Tcritic by Karl Long - The Daily T-Shirt Blog Covering Indie Fashion and Design

Subscribe to my feed via feedburner
Advertise here


Black Simpsons T-Shirt - Design Competitions Continue To Proliferate

Sep 22nd 2008
Comments
respond
trackback

T-Shirt competitions that are essentially using the Threadless business model of empowering the readers to submit and vote on designs continue to proliferate. Two that I’ve recently been looking at are Springleap which is from South Africa and Ink Fruit from India. It’s very interesting what designs the users of these sites come up with, I mean, I don’t think that the Black Simpsons T-Shirt could come from a company in America could it?

InkFruit from India


Land of Bizarre Opportunities


This post is tagged , , ,

Advertise here



Explore Recent



Most Recent







Spon-sors

Viewing 9 Comments

    • ^
    • v
    Thanks for featuring us on your blog!
    • ^
    • v
    Hi Karl,,

    There was a massive discussion taking place on one of the other large competition tshirts sites, as to whether the Simpsons tshirt was a rip or a parody, and the conclusion on their site was that it was a parody.

    We had a huge team discussion about it, and came up with the same conclusion which is why we allowed it in the springleap competition.

    We have pulled many designs in the past because they were copy's or the topic was unsuitable.

    Cheers
    Eric
    • ^
    • v
    Any talk about how unbelievably racist it is with it's huge red, Sambo-like lips, Marge preggers with a fourth child, the torn and busted couch, and the wire toy, indicating poverty?

    Yeah, I didn't think so.
    • ^
    • v
    Hey spork - can't say I agree with you at all - in actuality this is a parody of life in South Africa and is a HUGE seller for us with the African community in particular. I think that this is a real celebration of life in SA and how families get together in totally different ways because of their culture.

    I think that it is important to remember that springleap has a VERY diverse community in terms of race and creed - perhaps for a non-South African I should break it down a bit as I can understand how it could be taken out of context.

    The wire cars are a toy that is unanimously recognised in SA - they are sold right through-out South Africa and are a mark of the incredible wire-work that has become a thriving trade for many Africans - You should see the AMAZING toys and art that our country produces - it would BOGGLE your mind. These toys have turning wheels; are solid and their construction is very complex as they often have loads of moving parts. In South Africa, wire-work like this is a thriving trade for many people.

    The horn that the "Lucy" character has is called a Vuvusela and makes a blaring loud noise - In South Africa no Soccer, Cricket or Rugby game is complete without this noise. It' like the HUGE foam "finger" gloves the guys have in the States - it's a trademark of our sport culture.

    Instead of a cat and dog many indigenous people keep chickens and goats as pets ...

    I think you can see where I am going with this - this is an awesome contextual example of how families of all cultures get together in all sorts of situations - political, economical, cultural - to enjoy life in their own special way often despite their circumstances. South Africa is an amazing place to experience. People of EVERY race, creed and culture eat, live, sleep and celebrate their lives together here like nowhere else.

    So if you feel that enjoying life in whatever circumstance is racist... I guess we need to reconsider pulling the "racist" card so quickly.

    Fact is - this is also about freedom of speech and springleap lets the community choose what gets made by highest vote - and this design won by a good margin. Our motto stands firm : T-shirts for the people, by the people and on the people.

    To back up what Eric stated - getting your work approved on springleap is no simple - we have a number of people working on the approvals before they come to a final decision. In a situation like this we had a MASSIVE discussion before we let it through - and our community really supported our decision.
    • ^
    • v
    Yeah...I'm not buying it.

    We had similar justifications for performers in black face here in the states for many years.

    You keep trying to convince people that this isn't racism. It's bullshit.
    • ^
    • v
    Yes - well that is your opinion - and you are entitle to it - Fact is that your reaction is based on your opinion - a personal one that you are entitled to - on the other hand ours is based on empirical evidence of african people in particular buying and loving the shirt.

    Waving and flailing the racism flag is very easy when it is based on an opinion.

    Maybe you should come to South Africa - where we didn't have to wait until now for a chance at a black president - sorry buddy - but we are a patriotic nation with a PREDOMINANTLY African and Indian government and the birthplace of one of Nelson Mandela who is a hero in EVERY house in South Africa.

    I am sorry you have such a jaundiced view. Please remember that you live IN THE STATES - it's impossible to judge a culture you have never been exposed to. We aren't European. We aren't British. We aren't Americentric. We are South African. Totally different and totally proud.

    Here's a simple one for you to answer - Whites are a minority in South Africa by a long shot. If this was such a "oh-my-gosh-racist" t-shirt, why has there been no uproar in our local papers or on the site?

    I think that one has to understand that all these matters are about perspective. Not emotional responses. Perspective that can only be commented within context and in perspective of living in a culture. It's like saying Chinese people are barbarians for eating snakes and insects.
    • ^
    • v
    by the way - just to add some fuel to the fire - DO YOU KNOW THAT ONE OF OUR TOP DESIGN LABELS THAT IS WORKING WITH LEVI IS CALLED DARKIE AND USES A COMB AS THEIR LOGO! Oh Shock! Oh Horror. O running in the streets wildly waving your arms for the coming of the Lord.

    It's called "SOCIALLY RELEVANT COMMENTARY" - you know about that First amendment thing?

    Well this how people get to learn about cultures. Perhaps the best people to ask for commentary are South African people who can relate to the design?

    At any rate - let me be clear on this in no uncertain terms : springleap has never, does not and will never condone the promotion of racism, violence, hate speech or harming of individuals in any manner.

    peace out.
    • ^
    • v
    I think the spring leap tee is awesome!! Coming from India I never even thought of racism. Also coming from India ;), Inkfruit happens to be one of my favourite tshirt haunts, glad you featured it. :)
    • ^
    • v
    Glad to hear it guys, cheers. Really appreciate everyone sharing their sentiments and opinions that everyone has expressed here. I'm a big believer in cultural relativism (in most cases except for mutilation cases). I am always blown away when I travel and experience what appears to be totally unorthodox to me, is perfectly normal for the locals.

Trackbacks

close Reblog this comment
Powered by Disqus · Learn more
blog comments powered by Disqus

Del.icio.us T-Shirt Companies »

Del.icio.us T-Shirt Blogs »

Where I am online