this pretty much the opposite of a penguin eating ice cream. on top of that, it has a religious symbol. this design is about to embark on an uphill battle without any legs. that i know.

but as soon i as i had read the theme for the R&B contest, i knew i would do a gun. a gun is the best friend of many, be she evil or good. much like religion, a gun can be used or abused and just like faith, the gun itself never changes. even so, my best friend could be your worst enemy... and mine too.

this design, while appearing to be very "black and white" is actually very much about the "grey".

and yeah, the idea is that one in ten (or some such) printed shirts is the "executive" model. sort of like with the birds in the pockets tee/polo. makes it more interesting =)

cheers!

can't understand why you (US) enjoys guns so much...

cause they rule

nice answer.. 1-0 to you...

ew. i hate guns

I can't think of a gun design that I've scored more than 2. I generally detest the subject because it is so open to abuse and misinterpretation. This, however, makes a point I strongly resonate with. I don't remember offhand which passage it is, but one of the verses in the Old Testament (rendered as gibberish in the Christian versions) originally read "Through both good and evil, do my will." (God was speaking.) Too much for most to handle, but then so is the responsibility of owning a gun. $5.

this really doesn't apply to the rob & big contest. i know you tried really hard to connect this design with that contest but this has nothing to do with "best friends". saying your gun can be your best friend is a bit of a stretch. i don't have anything against guns and it's a beautiful design but i'm not a big fan of wearing religious symbols like crosses

The illustration is really nice, but I say no to guns.

interesting commentary, even though unintentional, on gun culture in hip hop / USA

but there's a nice print with a gun and flowers

Love!

It reminded me of Home Sweet Home

Nicely done but that's not something I'd wear.

Would be a sweet Boondock Saints shirt.

There are too many elements in this design I do not agree with nor feel connected to. Though the art is ok, I cannot score this honestly based on the imagry itself.

I have problems with both guns and religion. Sorry, but I would never wear this.

nah

Cool design, interesting commentary on the US, but I wouldn't wear it and I don't think it really has anything to do with Rob & Big.

Wow... very nice design.. i hope it wins, i'd buy in both colors, $5

Freaking love it...$5

Artistically... I love it...

Idealistically... meh...

Kinda reminds me of westerns...

Nothing to do with anything anyone has mentioned.

Apart from with More than Janus, ive never tried to create something... i dunno, "mainstream" or across-the-board likeable (fail).

I understand that i will probably not ever bag a win again but this is how i like to design, combining wierd and hard-to-sell. Guns and religion score low here, and probably every were else too, but thats part of the reason i did this.

mezo, the point of the imagry is combined stuff people dont agree or connect with. if you feel thats all there is to it, id rather you gave it zero.

As for guns and religion; i wish i could say i never fired a gun (being swedish, thats very likley) but was conscripted to be a medic in the army. Also, im an atheist (satanist, actually, but id rather aviod debating on the internet) who never set foot inside a church for other reasons than to behold the impressive architechture and/or art.

Rosary?:
The Agony in the Garden is the first of the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary and the fruit of the mystery is " Sorrow for Sin". The first day for sorrowful mysteries is tuesday.

the Catholic imagery will probably alienate Evangelicals
so a more general use of symbols would increase the size of
your audience/customers. Since you were going for religion
in general maybe you could have used a lot of different
religious symbols as parts of the gun. Muslim crescent as
the trigger for example.

Excellent skills on display for sure. The drop shadow
is a nice touch.

- - - - - -
"I understand that i will probably not ever bag a win again. . ."

Whatchoo talkin' 'bout Willis? That's crazy talk! You are
really good so don't think there's no more future here.
Just focus more on using concepts that resonate with
both you and the Threadless audience - your illustration
abilities are not a weakness of yours at all. So stay in
the ring unless you see another ring somewhere else
that pays you better for the same effort - which is
unlikely since the day Threadless bumped up their
winnings to where they are now.

Chill your bones, it's Tybalt's gun.

It's totally the gun from Romeo and Juliet. Cool illustration of it though.

My gf mentioned that when i was drawing it but i havent seen the movie =/

Not into either subject but the incredible illo deserves a 4 at least.

people have way too many issues in life. sick design.

Why do we like guns? Because they're a part of our heritage as a country; they're a part of many of our sub-cultures; they're status symbols; they are often big-ticket items and thus feed our consumer needs. Do most gun owners go around waving them in people's faces, shooting rivals and generally making a nuisance of themselves? No. But because a sliver of our population feel the need to do these things, "you (US) enjoy guns so much." Thanks for generalizing us thanks to a small group of jerks the way you generalize us by the actions of a president that less than half the country voted for and currently less than 35% favors.

Anyway, I think this design really speaks for the hypocrisy of Hip Hop/R&B - touting God this and Jesus that in the same breath as they're smacking their ho's, selling rocks and condoning and threatening murder of one another. I can't wait for this t to be printed so I can buy it.

I agree with the Boondock Saints reference. I like the design a lot...great talent.

Amazing style, colors, and thought behind it....but religious iconography, except in the strictest of cases that i am still not aware of, would be something i'd want to wear. I'm scoring this high based off of concept and illo alone tho.

i'm not exactly a lover of the gun, but the silver with wood on the sand tee is actually really pretty. i'd never wear it, but it's still awsome. good job!

yeah, I'm not a big fan of guns either but damn that gun looks cool!

this is amazing. 5 and buy.

it does look a lot like Tybalt's gun from romeo+juliet, but it's still awesome.

I love it on the tan. I'd like the placement to be a little closer to the right shoulder, just to make it seem a little less symmetrical, but I still like this a lot. 5.

both are good, but i think i prefer the one on the left. they remind me of the guns in baz luhrman's romeo and juliet...

too much guns on t shirts this year!

This reminds me of that movie The Boondock Saints

i love how everyone has a problem with everything (guns, hunting, religion, whatever) but the average person will not make an effort to live their own life better.
this shirt is beautiful, but the standard has better colors. the red cross, and the bright blue white combo just doesnt go with the barrel and dark shirt color

$5. beautiful.

print.