Shirt.Woot

OnyxEyez wrote:attitudes like this really piss me off - if good designers stick to the theme and turn out really great artwork that is on topic, and then someone else turns out a shirt that people like but that is not to the theme, well, what is the point of the other designers sticking to the theme too? Isn't that the point of the theme?

I know my take on the derby is what angers all the purists. Unfortunately, this is a popularity contest, not a talent contest.

What good is voting for fantastic art on a shirt that I won't buy? If I vote for shirts I won't wear (or purchase for a friend) I don't buy anything from shirt.woot and neither they nor the artist make money off my interest. I'm not here to vote for something I think other people will buy. That said, if I haven't got the funds to pony up, I don't vote.

I always assumed the theme was to give a general direction for the shirt designers to go. Artists can attempt literal interpretations or not (at the risk of possible but unlikely rejection).

OnyxEyez wrote:what is the point of the other designers sticking to the theme too? Isn't that the point of the theme?

I guess you have to ask yourself what the motives of the derby entrants are when they bother to make artwork. We know everyone that submits would like to get printed, but there are folks who submit that use the derby as a quick-and-dirty way to hone their skills. Printing comes as a bonus.

One more thing to think about. The harsh backlash received by many of the often-printed artists submitting "cutesy guppy" makes the kind of people that like cutesy stuff want to stand up for them, i.e. vote regardless of the merit of the shirt.

mrwednesday wrote:The sad thing is that this seems to be a remarkably common trend. It wasn't until very recently that I saw anyone post here that had never purchased a shirt. Anymore they are quite quite common and most talk about the types of shirts they've bought in the past....The numbers of accounts with very low purchase totals is also worrisome. They all love ramy and buy all his designs but a sitting on less than 3 woots in many cases.

I realize that I've been here for over a year and a half and have yet to pass the 25 mark (I'm very close) but the wealth of new accounts talking about things which went on before they joined is getting very high and very troublesome.

Have you noticed that most of the comments in their threads come from people that have joined in the past 8 months? I hope that it's just a fanbase they brought with them, but with their track record, it just makes it even more suspicious.

Re: The Aviator

Is pretty good but where's the steampunk, if the googles were slightly more elaborate or the wings more mechanical this would be ideal.

Re: Steampunk Angel

The art is beautiful but I do agree that the textured gray color kills it. Think about it - was there even heather gray around in the time whose elements you're trying to emulate?

Re: Steamworks Operatica V.2

I liked it better on Asphalt shirt. Still GMV, and I hope that you bump out one of the designs in the fog, because you seriously deserved to be printed over any of them in it now. If for no other reason then you are on topic and they are not. Good luck sir.

Re: Soul Mechanism (resub)

I can't imagine this shirt with an off-center placement. It looks great as is. The pink really pops - good for you for being bold enough to use it. This shirt is tough but pretty and I really like it.

Re: Steampunk Dragon

I think the colors are fine. It's a dragon. It's supposed to stand out. I think it could use more meat on its bones though - it looks skinny to the point that you could snap it in half, but dragons are supposed to be very intimidating creatures.

orzine wrote:if woot adjusts the system so that if you vote, you automatically buy the shirt if it goes to print, people with hundred of fake accounts will not be able to afford to rig the election. in addition, woot will be able to gauge their sales of shirts before they go to print, and they can order and print accordingly, maximizing profit and minimizing waste.

I'd vote for that. :D

IamIreland wrote:It's pretty, but it's been done. http://www.topatoco.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TO&Product_Code=WON-PORTHOLE&Category_Code=WON Sorry!

How is that even close to the same?

IamIreland wrote:Fairly clever, but all-too reminscent of this fellow: http://www.topatoco.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TO&Product_Code=WON-PORTHOLE&Category_Code=WON

That's the second time I've seen you post that link and I don't think it was really applicable either time - the shirt in that link is ugly, and both steampunk heart designs I've seen here have been well-drawn and had neat details.

branmak wrote:Similar to what I did (http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/Entry.aspx?id=30989) - I was going to put bolts on my portal too and make it a bit more Magnolia style but ran out of time. Nice work!

NICE! One of a kind!
Your depth of detail and realistic view of the meticulously detailed components is in a class be ITSELF! We have a winner ... I hope.

Do you have more art to share?
webatjmj2dotcomm if you do.

