WootBot


quality posts: 14 Private Messages WootBot

Staff


It's been 50 years since the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge became a federally-protected area, which is great and everything, but ask any moose and they'll tell you: it hasn't been enough. Polar bears can't vote and caribou can't sign petitions, so the Arctic Refuge and the Arctic in general could use a little help from us humans. That's why our pals at The Sierra Club have launched Arctic Love, a site celebrating the Refuge's 50th anniversary. You can check out videos of the Refuge, sign up to host an Arctic house party, and sign a virtual birthday card asking the President to designate the Refuge a National Monument.

So to get the word out we're asking you to design a shirt that shows what you love most about the Arctic. Maybe it's the pristine austerity of unbroken snow, the amazing wildlife that exists at temperatures we invented thermostats to avoid, or the ruggedness of the land that calls back to a more primitive time. Show us already! The Sierra Club will be kicking in special gift bags for winners, too! Now for the rules:

  • No copyrighted images. Obviously, but we figured we'd mention that just because Sierra Club's down with our Derby doesn't mean you get to use their stuff.
  • No Star Wars.

  • No video games.

  • No penguins. They don't even live up there.



sTyLeS


quality posts: 9 Private Messages sTyLeS

I'm really gonna try to finish this one. There's been a couple (last derby included) where life comes up and I haven't been able to complete my designs.
Now to put the thinking cap on...

thatrobert


quality posts: 17 Private Messages thatrobert

Cool. Heh.

So text is wide open?


lumpyspaceprincess


quality posts: 0 Private Messages lumpyspaceprincess

it will be cute i bet some moneys!

sittle


quality posts: 0 Private Messages sittle
thatrobert wrote:Cool. Heh.



.... hisss....

DianaSprinkle


quality posts: 100 Private Messages DianaSprinkle

Ah good holiday theme without needing to be holiday themed. Brainstorming time.

Lagbert


quality posts: 1 Private Messages Lagbert
thatrobert wrote:Cool. Heh.

So text is wide open?



You read my mind

clarinerd


quality posts: 2 Private Messages clarinerd

I'm predicting lots of swirly auora borealis designs. And polar bears. Possibly in the same shirt.

amreli


quality posts: 7 Private Messages amreli

Hm, must think...


sasham62


quality posts: 0 Private Messages sasham62

I'm gonna have to work to come up with an idea other than a plain white T-shirt.

My favorite thing about the Arctic? That it's so far, far away from me. *g*

uniique


quality posts: 2 Private Messages uniique

No penguins? That's it. Game over.

sacrerouge


quality posts: 18 Private Messages sacrerouge

I hope someone makes a design with whales! Thats pretty much it for arctic animals I'd wear though.

JesseBYAH


quality posts: 5 Private Messages JesseBYAH
clarinerd wrote:I'm predicting lots of swirly auora borealis designs. And polar bears. Possibly in the same shirt.



Hmmmm I'd love to see an Auora Borealis shirt done by Mr. Dixon

Sounds like it could be a pretty good derby. I'm also hoping that Drakxxx/CD make an appearance... you know I love you guys, and I don't know why, but I'm excited to see what you come up with in such an icy setting I don't know if I've seen any wintery shirts from you guys... I could be mistaken but I cant think of any. I'm stoked to see what everyone comes up with, in fact. I like it when woot does special derbies like this!

odysseyroc


quality posts: 30 Private Messages odysseyroc
clarinerd wrote:I'm predicting lots of swirly auora borealis designs. And polar bears. Possibly in the same shirt.



The Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?





mrwednesday


quality posts: 12 Private Messages mrwednesday

So is anything actually going to the charity or is this just a loose tie-in to get more people into the derby and scam a few saps into buying more shirts because they think they're helping the animals or the refuge?

It seems incredibly odd that the winners would be left to votes if any resulting part of this derby will have any official association with the Sierra Club.

midgerock


quality posts: 6 Private Messages midgerock

here's what I got cookin':
WILDLIFE SUPPORT:
a polar bear on life support in ICU.
thoughts? comments? feedback?

mllemeranii


quality posts: 7 Private Messages mllemeranii

The second I saw the derby all I could think was, "Great, a weekend of penguins."

Then I saw the rules. That's at least one win, even if it won't completely deter the rest of the crap.

benjaminleebates


quality posts: 5 Private Messages benjaminleebates

No penguins, does that include no other animal disguised as one? I mean, it's not REALLY a penguin, it just looks like one...
There was a bit of tongue in cheek with this post, btw.



Josephus


quality posts: 25 Private Messages Josephus

I'm not planning on an aurora borealis. and not entirely sure I can get this changed from drawring to design in time.



edit: geeze, woot's image-caching really sucks. this drawing is not blurry at all. the imageshack design is visible here: http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/5521/surfingbear.jpg

C'mon, woot, can't you do better than this? and if you're gonna display our images in the derby at 730x730 pixels, or whatever the exact dimensions are, why don't you have is submit them at that size so that they don't have to be enlarged from 580x580? (which makes them blurrier, thanks to your very lossy compression)

bluejester


quality posts: 530 Private Messages bluejester

How about a whispy image of a polar bear hidden in the auora borealis?

I can't pull it off, but probably one of the awesome designers here can?

bluejester


quality posts: 530 Private Messages bluejester
odysseyroc wrote:The Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?



If it's in my kitchen, it better be making me breakfast.

lkackman


quality posts: 2 Private Messages lkackman
sTyLeS wrote:I'm really gonna try to finish this one. There's been a couple (last derby included) where life comes up and I haven't been able to complete my designs.
Now to put the thinking cap on...



