The final deadline for the Wearable Design Awards is drawing near (Aug. 7), and all of us here at PRINT have had wearables on the mind constantly (but I won’t bore you with my dream about the killer wristwatch). So naturally we were thrilled when we discovered a large number of fascinating wearables in the Regional Design Annual archives, including gems from Sagmeister, Comedy Central, Ocean Spray Cranberries, Charles S. Anderson Design Co and more. Plus: A “swash” buckle. Need we say more?
If you love a little eye candy when it comes to the best wearables, enjoy!
21 Best Wearables from the RDA, 1996–2008
Region: Southwest; Year: 1996; T-shirt for Bruegger’s Bagel Bakery; Designer/Illustrator: Cap Pannell/Pannell St. George
Region: Midwest; Year: 1996; T-shirt for retail sale; art director: Bob Powers/Brazos Sportswear, Cincinnati; VP of Merchandising and Design: Janet Reuter; Illustrator: Lace Lee; Client: Walt Disney Co./Mickey & Co.
Region: Midwest; Year: 1996; Self-promotional T-shirt; art director: Frank E.E. Grubich/Laughing Dog Creative, Chicago; designers: Frank E.E. Grubich, Tim Meyer
Region: New York; Year: 1996; Promotional T-shirt for Comedy Central; art director/designer: Saul Torres/Comedy Central
Region: East; Year: 1996; T-shirt for Ocean Spray Cranberries; Agency: Devine+Pearson Advertising, Quincy, MA; art director/illustrator: Greg Wood
Region: South; Year: 1998; Wave Fest T-shirt; Designer: Gil Shuler/Gil Shuler Graphic Design, Charleston, SC; Client: 96 WAVF Radio
Region: Midwest; Year: 1998; Chuk A T-shirt design for CSA Archive; Design Firm: Charles S. Anderson Design Co., Minneapolis; art director: Charles S. Anderson; Designers: Todd Piper-Hauswirth, Jason Schulte, Erik Johnson
Region: Farwest; Year: 1999; Apparel for Joe Boxer; Illustrator: Susan Gross/Susan Gross Illustration and Design, San Francisco; Designers: Heather Liang, Chris Mock
Region: East; Year: 2002; T-shirt for Farley’s Bookstore; Designer: James McPhillips, Lambertville, NJ
Region: New York; Year: 2003; Self-promotional T-shirt that reproduces the folds evident in Bob Gruen’s 1974 photograph of John Lennon wearing a “New York City” T-shirt; Design Firm: Sagmeister Inc.; Art director: Stefan Sagmeister; Designer: Julia Fuchs
T-shirt for Cingular Wireless; Agency: BBDO Atlanta; art director: Marco Howell; Illustration: Freestyle Collective; Writer: Clarence Bradley
Region: South; Year: 2006; Anti-tobacco T-shirt; Design Firm: Capstrat, Raleigh; art director: Todd Coats; designers: Robin Salerno, Napoleon Wright; writer: Lindsey Bennett; client: Tobacco Free Schools
Region: New York; Year: 2008; “Swash” Buckle; Design Firm: Veer; Art Director: Sheldon Popiel; Designer: Anna Coe; Writer: Mark Hamilton
Region: Midwest; Year: 2008; T-shirt design for the nonprofit group Lost Boys Rebuilding Southern Sudan; Agency: Euro RSCG Chicago, Chicago; Design Director: Doug Gipson; Designer/Illustrator: Malgorzata Zawislak
Region: Midwest; Year: 2008; T-shirt for Dave Matthews Band’s 2007 fall tour; Design Firm: FarmBarn Art Co., Columbus; Designers: Drue Dixon, Mike Pierce
Region: Midwest; Year: 2008; T-shirt for the Nebraska Book Company, Lincoln, NE; Art Directors: Shane Tochum, Benett Holzworth; Des
igners: Bennett Holzworth, Curtis Pachunka, Eric Nyffeler; Illustrator: Curtis Pachunka, Benneth Holzworth
Region: East; Year: 2008; Tote bag to benefit the International Dyslexia Association; Design Firm: Gluekit, Hamden, CT; Art Directors: Christopher Sleboda, Kathleen Burns; Designer: Daniel Eatock; Client: Part of it
Mock flight patches produced for an article critical of NASA; Design Firm: The Heads of State, Seattle/New York; Art Director: Maili Holiman; Designers: Jason Kernevich, Ryan Hayes; Client: Wired Magazine
Region: New York; Year: 2008; Tote bag for VH-1 Soul; Design Firm: MTV Networks; Art Director: Nigel Cox-Hagen, Nancy Mozzei, Julie Ruiz; Designer: Alison Solomon
Region: Midwest; Year: 2002; City pins for Fleishman-Hillard Worldwide Conference; Designer/Illustrator: Buck Smith/Fleishman-Hillard Creative, St. Louis
Region: New York; Year: 2000; Hour plane watch; Illustrator: Otto Steininger/Doppelganger; Art Director: Adelina Bissolo/Swatch Creative Lab
Have you designed a wearable? Whether it’s a T-shirt you designed and sell in your shop, a button you created as part of a client’s brand campaign, or a health and fitness tracking device you designed for a company, your eye-catching, innovative designs belong in Print’s Wearable Design Awards.
Final Deadline: August 7, 2015