Saturday, February 27, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Water By Numbers: Please Support this Cause
Just got some model images for the charity tee we are selling to benefit the cause for clean water access in the developing world. We also just got some new language in from the copywriter and so, even though it is similar to what we already posted… please read it again and (if you can) make a purchase in mens styles or for women. This is a 100% non-profit venture.
The ChopShop has teamed up with WellDone to provide clean water to those throughout the developing world who need it most — one awesome t-shirt at a time. The designers at Chop Shop worked closely with the WellDone team to highlight the various facets of the global water crisis through the visualization of 27 striking water statistics. The icons paint a picture that remind us that we must both conserve earth’s most precious resource, while working to improve clean water access to those most in need. Never has looking this good, done so much good.
WellDone was launched in 2007 by a group of young professionals, committed to utilizing their collective talents to help provide safe water to communities in need. Since its inception, WellDone has seen through the the implementation of six clean water projects throughout rural Ghana, and is currently expanding efforts throughout Africa and beyond. To learn more, please visit welldone.org
Special thanks goes to Quist Industries for donating all the printing. Quist does a large amount of Chop Shop’s printing and is always top notch. They are like the Apple Computers of tshirt screen printing. Check out their site at quistindustries.com, which also happens to be a The Chopping Block production.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Rock Icon Singles Now as 5"x7" Prints
The one detriment to loading up one design with 30 musicians is what happens when someone on the tee is an act that some people might hate? There are also those who just like one band so far and above all others that the rest become merely a distraction.
We recently printed up a bunch of “singles” for a local exhibit in Beacon, NY and people immediately gravitated to the small 5x7 single prints specially produced for the exhibit. So we are posting the same items from the show in our new Glicée 5x7 Prints section on chopshopstore.com. Each print comes with an appropriate mini-quote and are all printed on Moab Rag Bright white, weight is 190 GSM.
You can buy them each separately for $5 or as a complete set for $4 each (total price varies according to quantity in the given set).
Pictured above are the sets, “Four Lads Print Set”, “The Classic Rock Print Set” and “The Punk Rock Print Set”.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Robot Rock, Rocks on a Tee or as a Print
Naturally, if robots ruled the world in 1979 instead of 2020… we believe they still would have been inclined to grab the nearest axe and start smashing. You can get the tshirt now from chopshopstore so that when the robot overlords look you over they will know who’s side you are on. Listen as your new robotic overlord speaks, “Male humans go here and female humans go here” or secure your 2-dimensional art version here.
What makes this design even more referential than usual is that it pays homage to an album cover that pays homage to yet another album cover. Elvis’ debut album cover is seen above left and The Clash’s epic “London Calling” is to the right. The historic nature of both these records and the fact that there is this visual game shared between the two has led many others to follow the same example hoping just a bit of Elvis and The Clash might rub off on them. Considering some of the titles below… it seems like it just may work. 
Now to get back to shameless self-promotion. We would be fools to not ask you to join our Chop Shop newsletter. Coupon codes and free tees are given out willfully and with reckless abandon. Sunday, February 21, 2010
What if Photoshop Filters were Super Powers?
A few months ago the tshirt version of “Filter Heroes” made its rounds in the blogosphere. After a healthy amount of buzz it occurred to us that a good amount of people who enjoyed this concept may have loved to pin it up on a wall, but perhaps lacked the designerd courage to pull it off as a fashion statement. It is for that audience that we now present the art print version of the same design as a 13x19 glicée print suitable for framing or pinning up in your Herman Miller Office System.
In addition to this re-release, we also dug up the original sketches of this concept from around 1999 by Amin Amat who interned with us at The Chopping Block before he became a legitimate force in the comic art world. That version of the concept was to portray each member of the company as a hero whose powers were to be defined by the Photoshop filter of their choice. The difference being that those powers were to be in the body copy only and did not alter the appearance of one member to the next. While that does spoil much of the fun, the original version was to be more of branding exercise than a spoof on Adobe software. They are here attached below and see the original studio blog post about the tshirt for more about the birth of the concept.
above: Matthew Richmond in his Chopping Block tights. Dig those Chopping Block logo glasses.
above: Thomas Romer in a classic comic hero pose.
above: What super-hero spoof would be complete without the Justice League type group shot flanked by at least one character that is entirely too massive to be taken seriously. Depicted from left to right is The Chopping Block as it was in 1999: Brian Romero, Thomas Romer, Mike Essl, Matthew Richmond and Rob Reed.
