Boogie Ninja

Why Boogie Ninja? Because we can. And we did!

Apparently our ninja fetish has not yet subsided here at Unimental Designs. We've been hard at work getting ready for the holiday season and tweaking the shop over the past few weeks. So "hola" and thanks for reading, as always.

New Shirt Color!

Hey now, the dilligent folks at Cafepress have released the new Cardinal T-Shirts today. We think it's great to have a new canvas to work on, especially with white ink. Click here for an example of the "Player One Gamer University" design on this new color.

New merchandise is always a butt-load of fun for us shopkeepers. Though we will say that "cardinal" looks more "crimson" than we expected. No complaints, just an observation. We've already started updating the various sections of the shop to reflect the change, so feel free to stop by and peruse at will!

Ninjas, what else?

Well, whaddaya know... Unimental Designs has new ninja graphics. You might say we're obsessed with ninjas, but we prefer to say we're amused by them. Inspiration for ninja-related designs strikes often at our shop. We refuse to apologize for following our creative flow to fruition on such new looks as the Gaming Ninja Logo or the New York Ninjas dodgeball club.

The Gaming Ninja Logo looks sweet on either the Black T-Shirt or, in preparation for the cold winter months, a Hooded Sweatshirt. Fellow gamers (especially the retro gaming crowd) will easily spot the video game reference here. Wink.

As for the New York Ninjas, well, this was a successful attempt to merge our love of dodgeball with the mystique of "the ninja." Why not Boston or Tallahassee? Not sure, but New York just seems to sound right for our ficticious team. You may soon spot us wearing the Yellow Tee or the red-sleeved Baseball Shirt.

If this keeps up, we're going to need to dedicate a whole section of the shop to ninjas. Hmmm... that just may be the best idea of the year.

Unimental on the Wire

We're pleased to announce that today's edition of the Cafepress Wire showcases one of our popular designs from the early days of Unimental Designs. We call it "Powered by Ramen".

There was a pick-up in sales for this design in August, likely fueled by college students getting ready to head back to school. You may also notice that the "What's Hot" links on the left side of the CP Wire shows "college humor" as ranking high in the past few weeks, which sort of supports our theory.

Anyways, we're always happy to pick up an honor from CP. They've really been great to our shop over the past few months between newsletter features (Geek & Gamers, Ninjas, Earth Day) and "The Wire" (Fourth of July, Sudoku, Top Shop designation).

Enough chit-chat... it's time to get to work on more graphics. Perhaps one may end up being our next CP feature item. We'll keep you updated.

Hello Again!

We realize the blog has been lacking over the past few days, so we thought we'd stop by early on a Saturday morning and throw out a big Hola! to all of you wonderful people who have been starving for an update. Here's a quick rundown of our recent activities (of which there have been many):

- The new look of Unimental Designs has been live for over a week now and, following a few tweaks, is now complete. We've got some ideas on the back burner for the holiday season - stay tuned. A big thank you and hugs to all of our fans who provided feedback on our update. Now that the "new look" is official, this blog and the MySpace page need updates to establish a common theme. Hey, it's on the list.

- Plenty of new designs have been added, including the post pic, Dig U - Dept. of Archaeology. There's also new Retro Gamer and Ninja graphics. Stop by the shop for further browsing entertainment.

- The T-Slick daily Cafepress shirt award blog is settling into a smooth groove. Be sure to check it out often, or subscribe to the feed to ensure you don't miss any slick picks.

- August was a fantastic month numbers wise. Thanks for your help, valiant shoppers!

We'll be back with a new design later today. Until then, stay slick.

80's Street Racing

Those of us who grew up in the 80's probably have some fond memories of the old "Big Wheels" style street cruisers. Or, if your mom wouldn't let you ride in the street, a driveway cruiser. Brings to mind one of our older designs. You may notice that we've recycled the graphic and created a whole new look on 80's Street Racer, the latest entry to the ever-expanding catalog of the Unimental.com RETRO section.

Quite simply, this one kinda shouts "old school" with a bit of distressing/cracking and the SUMMER OF '85 notation. We're ready to claim our 80's street racing champ status on the Yellow T-Shirt, with a Wall Clock for the office. It's not so much that we need it... it's more of a deep, somewhat insatiable desire for 80's gear. We hope you feel the same way.

Pluto... Dwarfed!

So the news is out... Pluto has been officially demoted to a dwarf planet after the International Astronomical Union redefined a planet as a heavenly body that orbits a star, is not a star itself, and has enough gravity to pull itself into a nearly round shape and to clear its orbit of other cosmic stuff.

It's not that Pluto's too small... it's just that, well, Pluto is somewhat of a non-conformist when it comes to orbit. Truly a sad day for the former ninth planet and its legions of dedicated fans. The good news? Astronomy is getting some airtime (yeah, we're geeks for that stuff) and we get to shirt it.

Stay tuned for more... we're not done with this subject quite yet. There will also be an entry over at our T-Slick blog featuring our favorite Pluto design from the Cafepress marketplace.

UPDATE: We've added another design for Pluto... kind of a retro tribute. Enjoy!

Unimental hits Malibu Beach

The stylish retro kick continues at Unimental Designs, and today's offering is one of our new favorites. "Refreshing Malibu" combines an eighties style faded graphic of a sunset with some carefully detailed aging and the text (surprise!) "Refreshing Malibu."

This new style provides an original deep-down retro feel that came together so easily we wondered if we had somehow channeled a bit of 80's surfer magic in the process.