BRAVO, JIM+

davengvar wrote:I've never been a fan of chaos designs like this one and I really think it fits the theme. Just because the style has Victorian elements and there are machines involved doesn't mean it's steampunk.

you know, I could see where you'd be coming from if it were just the people with their Steam punk weapons and armor. I could see where you coming from it were just the gears and steam(Steam that is actually white for a change). However, both of them, along with the Steam powered Robotic Dog and the Steam powered Robot that they just caught and have chained up really tie it together as Steam Punk, IMO.

I think it's tragic that this isn't in 1st place right now, as it clearly is the best design for this theme. It just goes to show the sorry state that these derbies have become in the past 7 months.

Re: Style Cogs

I really love the colors. I don't know if this is necessarily steampunk though.

Re: BUG U (ladybug flight academy)

The head of the ladybug has good detailing - why doesn't the body? That area of the shirt feels empty.

Re: Cloudmaker

My favorite part of this design is the space where the steam overlaps with the body. The designing, especially in those spots, is well done.

Re: [url=http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/Entry.aspx?id=30980]

This is beautiful and winsome. I'd buy it as a painting, not sure about a shirt though.

Re: Calling John Henry!

Why is this not winning? Why? :[

I probably wouldn't buy this myself, but it is an absolute superb design. Plus, you get extra kudos-points for the not-overly-obvious-in-a-good-way John Henry reference. AWESOME.

Astolpho wrote:Thanks. About five minutes after I made that post I cringed and wished there was an edit button so I could back and scrub the whining out. There's no crying in baseball!

Edit: Oh, there's the edit button. It's a wonder I'm even able to dress myself in the morning. :/

Heh :-) You have to have a good sense of humor on woot! Just keep designing and throwing things up - you never know what will catch on here.

I think you had a good design idea because I can see it in some of the elements - the fire in the ribcage, the steam coming out of the eyes, the overall menacing feel of the shirt. I think that there is room for improvement with how you draw your ideas, like drawing the body more clearly and making the contraption the dragon is holding more identifiable.

adamsw216 wrote:I really like the idea, but I think it needs a bit more compositional attention to give it that extra push...

Definitely agree. More attention to details could have made this shirt a real standout.

Re: SteamBiker

why isn't this winning, this is so steampunk, better than the rest of the fog. The rest of the fog embrangles. This is quintessential steampunk, I read the wikipedia and looked it up on google. Why can't I get what I want for once? The penguin wing mechanism doesnt make sense. Pipes that emit smoke and goggles don't make something steampunk. That robot and the dog isn't steampunk and his legs are out of proportion with the rest of his body. That wolf looks like hez just wearing armor.

Maybe we should we all get together and bash the Gigli (2003) out of those entries so we can get what we want. Because that's what this derby is about, it's about us and getting what we want all the time. I'm going to tattle but that's probably not going to be enough. Because the woot staff sits there and reads all my comments. I'm going to feel a little more important about myself and make myself feel better about posting / agreeing with the other people about how much the entrants are off theme. COME ON GUYS.

Re: Steampunk Designer

Especially like the bird and the feel. Don't like the way the hands or legs were drawn.

love the design, but, man, if i see one more shirt with the word "legend" and a portrayal of a NES character i'm a-gonna puke.

Re: When Pigs Fly

Ahahahaha this is cute.

koronae wrote:This is actually very cool. Would've loved seeing clockwork animals or robots working on it. But the premise is great.

Ohhh, clockwork animals/robots would've been wonderful. I totally would have voted for this shirt if that had been the case.

OnyxEyez wrote:This is NOT steampunk in the slightest, and attitudes like this really piss me off - if good designers stick to the theme and turn out really great artwork that is on topic, and then someone else turns out a shirt that people like but that is not to the theme, well, what is the point of the other designers sticking to the theme too? I was really looking forward to this derby to get some hardcore steampunk designs, and now the only stuff left in the fog - with the somewhat exception of Cho's shirt - is non-theme, non-steampunk. How about some real vetting here woot? Isn't that the point of the theme?

I agree. I was very excited about the theme, expecting to see all sorts of glorious steampunk art and ideas. Instead, we get this pseudo-anime nonsense with some gratuitous smoke to 'fit' the theme. If steampunk was just slapping smokestacks on random objects/entities, then it wouldn't be the rich, interesting subgenre it is.