Friday, February 19, 2010
The Chopping Block Logos Print
Many moons ago, The Chopping Block had itself a self-imposed identity crisis. When the internet was in its infancy, everyone was making web sites that looked like the future. Anything cyber looking was thought to be the way to go and we went the opposite way; embracing various genres as they had been historically represented in print. Some of the graphic identities adopted were those of Nascar racing, golden age of Hollywood horror films, NASA during its Apollo years, The Boy Scouts of America and finally vintage orange crate labels from the mid-twentieth century. In that same spirit, we produced these 7 versions of our studio’s logo disguising itself in various forms for inclusion into the 2003 Cooper-Hewitt Triennial.
Now available as a digital print, you can get this bit of shameless self-promotion printed on archival Moab Rag Bright white 190 GSM. The size is 17"x11".Thursday, February 18, 2010
Retired They Might Be Giants Website as an Art Print
We are making our design for the official They Might Be Giants website available as a Giclée print now at chopshopstore.com. From about 1999 through 2007 the site was a strange shooting gallery that included an accordion, several targeted icons and the heads of presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt, Nixon and Taft. The site was designed by The Chopping Block and was one of the most recognized sites in our portfolio during those early years of dot com boom, scoring several prominent recognitions from organizations such as The One Show, Young Guns, ID Magazine, Communication Arts and Flash Forward. Sadly, the murmuring of the presidents cannot be reproduced in print.
Just for added fun, we are going to generate a random question for each print ordered on the plaque hovering above the accordion. Therefore, no two copies purchased will be the same. Printed on archival Moab Rag Bright white. Weight is 190 GSM.$14 Tshirt Deal With Free Shipping Today Only
Get the “Monsters and Aliens and Bots, Oh My!” tee for only $14 with free shipping in the US at deals.woot.com until midnight tonight.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Chop Shop Interview on popculturetees.com
“I normally don’t start a feature with a comment, but I think that Chop Shop has something unique that I have not seen at any other site in the Shirt-o-Sphere and just had to point out. They have their own theme song and it was written and recorded by the grammy winning group, They Might Be Giants.”
Read the full article HERE.
That’s One Nerdy Trio of Prints, Harry
A bunch of new prints suddenly appeared on chopshopstore.com and are even nerdier than a whole boat load of robot icons. Nerd Rider (left) is actually the original version of a tshirt that has mysteriously disappeared from our collection due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control. The Craftsman (center) was inspired by the video game World of Warcraft and the actual real-life appearance of most of the “warriors” that play the game. Finally, The Squid and the Robot (right) was inspired by the prevalence of of both squids and robots in tshirt designs during the year 2009.
All digital prints are produced and printed on archival Moab Rag Bright white and the weight is 190 GSM. The size of these particular 3 pieces is 13"x19".
Monday, February 08, 2010
Well Done Tshirt for Water Access Awareness
All profits from the sale of this tee are donated to WellDone. A water awareness and access non-profit, working to bring clean drinking water to communities lacking access, and to drive global awareness and action in the fight against water scarcity. To learn more about WellDone or get involved, visit WellDone.org.
The design itself includes 27 icons relating to modern issues surrounding water access in the developing world. Each of these icons is also numbered and corresponds to a specific statistic. The key to all these numbers is printed on the inside of the back of the tee and is shown in the image above.
Thanks also goes out to Quist Industries for donating all the printing. Quist does a large amount of Chop Shop’s printing and is always top notch. They are like the Apple Computers of tshirt screen printing. Check out their site at quistindustries.com, which also happens to be a The Chopping Block production.
