Competition to Win a FULL Collection of Tees Ends Tonight!

Hello Fableists!

We have five full sets of our first ‘Lucky 13’ t-shirt collection to give away and this competition ends at midnight London time!

Each of the five winners will get one of each of the t-shirts in our first collection in the size of their choice (sizes available are 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 or 9-10).

To be in for a chance at winning, all you need to do is have ‘liked’ The Fableists’ Facebook page by midnight tonight (GMT). We will randomly select five winners from among all the people who have ‘Liked’ the page and will announce the winners tomorrow, October 15th.

– Be sure to ‘like’ the page, and not just the post about the competition!

Bag yourself some free tees and be the first to get your hands on The Fableists’ first collection of t-shirts! Enter now my ‘liking’ The Fableists’ FB page.

Thanks for your support!

The Fableists

The 13 t-shirts in question are below:

The Fableists’ T-Shirts Designed by Anthony Peters

The Fableists’ T-Shirts Designed by Sami Viljanto

The Fableists’ T-Shirts Designed by Gregori Saavedra

The Fableists’ T-Shirts Designed by Crispin Finn

We Talk to Michael Arnold as he Works on Tees for Our Next Collection

Work by Michael Arnold

Michael Arnold is a self-taught designer and illustrator. At the tender age of 21, he has established a bold, iconic style that lends itself perfectly to the fashion industry. His patterns and colours are ideal for t-shirt art and will appeal to kids as well as adults.

Michael also writes a column for the Design & Culture site called The Fox is Black.

Michael Arnold is represented by George Grace Represents.

The Fableists > Tell us a bit about how you got in to this crazy world of art and design.
MA > Well, I left school and initially wanted to get into Graphic Design. At that point I wasn’t interested in going to University and was just eager to get started so I set up a small print shop online called ‘The How To Project’ – the aim being I would teach myself along the way whilst finding my way into the industry. After a while I realized I much preferred creating the images themselves and made the move into Illustration. I picked up a few clients here and there and started to build up a portfolio and a style – I rather ambitiously started to contact agents which is where I met George who decided after some practice he would take me on.

The Fableists > What, or who are your influences?
MA > I have quite a lot of influences but it’s never one person wholly. My main influences are artists that work quite boldly like Julian Opie and Lichtenstein – Lichtenstein did a whole series of works later on that many people aren’t as aware of as his others and I love those ones. Current artists like Kevin Lyons and Kate Moross who have been able to translate their style into many different areas and ‘canvases’ are also a great inspiration to me.

The Fableists > Where do you live and do you take inspiration from those surroundings?
MA > I live near Cheltenham, near the River Severn (Gloucestershire, England). Generally I don’t take too much inspiration from my surroundings however these days there seems to be more of a creative vibe around here notably with the Cheltenham Design Festival which I went to during the Summer and the opening of the Cheltenham Art Museum which I’m definitely going to visit. Also, Bath Spa is quite near me and I often go to visit my sister there. They also have an awesome creative community round there.

The Fableists > What is your work process? Do you draw every day?
MA > My process is a difficult one to really nail down. It differs from project to project in terms of ideas but with illustrating it’s pretty much the same: I’ll take out my notebook and usually write the idea out rather than sketch anything, I may doodle some very rough (read: terrible) line drawings to put some shape to the words. Then I’ll take it straight to the laptop and begin blocking out shapes and colours at the same time, gradually refining and tidying and tightening areas up until I’m happy with it. For typography – that’s all hand drawn, scanned and then redrawn digitally in the same manner as my other work.

I do draw every day. I have quite a backlog of ideas already in my head so whenever I have a free moment I begin on one of those. I think it’s important to draw or design every day, I’m of the mind set that it’s similar to being a sports player – you have to practice to build up that fluency and confidence if not just for your hands then for your ability to visualise things. Malcolm Gladwell once wrote a book about having 10,000 hours of practice to be considered a master at anything – so that’s what I’m aiming for.

Michael Arnold’s First Design for The Fableists

The Fableists > Your designs for The Fableists are already proving very popular with our team. What was the inspiration behind them?

MA > Well, after being given the new tagline which is ‘Play Hard, Live Forever’ it made me think of that ‘Live Fast’ phrase that was associated with bikers and rebellious youth! I played around with the type first as I knew that I wanted the ‘Live Forever’ part to be illustrated in a script like style – the kind you might see on a biker patch. From that it sort of clicked and the image of a biker with a Wind-Up key came to mind, the idea then leant itself to series with other wind-up toys that could be illustrated in the same manner.