As for Moondragon's post, taking the attitude that "I don't know what it is, so I don't care" is a really stupid way to look at things. The whole point of the derby is to test the skills of artists by forcing them to submit things in genres that they may not be familiar with, thus helping them to expand their skills. It's a complete cop out and a rip off to those who put real effort into the theme when someone draws up some completely unrelated guppy like this and slaps some halfassed attempt at steampunk on top of it.

Shirts like this make me wish I could downvote entries.

Re: Steamborg (resub)

I like your sense of humor and your style. I don't like this particular design but I hope you submit more in the future.

hasdgfas wrote:Hey, look a butterfly. With gears inside it and a wisp of steam.

Sorry ramy, but steampunk is not the same thing as steam and gears.

I agree with this statement. The design is visually appealing (except for the dripping part at the bottom) but it is not steampunk.

jamescho84 wrote:why isn't this winning, this is so steampunk, better than the rest of the fog. The rest of the fog embrangles. This is quintessential steampunk, I read the wikipedia and looked it up on google. Why can't I get what I want for once? The penguin wing mechanism doesnt make sense. Pipes that emit smoke and goggles don't make something steampunk. That robot and the dog isn't steampunk and his legs are out of proportion with the rest of his body. That wolf looks like hez just wearing armor.

Maybe we should we all get together and bash the Gigli (2003) out of those entries so we can get what we want. Because that's what this derby is about, it's about us and getting what we want all the time. I'm going to tattle but that's probably not going to be enough. Because the woot staff sits there and reads all my comments. I'm going to feel a little more important about myself and make myself feel better about posting / agreeing with the other people about how much the entrants are off theme. COME ON GUYS.

I agree completely. The shirt you linked is one of the only high up entries that actually fits the theme. I am sick of seeing 'scene heart' variant shirts with a couple gears added in in an attempt (failed) to make it fit the theme, or guppy like this red shirt, where the artist drew whatever he felt like then added two little smokestacks to avoid being rejected out of hand (though he still should have been).

Tattle away. I am.

Re: Synthetic Beauty

It is a very nice looking drawing, but it doesn't fit the theme.

Also, it looks alot like those generic scene hoodies with a stylized skull and a bunch of fake paint drips or whatever.

hajile wrote:Hm, interesting submission.

The girl looks great, but the wolf just doesn't look steampunk to me. It just looks like he has armor on.

Plus, on top of that, the piping protruding from the wolf's back aren't very clear. I thought the smoke itself was hair...

Agreed

IamIreland wrote:I'm sorry if you thought of it all by yourself, but it's been done. To death. I doubt woot could legally even produce these.

Of course it's been done. My theme: a broken heart has been done before - because we're human and that happens. I thought I had a good idea there: my heart being put back into place, fixed, and locked up this time. I figured that was something that other people could identify with. Because they've had broken hearts before too.

It wasn't meant to be some great piece of artwork - since I don't have enough free time for that but it was supposed to represent that feeling.

No, I did not ever see any other piece of artwork like this except for Ironman and that humonculous in Hellboy. But those were just portholes on the chest. If the idea is similar to what others have done, that's to be expected I think - stick a porthole on the chest and what's inside? A heart! Amazing! And with as many people that are out there, I guess someone else would come up with the idea too.

I just wanted to jump into the derby and have some fun. The designing was fun - getting these flames were not. But thanks for the feedback anyways. And thanks to everyone who voted for my locked-up heart!

koronae wrote:I've got such mixed feelings on this piece. I think the girl looks great, personally. I like that this is a red riding hood homage. I also like the armor on the wolf. But the steampipes on it's back just look kind of silly to me. This doesn't exactly scream steampunk to me personally, but it is a good try.

It reminds me more of an anime steampunk than the classic hyper-realistic steampunk. Which isn't bad at all! I think it conveys steampunk while taking into account the medium (t-shirt) that will definitely degrade over time. Five years from now this will still look like a wolf and a girl, where a more complicated design might fade into unrecognizable splotches. I'm definitely buying this.

Re: Steamway

See, this is steampunk. Good job sticking to the theme. I would've preferred darker lines though - the "steamway" blends too much into the fog for my liking.

branmak wrote:Of course it's been done. My theme: a broken heart has been done before - because we're human and that happens. I thought I had a good idea there: my heart being put back into place, fixed, and locked up this time. I figured that was something that other people could identify with. Because they've had broken hearts before too.

