T-Shirt Friday 19 !

The Comfort Of... A Well Worn T-Shirt !
Well now... did you get last weeks T-Shirt Friday Quiz Conundrum? You'd probably have to be a bit of a Rush fan to know the answer.... The answer is.... Ayn Rand (Who was famous for her two novels 'Atlas' and 1943's 'The Fountainhead') So all that is left to do is reveal the winner... who this week is Mollie, well done Mollie, how will you celebrate? Maybe by putting on some Rush and turning all your frying pans and saucers upside down and bashing them with a set of spoons in a style not unlike Neil Peart perhaps?


Today's T-Shirt can be found on: http://direct.asda.com/george/clothing/10,default,sc.html 


It's very easy to forget when you have a big collection of T-shirts, that the ones that are really comfortable and you find yourself wearing the most are actually the plain ordinary ones that hang day upon day in your wardrobe or are neatly folded at the bottom of your draw with the moth balls, Not with motifs on, or tour dates printed on the back... Tee's with nothing to shout about... Quietly waiting for you to re-discover them... In fact though, just one said tee can be all you need to help you get through what ever you have to face in life...

Nearly 8 months ago now, I took voluntary redundancy from where I'd worked for the last 13 years. Most of my collection of tees had built up over that time and are certainly influenced by that job... Suddenly I found myself not having to get up on the alarm any more, not following a routine and not really feeling the need to wear any of the rock band and music t-shirts that were... Well... there is no point in saying neatly folded up in the chest of draws because they weren't, let's just say organised into a chaotic pile on the bedroom floor... Time and routines started to spin out of control, "focus is needed" I thought after spending six hours in the flat during the day in just my pants, this same thought was also echoed by Miss Russell, many good friends and family... So with the help of the aforementioned I began to slowly and surely... Well to quote the Pink Floyd song... come back to life, an important aspect of that was job searching but also realising that it would be possible to take on some freelance work.... Work started to come in, trickling to start with and then (never really gushing) but at a level of a constant stream, with all of this going on, I hardly noticed the clothes that I had been wearing and then one day I stopped for some reason to take on board what I had on, as I peered down I found myself in the light green tee pictured below... there it was, an ordinary everyday t-shirt, doing what it does best, silently working it's magic to make the wearer feel comfortable and relaxed, I'd spent many a day lounging around in it and now it was with me while I worked too... As you'll see it's done battle a few times with toothpaste being dropped down it and many ingredients from our kitchen and fridge being smeared and rubbed in... To quote Miss Russell "Many canteen badges" have found there way on to it's well worn surface! What makes it even more special is that it was bought by my Mum and given as a gift along with a pair of rather comfy Asda pyjamas... not for Christmas, a birthday or even pancake day, but just as a gift, that's what makes it such a great t-shirt, it's had the benefit of being a part of that unique process when a loved one just gives you something for no reason, just because they want too...

So there it is, my everyday t-shirt! ... and it's stayed with me ever since, along with Miss Russell sitting up with me through many late nights of designing, writing and finishing projects, helping with my confidence by just being a very wearable tee... It was then that it hit me just how important t-shirts can be to us all and so it was that the slightly battered light green, Asda t-shirt, bought by my Mum, became the catalyst for what has become the very thing that you are reading right now... T-Shirt Friday! 

Well here we are again, and so fitting with the more general feel of this particular piece of apparel, here is a general knowledge question for the T-Shirt Friday Quiz Conudrum this week: Cotton is often used purley or mixed to make t-shirts: Which country is the largest exporter of cottton? Hmmm... That one should get you thinking...

More on Cotton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton
More on t-shirts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Shirt
Asda? : http://www.asda.com

It's T-Shirt Friday 8 !