The trickiest part was creating the humour in it, balancing out the reality of the motorbike being a child’s toy with the fantasy of it riding into the sunset. It was as much for the children to enjoy as it was for their parents to appreciate. A throw back if you will!

The Fableists > Which is your favourite t-shirt from The Fableists’ first collection and why?
MA > I really like Crispin Finn’s Dress Good design, it’s one of those ideas that’s so simple and makes you jealous you didn’t think of it. In terms of design I feel it’s strong enough to stand on it’s own but subtle enough to be able to work with the other collared shirts and clothes you have to offer.

The Fableists > What do you think about The Fableists’ mission to make sustainable clothing for kids?
MA > I think it’s great. There are so few interesting companies that involve the kids themselves in the ideals of the company. Most children aren’t aware of how their clothes are made and the brands that try to educate them often come out as preaching to them – and in most cases in a way the kids won’t understand. I think there’s a fine line between creating something that will make kids aware whilst making something they will wear. That was quite pithy! I think you’ve nailed it.

I love the Look Book you’ve shot as well. It captures the mission perfectly, I think!

The Fableists > How do you hope that kids will see your t-shirt designs?
MA > I hope they’ll see it how I see it – as an image that gets their imagination going. When illustrating it I tried to strike that balance of how a child would see those toys in their imagination – the bike with the sunset cruising down the highway but at the same time not taking it too seriously. I hope they’ll get a feel of wanting to go on adventures with it on.

The Fableists > Can you tell us about one of your favourite pieces of work you’ve done? What was it for and what was it?
MA > My favourite piece so far was a pattern I designed for shoe company Bucketfeet. It’s finally going into production this spring and I’ve been able to see some product shots of the samples they had made it looks amazing. As an illustrator the best thing in the world is seeing something you’ve made on a screen become physical. Getting a shoe made was one of my dream jobs and I’ve been able to cross that off a lot sooner than I imagined.

The First Lucky 13 Tees

They’re here! Imagine our excitement yesterday when we received the first 13 t-shirts. We are very proud of this first collection of limited edition, artist-designed tees – the one that will launch The Fableists. Our web site will be live in a few weeks and these t-shirt will be the first items available for purchase.

The first collection features the work of four artists:

The Fableists’ T-Shirts Designed by Crispin Finn

The Fableists’ T-Shirts Designed by Crispin Finn

The Fableists’ T-Shirts Designed by Sami Viljanto

The Fableists’ T-Shirts Designed by Gregori Saavedra

The Fableists’ T-Shirts Designed by Anthony Peters

This is the sizing chart for the t-shirts:

Age Range	3-4Y	5-6Y	7-8Y	9-10Y
Height	98-104 cm      38.5-41”	110-116 cm      43.25-45.5”	122-128 cm      48-50.5”	134-140 cm      52.75-55”

And a few more shots because we couldn’t resist!

Slow Fashion is…well…slow!

Those of you who have been following our story will know that we had originally planned to launch The Fableists in June. Looking at my calendar this morning, I can’t help notice that June has come. And gone.

Happy Factory by Anthony Peters

Dress Good by Crispin Finn

Recycling Birds by Sami Viljanto

We just want to make sure we do this right. We want to make sure the clothes we launch with are perfect, that everything is made sustainably. We want to double check everything so that when you order a t-shirt from us, the process goes smoothly and your item is delivered to you properly, from the time we launch our web site. All of this takes time, and we don’t want to rush because that’s when corners get cut and someone along the line gets the short end of the stick.

Wear Me Out by Anthony Peters

This is a Flag by Gregori Saavedra

Tough but Fair by Sami Viljanto

We will have our first t-shirts in a few weeks and once we know that they are perfect, we will put them up on our site and we hope that you will love them as much as we do! The images that accompany this post are some of the designs that will be included in our first offering of limited edition, artist-designed t-shirts for kids. They won’t last forever, so choose your favourites now and be ready. They will be available in sizes 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 and 9-10.

Grow Honest by Sami Viljanto

Made Strong to Wear Long by Crispin Finn

Brain by Gregori Saavedra

Thank you for your patience, and your support.

The Fableists

Check out Some of Steve Scott’s Illustrations for The Fableists’ T-Shirts

The Fableists T-Shirt Illustrated by Steve Scott

Can’t you just picture your cool little punks running around in these groovy designs? We certainly can! The design below was initially posted on our Facebook page with a red design on a grey t-shirt but we have opted for a white background this time around.

The Fableists T-Shirt ‘Bird Rocker’ by Steve Scott

Steve Scott is represented by Jelly London.