This design feels right at home on the Organic and Yellow t-shirts. Don't worry, we also added a Black Tee and will soon be debuting this graphic on a "Cardinal Red" shirt as soon as Cafepress gets the new merchandise update in place.

Party on, Unimental fans.

Year of The Dragon

Sometimes things just come together. Like "plans" did for the A-Team. In our case, Hannibal would be proud with what just loaded to the Unimental Designs shop. We combined two slick dragon-themed vector graphics and out popped "The Year of The Dragon". It's a departure from all the geek and humor work we've been pumping out lately, which really helps to re-charge the creative batteries. Somewhat like watching an old Indiana Jones flick. Those really fire us up.

ANYWAYS...

Take a close look at the combination of the images and the application of a little aging (or "distressing") to the final graphic on the Organic Cotton T-Shirt and the Tile Coaster. We've added these products and more to the Stylin' section of the shop.

It's been a productive day, loyal readers. Goodnight.

The Way of The Dinosaur

With all the talk of global warming and apocalypse in the Middle East, it's not hard to imagine mankind going the way of the dinosaur. Well, that's a bit of a stretch... but it leads perfectly into a recent unimental.com design: "The Way of The Dinosaur".

Combining a classic illustration of a Brontosaurus with the text "We're Next" results in a funny-but-serious-but-still-funny graphic on t-shirts and other items. We're happy to have in it our stable of offerings, and hope you get a few laughs from it as well. Check out the Black T-Shirt and the Mint/Avocado Jr. Ringer.

And hey, it's good to get some more green in the shop! (Seriously, we've been lacking on that side of the color spectrum for a while now.)

New Shop Section - "In A Word"

As if the past weekend's shop redesign wasn't enough, we've gone ahead and added a new section to unimental.com entitled "In A Word". This idea stemmed from suggestions received from friends and fans over the past month. Hey, we listen to what you've got to say (especially if it's slick. We love slick.).

The theme of "In A Word" is, well, simple single-word designs in black text. We've embellished a little bit (yup, you know us!), but the words themselves really do stand out. The initial salvo of nine styles was launched today, with more to come based on demand. Check out the products available on "Homer", "Savvy", and our current favorite, "Tubular" for a feel for where we're going with this.

One more thing... if you've got a word that you would like to see in the shop, just comment on this post and we'll see what we can do.

T-Slick: A New Blog

From the minds of Unimental Designs comes a new blog... T-Slick. The plan? Feature one slick design available on Cafepress each day, with a little write-up on the graphic and a shout-out to the shop that houses it. Want to know more? Head on over to T-Slick right now. A link has been added to our nav bar on this blog, and you can also get there by pointing your browser to tslick.unimental.com for easy recall.

Don't worry, we'll still be posting here and adding to the Unimental Designs shop as usual. And don't forget about the MySpace page, either. Whew. There's a lot on our plate... and we're lovin' it!

Shop Update - Storefront Facelift

The Saturday project that spilled into Sunday is now complete. Take a look at the new Unimental Designs shop and let us know what you think. We're excited to be featuring a more "human" touch and many more designs on the front page. Intrigued? Then check it out!

There's still some tweaking to be done, and once we're completely satisfied we'll apply the color schemes to the MySpace page and of course, this blog. You can see the old shop page in Google's cache while it lasts.

Whew, that was fun. And now for some much needed rest!

Peace, Love & Ninjas indeed!

Two Button Driver

We suppose it was only a matter of time before we expanded on our popular "Karate Is Easy" design, a tribute to the old days of two-button gaming. So, with the A and B buttons on our mind (retro gaming is always on our minds here at Unimental), "Racing Is Easy" is born.

We refer to the "law of racing controls" on the shop page, which can be explained as such:

For any game on the original 8-bit Nintendo which involves the use of a motorized vehicle (i.e. car, motorcycle or boat), the controls shall be A for acceleration and B for braking.

Yes, we totally made that up... but the law stands. Even in today's world of button-coated controllers, the button furthest to the outside of the controller tends to perform acceleration. Don't forget that, in what must have been a Nintendo inside joke, the B button actually came first on the control pad.

History lesson complete. Now for the shirts themselves, eh? We've got the Ringer-T and Black T-Shirt as usual. "Racing Is Easy" also looks slick on the Yellow Tee which really brings out the aged grey look of the graphic. Of course there's plenty more, so click on the post graphic for the full selection, available only at Unimental Designs.

Couples Skate @ The Roll-O-Plex

What could be more romantic than an evening of holding hands and dancing... on wheels? Unimental Designs proudly turns back the clock and gets a little nostalgic for the days of couples skating at the Roll-O-Plex. Yeah, we loved the 80's. And this writer had his fair share of "couples skates" back in the day.

Check out the different looks available on the Ringer Tee, Black T-Shirt, Jr. Baby Doll, and even a slick retro-riffic Memento Box. Truly something for everyone. Hey, that's what we're here for.

Long live the memory of the local roller rink!

Issues, maybe?

We surprised ourselves with this recent design, know as "Teddy Bear Trauma." Does it appear that we may have some unresolved childhood issues? Possibly. Either way, it's a whole lot of fun... and sure to get a few laughs out of your friends. You can almost hear the sound of the teddy bear's head popping off. THOK!

Check it out on the Yellow Jr. Ringer Tee and the Black T-Shirt. We also loaded up a special graphic for the Tile Coaster and a few other items.

8/15/06 Update: We were reminded by a faithful shop fan (thanks Steven J.) that this isn't the first time we've gone for laughs with a decapitation. See our first effort here. Perhaps counseling is a good route to consider.