It wasn't meant to be some great piece of artwork - since I don't have enough free time for that but it was supposed to represent that feeling.

No, I did not ever see any other piece of artwork like this except for Ironman and that humonculous in Hellboy. But those were just portholes on the chest. If the idea is similar to what others have done, that's to be expected I think - stick a porthole on the chest and what's inside? A heart! Amazing! And with as many people that are out there, I guess someone else would come up with the idea too.

I just wanted to jump into the derby and have some fun. The designing was fun - getting these flames were not. But thanks for the feedback anyways. And thanks to everyone who voted for my locked-up heart!

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I don't think most woot people will believe you intentionally tried to copy someone else's design. Just ignore the bashers and try again next week.

hajile wrote:Why is this not winning? Why? :[

I probably wouldn't buy this myself, but it is an absolute superb design. Plus, you get extra kudos-points for the not-overly-obvious-in-a-good-way John Henry reference. AWESOME.

I'd love to buy this shirt, me thinks more votes would come with better thumbnail, o well sa la vie

Re: Let's Play

Just because a shirt is cutesy doesn't mean it deserves to be in the fog. This doesn't really fit the theme, and it all hinges on superficial sentimentalism.

fatalGRACE wrote:I agree completely. The shirt you linked is one of the only high up entries that actually fits the theme. I am sick of seeing 'scene heart' variant shirts with a couple gears added in in an attempt (failed) to make it fit the theme, or guppy like this red shirt, where the artist drew whatever he felt like then added two little smokestacks to avoid being rejected out of hand (though he still should have been).

Tattle away. I am.

haha >_<

Re: Steampunk Willie

You are a very versatile artist, tgentry.

jamescho84 wrote:why isn't this winning, this is so steampunk, better than the rest of the fog. The rest of the fog embrangles. This is quintessential steampunk, I read the wikipedia and looked it up on google. Why can't I get what I want for once? The penguin wing mechanism doesnt make sense. Pipes that emit smoke and goggles don't make something steampunk. That robot and the dog isn't steampunk and his legs are out of proportion with the rest of his body. That wolf looks like hez just wearing armor.

Maybe we should we all get together and bash the Gigli (2003) out of those entries so we can get what we want. Because that's what this derby is about, it's about us and getting what we want all the time. I'm going to tattle but that's probably not going to be enough. Because the woot staff sits there and reads all my comments. I'm going to feel a little more important about myself and make myself feel better about posting / agreeing with the other people about how much the entrants are off theme. COME ON GUYS.

The King of times gone by has graced us with his holy presence people. His light brings clarity. His sarcasm can pierce the sky.

But he's right. Steampunk is a pretty broad field. Check out http://www.girlgeniusonline.com, a webcomic generally acclaimed by the steampunk community. Mutant animals wearing armor and building flying machines would fit right in. A giant robot and a dog would have a home in steampunk as well. Flowery lines and gears actually do make things steampunk, or so it seems in the creations of Jake Von Slatt http://steampunkworkshop.com one of the major online steampunks. Steampunk is a field that welcomes anything close into it's fold, and while I certainly think my design is the best, its not because the designs that people like more are off topic.

mrwednesday wrote:The sad thing is that this seems to be a remarkably common trend. It wasn't until very recently that I saw anyone post here that had never purchased a shirt. Anymore they are quite quite common and most talk about the types of shirts they've bought in the past....The numbers of accounts with very low purchase totals is also worrisome. They all love ramy and buy all his designs but a sitting on less than 3 woots in many cases.

I realize that I've been here for over a year and a half and have yet to pass the 25 mark (I'm very close) but the wealth of new accounts talking about things which went on before they joined is getting very high and very troublesome.

I want to touch on this personally, because it actually applies to my wife. I've been using shirt.woot along with my wife for a very long time. I had an account first and bought many shirts for the both of us. She always read the forums via my account, and only recently made her own. (And she still hasn't made a purchase of her own on her own account. I bought Clockwork Dinos for her because she was asleep when it hit, for instance.)

While I do agree that this sort of thing is suspicious on a larger scale, I do think that we may have some lurkers who are finally starting to speak up. Then again, it wouldn't surprise me at all if many people did have multiple accounts that they are using to make certain sorts of comments on, or to be allowed multiple votes.