Me too, I have spent at least 8 hours each design for the last 3 derbies and have run into work issues that took up my time.

On the bright side, I have 3 partially finished designs that may or may not work in a future derby.

lkackman


quality posts: 2 Private Messages lkackman
odysseyroc wrote:The Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?



May I see it?
No

Seymour, the house is on fire!
No, Mother. It's just the Northern Lights.

Well Seymour, you are an odd fellow, but I must say you steam a good ham.

Spiritgreen


quality posts: 177 Private Messages Spiritgreen

This is a really good theme and an important issue too. There'll be no silliness from me this week, just a feelgood design. :^)

jdich


quality posts: 0 Private Messages jdich
bluejester wrote:How about a whispy image of a polar bear hidden in the auora borealis?

I can't pull it off, but probably one of the awesome designers here can?



I was thinking of that! Like from Brother Bear! But I'm not too familiar with halftones yet.

theWanker


quality posts: 0 Private Messages theWanker

I had a bear design that was easily recolored and re-purposed for this one.



With or without the heart/tongue?

[edit: I fixed the tongue a little]

JesseBYAH


quality posts: 5 Private Messages JesseBYAH
mrwednesday wrote:So is anything actually going to the charity or is this just a loose tie-in to get more people into the derby and scam a few saps into buying more shirts because they think they're helping the animals or the refuge?

It seems incredibly odd that the winners would be left to votes if any resulting part of this derby will have any official association with the Sierra Club.



Excellent question- what exactly is this derby doing for the Sierra Club? Just giving them publicity?

midgerock


quality posts: 6 Private Messages midgerock
theWanker wrote:I had a bear design that was easily recolored and re-purposed for this one.



With or without the heart/tongue? (I know I need to contour that heart better, but I just didn't want to bother if nobody thinks it's worth including.)




that looks really cool.
I would go w/o the heart.
plus the shapes which make up the face really remind me of islands or possible ice flows and wonder if you played with that if that would bring another element to the piece.
Just a couple thoughts...

no1


quality posts: 7 Private Messages no1
JesseBYAH wrote:Excellent question- what exactly is this derby doing for the Sierra Club? Just giving them publicity?



didn't they do something similar for earth day? (derby #143) was it publicity-driven for that one?


pandamonium long sleeve tee YAY MEDIOCRITY!

theWanker


quality posts: 0 Private Messages theWanker
midgerock wrote:that looks really cool.
I would go w/o the heart.
plus the shapes which make up the face really remind me of islands or possible ice flows and wonder if you played with that if that would bring another element to the piece.
Just a couple thoughts...



Yeah, I kind of agree. The heart worked in my head, but not in the design.

I was sort of hoping it looked like a patch of snow or something until you stared at it for a minute. But I can see it as an ice flow....

I was thinking of doing it really, really big on a white shirt. But maybe baby blue? And put some bergs around it?

sTyLeS


quality posts: 9 Private Messages sTyLeS
theWanker wrote:I had a bear design that was easily recolored and re-purposed for this one.



With or without the heart/tongue?

[edit: I fixed the tongue a little]



My vote is for without the heart. It doesn't look like a tongue (weird placement), and looks like he's just chowing down on it.

Siax


quality posts: 0 Private Messages Siax
odysseyroc wrote:The Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?



SIMPSONS FTW!

BaldBob007


quality posts: 1 Private Messages BaldBob007
theWanker wrote:I had a bear design that was easily recolored and re-purposed for this one.



With or without the heart/tongue?

[edit: I fixed the tongue a little]



Won't this be at least the third time we've seen this now? Besides, IMO, it doesn't really look much like a polar bear.

moosebite


quality posts: 0 Private Messages moosebite

It might be kind of cheap, but my first thought was an ape(or some random creature) scratching his head in the Arctic, looking at a dodgy compass, surrounded by polar bears and seals etc.

Feel free to take that one anyone, I don't have the chops to make shirts.

Looking forward to this one though, expecting some classy stuff :D GL everyone!

luannie192


quality posts: 0 Private Messages luannie192
sacrerouge wrote:I hope someone makes a design with whales! Thats pretty much it for arctic animals I'd wear though.



Indeed! Narwhals please. :D

Josephus


quality posts: 25 Private Messages Josephus
theWanker wrote:I had a bear design that was easily recolored and re-purposed for this one.



With or without the heart/tongue?

[edit: I fixed the tongue a little]



This looks a lot like the Colbert bear, no?

spratman


quality posts: 1 Private Messages spratman

Get your insulin ready, I predict a flood of cuteness.

ocg


quality posts: 1 Private Messages ocg
benjaminleebates wrote:No penguins, does that include no other animal disguised as one? I mean, it's not REALLY a penguin, it just looks like one...
There was a bit of tongue in cheek with this post, btw.



Considering penguins don't even live in the arctic, I'm surprised they had to specifically ban them. A penguin design would make sense for an "I <3 the Antarctic" design.

I, for one, am waiting for a good musk ox design

benjaminleebates


quality posts: 5 Private Messages benjaminleebates
ocg wrote:Considering penguins don't even live in the arctic, I'm surprised they had to specifically ban them. A penguin design would make sense for an "I <3 the Antarctic" design.

I, for one, am waiting for a good musk ox design



Your assuming that more than 20% (arbitrarily insultingly low number) even comprehend, or care that penguins do not reside in the arctic.
You could have a foreign exchange penguin in a class of seals. But, then no, no peguins.



dekonstruct


quality posts: 3 Private Messages dekonstruct

So glad for the no penguin rule. Not so glad about the text.