowy, fluid motion and color with bold exaggeration of form and feature. His work is always a joy to look at, from pencil sketch stage to final gorgeous color.
Huge thanks to BeastPop for wrangling these fantastic designs and connecting TeeFurians to some amazing new artists. To see his monstrous library of work, make your way right over here.