This design was accepted as band merch for one of those “merch company” bands that I have never listened to. Kids love the band though. The accepted design has the band logo worked in, but I left it out for this mockup.
You might see this in Hot Topic in some bastardized form (printed centered at 8×10 would be terrible) but this is my original design.
I would be amazed to see if they print it as it looks in the mockup and maintain the integrity.
Anyway, here it is!
65 Comments
chrisrushing said almost 3 years ago
gorgeous. with this are you just scanning and not retracing?
jfinley said almost 3 years ago
On this design I found some photos online and try to find a good composition in Photoshop. I use my wacom and trace over the photos to get some of the linework. I could probably draw this by hand on paper first, but it would come out more cartoony and less “realistic” I suppose you could say.
thefleecing said almost 3 years ago
yeah i hate when bands take the artwork and have their printer center the design. bands for the most part have vision when it comes to music but when it comes to merch they are totally lost. great work jfinely.
derekdeal said almost 3 years ago
this is insane
horsebites said almost 3 years ago
Excellent work Jeff, I wish this wasn’t a band tee.
Nate said almost 3 years ago
When I saw the thumbnail, I automatically knew it was your work. I love the design.
jfinley said almost 3 years ago
yeah I know what you mean…
dobi said almost 3 years ago
fantastic.
Kyle Crawford said almost 3 years ago
what band is it? its very ” i want your skull”ish
dobi said almost 3 years ago
also, you are out of your mind for giving this to a client and not selling it on your own.
chrisrushing said almost 3 years ago
+1
sockmonkee said almost 3 years ago
wow jeff, amazing artwork. i as well wish it wasn’t a band tee haha.
thebutcher said almost 3 years ago
breath taking.
justinryan said almost 3 years ago
Gotta agree. Great stuff, as usual, Jeff!
labyrinth said almost 3 years ago
amazing. i cant say anything else
jfinley said almost 3 years ago
dobi – Yeah I feel the same way, it’s kind of ironic that in a service industry such as this, where we are hired to provide artwork for someone else, we feel guilty letting go of a design we are really happy with. Simply because the opportunity exists to print these yourself.
As I look at it, until I find a printer that has the desire to work with me to print these “monstrosities” as I like to call em (the full color all over prints) then I really can’t sell them myself. I don’t have any printing capabilities and don’t have the cash to “experiment” unless someone here wants to work with me on it together.
jfinley said almost 3 years ago
oh btw, the band that I did this for was “Bullet for my Valentine” I might as well say it. Haha.
Does anyone listen to them? To be honest, I don’t even know what they sound like. I’m guessing screamy post-hardcore nu-metal? Is that bad that I don’t even listen to the band on some of these? I get the description and then roll with it. I just try to draw/design something I like.
Andwhat! said almost 3 years ago
it’s sad that band name is going on such an amazing design.
it’s upsetting
derekdeal said almost 3 years ago
yeah your guess about the band was pretty right on there jeff. Im guessing bravado? hows your experience been working with them if im right.
jfinley said almost 3 years ago
Yeah it’s Bravado. They send us work regularly, but we don’t get to pick the bands we do the work for. But they’ve been a client of ours for just about 2 years now. They always pay, albeit late sometimes.
They give us some of the better opportunities to design stuff that will end up in stores, even if a lot of the stuff we liked gets rejected.
They’ve been the best merch company we’ve designed for compared to FEA, Giant, and Signature. All those merch companies are not bad clients by any means, but Bravado seems to send us the most work.
Oh yeah, and Bravado, like most merch companies, don’t pay a whole lot. And they also have other designers doing shirts for the same bands. And the band member’s probably have no idea that we actually did the designs. But all this comes with the territory.
jimmyhaffa1 said almost 3 years ago
this blows my cranium…good job jeffy
sittingduck said almost 3 years ago
bullet for my valentine = crybaby screamo … awesome shirt tho.
derekdeal said almost 3 years ago
@jeff that’s pretty much what ive gathered, im going through my first tour with them right now.
jfinley said almost 3 years ago
Cool let me know how it turns out!
Kyle Crawford said almost 3 years ago
dude at least youre given direction. Ted is just like, make something bad ass.
thats it
I kinda just drew something generic that dealt with the name and then he gave me some crap like, every shirt needs a back, i quickly just added something to make him happy, still no reply if he even got it. Or liked it, hes one of those guys that says “not feeling it”
butttt whatever
this is gonna be too classy for them(your design) and ted freaks out about belt print, he told me affliction type stuff for avenged, and then I did belt prints. Then he made me change all of them to not belt prints because he didnt want to take a hit if it didnt sell.. so if he didnt want belt for avenged a well known somewhat iconic band right now to “take the hit”, I dont see this band doing it either
heres my trash
horsebites said almost 3 years ago
TOTALLY!!! That’s why in most of my shirts it’s just big on the front, not under the sleeves or over the collar and running off the bottom. It’s just too expensive and not easy to find most of the time. I see alot of people posting shirts that just look insane to me like “how is the band affording this!?”. I’ve tried to submit stuff to average level bands and alot of them don’t print it that way cause the printer that they’ve been using is either too lazy or just doesn’t have the equipment for it. Too be honest, Rockett clothing is the first company I found that has actually offered doing “any type of print” for my stuff.