The Dark Side Of The Moon

So, how did you get on last week with the T-Shirt Friday Quiz Conundrum??? Did it keep you guessing all week? The answer is... Eric Crandell! he started 101 Apparel in 2006 and before that worked on some very innovative album covers and apparel for Ubiquity Records, it's really worth checking out there website: http://www.ubiquityrecords.com 

Storm Thorgerson

Before we move on to this weeks T-Shirt and in keeping with talking about designers, it seems only right to mention Storm Thorgerson and the sad news of his passing away. There are very few graphic designers who's death would make headline news but Storm Thorgerson's has. He along with Hipgnosis the design studio that he co-founded, created some of the most innovative and startling album covers of all time and although genius these days is used far too frequently, in the case of Storm Thorgerson it is very true. He created album sized works of genius and beyond... He was also a film maker creating many well known music videos. He worked with many different artists including Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Peter Gabriel, 10cc, The Steve Miller Band, Catherine Wheel and later Muse, Rival Sons and Biffy Clyro just to name a few. But arguably his most famous work was with Pink Floyd, beginning in 1968 with the cover for 'Saucerful Of Secrets' right through to 1977's 'Animals' and then from 'A Collection Of Great Dance Songs (1981) to the present.

It was 7th April 2011 and Miss Russell, our great friend Dave and myself found ourselves being confounded and constantly amazed at the images that Storm Thorgerson was projecting behind him from his incredible back catalogue of work. We were at the O2, British Music Experience at a very special event, a talk by two of the most legendary graphic designers ever! Roger Dean and the aforementioned Storm Thorgerson, it was billed as a night of anecdotes and stories, about there work, but as with everything that Storm did there was a twist, rather then just giving a straight forward talk, the audience was asked to participate. We were shown a picture, of which many people said what they thought they saw, then Storm said this "This picture of a sheep on a psychoanalytic couch was designed as a poster insert for 10cc's 1980 album, Look Here. The band asked for 'something different'. I never really have a clear idea of what that expression means ... I thought it was more engaging to ask a question and between us we came up with 'are you normal?' Anyway, the question led to the idea of normality and what could be more normal than a sheep, all of whom tend to follow each other. But to be normal you'd need a lengthy dose of psychotherapy.' 

That was the thing, nothing that Storm ever thought up, designed or created was as it seems...

Today's T-Shirt is from an old friend : http://www.allposters.co.uk

When did you first hear Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of The Moon'? how did you hear it? Was it on CD, Vinyl or maybe even 8 Track? Perhaps it was on the day of it's release, March 1973 or just yesterday? It's so timeless that like The Beatles 'Revolver' it will be listened to by generations to come. I first came into contact with DSOTM at Woolworths along Chingford Mount, around 1990, the tape cover had the unique Storm Thorgerson, Hipgnosis and George Hardie Prism design, but it also had two gold panels printed top and bottom, the top half had the band and album title within it. The tape was black plastic, which always struck me as strange as tapes were being made at that point more commonly out of clear plastic. 

I don't think it would be an overstatement to say that my life has never been the same since my first listen to DSOTM. I instantly became a life long fan of Pink Floyd and was mesmerised by not only the music but the mystique of it all. The album cover and the music are in perfect sync with each other and that is what is so special about the relationship between Pink Floyd and Storm Thorgerson.

Many Years later, in fact just last year, my Mum asked what I would like for my birthday, as usual I really had no idea, it finally came to the day of my birthday and there was a parcel from my Mum and Dad, carefully I opened the packaging and to my surprise inside was something that I'd never contemplated before... a DSOTM tee! Wow! Thanks Mum and Dad! wearing the t-shirt feels like your wearing something incredible, your wearing a part of music history, a timeless classic that all began in 1973 with a man called Storm and a triangular prism...

Well... "The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say..." Oh yes, that's right... it's time for the T-Shirt Friday Quiz Conundrum! Here we go, part of the song 'Time' from P F's Dark Side Of The Moon is still used as a theme for which Bulgarian quiz show?

If you would like to find out more about Storm Thorgerson : http://www.stormthorgerson.com

For more on Pink Floyd : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Floyd

For more on Hipgnosis : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipgnosis

and George Hardie : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hardie_(artist)