Some of Steve Scott’s Work for The Fableists

Presenting Steve Scott, Whose Designs will Feature on The Fableists’ T-Shirts

Illustrator Steve Scott

Steve Scott is pixel pusher with a Wacom tablet and a master at mixing up fresh, contemporary image making with a nod to the retro. He is famous for his stylised characters of all shapes and forms, gaining a reputable clientele including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Volvo, Led Zeppelin, Channel 4 and Wired Magazine. Get this – he has featured in the New York Guggenheim Museum and the Pictoplasma Festival in Berlin. Often abstract and stylised he can create a character or a scene which lingers in an inspiring way. Steve Scott is represented by Jelly London.

The Fableists > Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got in to illustration

Steve > I lived in Australia for half my life and moved away at 16. I landed in illustration by accident. I started doing music videos and it led on from there. I was in a band and did my own music video, quit my job to do it and this is how it all started happening. Because I had an illustrative style, a lot of people liked it. I started a studio in Australia and that is kind of how I got a career going.

The Fableists > Was that studio for commercials?

Steve > Mainly music videos for bands; low budget stuff. It was a different style from what I do now. I think of animation as different from illustration. With illustration I try to keep a style and keep it quite tight. With animation, it is more about what the job needs and I try to adapt styles. We did a lot of animation that is really psychedelic – some that is rotoscoping. I did this band in 2003 – they were the biggest grunge band in Australia at the time: Silver Chair. The money was terrible, and that is when I thought, this is the height of what I am going to get here and that was when I went into illustration.

The Fableists > Where does most your work end up? Is it mostly moving pictures?

Steve > A lot of drawing and 70% animation. But hard to say. If I’m not animating I am usually drawing!

The Fabeists > What inspires your day to day work?

Steve > You are constantly having to re-inspire yourself. I give myself little projects, for example last year I spent a lot of time in Soho (London). There are cool buildings and I gave myself a project of drawing these buildings and then I wanted to add magic things to them. Soho, to me, is quite mysterious and has a history, so I started drawing these buildings and putting in weird parades and then buildings with people in the windows and strange bird creatures. I mainly focus on characters and creatures, odd and weird people.

Matt > What were the inspirations behind the pictures you did for us?

Steve > I wasn’t sure what the brief was, but I knew it was about attitude and so I went round and came out with loads of ideas and wasn’t sure what worked. I also have two budgies, and they fly around and make a lot of noise. I love them if you walk past my lounge you can hear them outside on the street.

Matt > Your work has a certain look…

Steve > I guess what I really wanted was strong colour and pop colours. I always really liked 50s and 60s stuff, so I tend to kind of go that way. My influences are old cartoons – I grew up on comics. I have this great collection from Italy of old Mickey Mouse comics in the 30s and 40s style. I have been doing a lot of things like this recently. I did this whole thing of sketches of hillbillies with big baggy pants and guitars – I have this thing about guitars, I don’t even play guitar. The hillbilly with his banjo, but with a really heavy metal part to it also.

Matt > What do you feel about what we are doing, our message?

Steve > Especially now-a-days, there is so much that is overproduced. In terms of living in a sustainable way, that is really important for us now and for the planet. You can see in the last 4-5 years, people have started questioning this rampant consumption. The idea of maximizing profit is unhealthy.

Matt > If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?

Steve > So many things, aren’t there? I guess I would get rid of a few dictators, probably.

Some of Steve Scott’s Work for The Fableists

Illustrator Greg Abbott Talks Shop as We Unveil His T-Shirt Designs

Greg Abbott’s Work

Greg Abbott is an illustrator and designer currently based in West Sussex, UK. His bold characters and striking typography have previously been featured on projects for Warner Music Group, EMI and Fueled by Ramen.

Greg is represented for illustration work by YCN Talent Agency, London.

The Fableists > Have you always worked in illustration? How did you get your start?

Greg > Yes. Although I work in a number of different fields, since working full time, the majority of commission projects I have received have been related to illustration. I first started by offering web design and development services over the internet when I was in high school: I had taught myself the basics of a few code languages a few years before and enjoyed web design but didn’t have any projects to work on. At around the same time, I discovered Apple computers and since then have been an enthusiast. Subsequently I found an interest in design, typography and illustrating digitally. As I figured out and made the most of trial versions of Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Flash and other applications, I posted the results online for fun. This eventually lead to illustration project enquiries. Until that point, I hadn’t considered that there might be interest in my illustration work. As I was interested in creative projects of all kinds, I accepted and took on all projects that I was lucky enough to be offered and given the opportunity to work on. A few years later I was receiving enough creative work to be self-employed.