chrisrushing said almost 3 years ago
finley, contact me when you get a minute. – check my emptees page.
ifohdesigns said almost 3 years ago
great work Jeff, love the water color look. cant go wrong with the white tee either.
jfinley said almost 3 years ago
This design isn’t trash. I think it’s well executed. As far as direction goes, they’re usually just like “Make it look like Affliction” or something like that. Just like you said. I’m sure we get the same direction, just in a few slightly different wordings.
derekdeal said almost 3 years ago
oops!
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email in error, please immediately notify us by email or telephone, and then delete the message. Thank you. “
Kyle Crawford said almost 3 years ago
its ours til they pay us. When they start paying submission fees then I’ll reconsider
jfinley said almost 3 years ago
I’m not sure what you mean?
derekdeal said almost 3 years ago
i just noticed that disclaimer in one of my emails from them, i posted it as a joke since we were all sharing. I dont really think talking candidly about it is a big deal.
it actually got me thinking i should post some legal bs in my emails. maybe something about all rejected designs must contain more of an explanation than “not felling it” or a penalty will be issued.
jfinley said almost 3 years ago
Hehe yeah good idea.
tylerd1143 said almost 3 years ago
Great work. I know exactly what you mean about shrinking it to a worthless 8×10. I just did a series of shirts for Matt Hughes of the UFC with prints over the shoulder, wrap arounds, etc and all of them came back telling me to shrink it down and get it off the shoulder. grr.
betterthanhuman said almost 3 years ago
This is sweet. I saw it early yesterday and didn’t realize it was yours until I saw your post on the Go Media blog…
Great work!
abigjilm said almost 3 years ago
this is a really cool design. very reminiscent of the Baroness dudes work of late
jfinley said almost 3 years ago
yeah man John Baizley is phenomenal. I wish I had the skill of that man.
Jon Kruse said almost 3 years ago
I had this shirt in my head today, I had to come back to see it again.
skull with hair said almost 3 years ago
i am only printing holograms from now on. everything else is just too basic.
pinkplasticheart said almost 3 years ago
hot damn, jfinley. i love your stuff. adding to xmas list RIGHT NOW!!!
pinkplasticheart said almost 3 years ago
wait… can i even buy it?
jfinley said almost 3 years ago
Should be able to, if you like Bullet for my Valentine – they bought the design so I assume they’ll print it.
leslie said almost 3 years ago
this looks great, is there anyway you can let me borrow the blank tee template?
whalebone said over 2 years ago
One of my favorite’s that Jeff has made.
Time Without the E said over 2 years ago
i wouldnt call bulletin for my valentine a merch band. There one of the most popular hardcore bands in the UK and in the US. If they print this it will sell a ton.
jfinley said over 2 years ago
What I meant by "merch company band" was that the job was given to us by a merch company, not the band itself. So there was no personal interaction with the band members themselves. I didn’t mean it in a degrading way or whatnot, and I’m no doubt excited to see it printed and for sale.
Time Without the E said over 2 years ago
ohhh my bad haha
there going to be playing taste of chaos this year so this would sell like crazy if they make it
jfinley said over 2 years ago
Yeah, and I also said I don’t listen to them - which is usually pretty typical when we get assigned a project from a merch company. It’s hit or miss.
adam said over 2 years ago
amazing
jfinley said over 2 years ago
Bravado printed these, but I don’t know where you can buy them yet.
derekdeal said over 2 years ago
nice jeff, looks like they made some compromises but it still looks great.
also, sceam aim fire is my guilty pop metal pleasure.
Barnabas said over 2 years ago
Great concept, great colors, great designs... just great.
CASTLE said over 2 years ago
This is still freakin kick ass! Even with the new positioning.
wyel said over 2 years ago
I totally need this shirt..... and I just bought my ticket to go see them in August!!
restless said about 2 years ago
fantastic
jfinley said about 2 years ago
You can buy the ladies tank here:
http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/store/product.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302028826&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442180282&bmUID=1215706895677
skull with hair said about 2 years ago
just saw this at HT and did a double take. pretty cool but the print quality is pretty eh. maybe a 5 out of 10.
jfinley said about 2 years ago
Guys version or the ladies tank? I haven’t yet seen the guy’s version in stores.
Echo said about 2 years ago
i really need to pick up a WACOM!
skull with hair said about 2 years ago
the girls tank top. i think it was an issue with printing on the dark colored garment. im sure the white one looks fine.
Jessica Crans said almost 2 years ago
i really love this design...all of your designs are amazing!
merch monster said almost 2 years ago
Jeff, keep doing what your doing It looks great
Icarus Art & Design said over 1 year ago
creepy
i love it though
SLAVE*APPAREL said over 1 year ago
great stuff as always
love the huuuuuuuuge print area