The Fableists > Tell us about some of the work you’ve done that you are most proud of.

Greg > I’m quite pleased with my most recent children’s picture book, written and illustrated as a self-initiated personal project, it hasn’t been released yet. I’m normally most excited by creative projects that are outside of the areas I usually get to work in. I’m interested in a wide variety of project types and very enthusiastic to experiment in different areas. I quite like the toy design projects I have worked on as they cover a wide range of areas: from character and 3D design for the toy to net design, print design for the packaging and branding and marketing for the product.

The Fableists > Do you begin by drawing by hand? Tell us about your process.

Greg > Yes. I create and develop illustrative work by hand with the use of: a Mac, a Wacom Cintiq 12WX graphics tablet and various design software. My workflow for drawing makes use of both hands, right for drawing, and left for keyboard shortcuts. I select software based on the type or the stage of project. (e.g. Corel Painter for sketching, inking and textures; Adobe Illustrator for linework, layout and colouring). My process for drawing projects is: sketch, revise, develop and colour. For personal pieces, the sketch encompasses all of the details and establishes the composition of the design. The revision stage is for commission projects and allows client feedback to be incorporated. Once the sketch is finalised, it is developed to be a vector; at this stage the style and technique of the piece is defined and executed. Colouring is the last part of the design and makes the biggest impact. After that, if the work is for print, I create a colour-separated print ready file to be delivered to the client or printer.

The Fableists > What or who are your biggest influences?

Greg > Everything and everyone but also nothing and no one in particular.

The Fableists > Does your work have a typical look?

Greg > Yes. Whilst I have a few different collections of illustrative work (vector / pencil / inked), each collection generally shares an overall look. My personal work tends to have a friendly feel and a fairly consistent use of colour, I favour a limited and muted colour palette.

The Fableists > Do you draw every day?

Greg > No.

The Fableists > Where do you find your inspiration day to day?

Greg > Although I’m not inspired every day, when I have an idea, it’s usually the result of my imagination finding amusement or interest in something ordinary. If I hear or read a turn of phrase, or observe something noteworthy, I might enjoy it as it is and want to do something with it, or it might lead me to think about or visualise something related that I find more enjoyable and want to capture. Quite a large number of my illustrations are from things I might see in the remaining shape of a half-eaten piece of toast.

The Fableists > Is most of your work for print? Or do you do work for film/TV, online or any other media?

Greg > Yes. Most of my commissioned illustration work is for merchandise and physical products (clothing and art prints). I would love to work with film or TV but haven’t yet although I was excited to spot one of my designs on Britain’s Got Talent yesterday. When I’m not illustrating I enjoy anything else productive or creative including: user interface design, web design, coding, scripting, furniture design, editing videos, writing stories and playing instruments. In my spare time I work on personal projects and like to teach myself how to do things that take my interest.

The Fableists > Which client would you most like to collaborate with?

Greg > 

– Illustration: a children’s book publisher.
– Design: Apple.
– Furniture design: Ikea.

The Fableists > Our limited edition t-shirts will be wearable art. What do you think about seeing kids emblazoned with your work?

Greg > It’s lovely, exciting, rewarding and encouraging!

Greg Abbott’s Work

Check it: Greg Abbott’s Designs for our T-Shirt Line

‘Think Differently’ by Greg Abbott for The Fableists

We think these designs are iconic and that these tees will be total classics.

These t-shirts will be available through our web site. Be sure to snap them up quickly as they will only be a limited edition run.

‘Built to Last’ by Greg Abbott for The Fableists

All our shirts are made of organic cotton and not only are they built to last but they are built ethically and sustainably.

‘We Are the Fableists’ by Greg Abbott for The Fableists

Greg is represented for illustration work by YCN Talent Agency, London.

We are Pleased to Present the T-Shirt Designs of Sami Viljanto

‘Grow Honest’ by Sami Viljanto for The Fableists

Helsinki, Finland native Sami Viljanto has created some limited edition t-shirt designs for The Fableists. These tees will be available through our web site this summer. We love these tattoo-inspired illustrations – they look great on white or grey and are terrific for boys and girls.

‘Tough but Fair’ by Sami Viljanto for The Fableists

The recycling logo featuring birds design below is a personal favourite of Sarah’s.

Sami is represented for illustration work by Rare Bird, London and we have done a Q&A with him to find out his artistic process and what inspires him. That will appear here over the next several days.

‘Recycle’ by Sami Viljanto for The Fableists