The Enchanted Tiki Tee

Welcome back to yet another Retro Tee concept. I hope everyone has had a swell weekend. Last week I had such an amazing amount of fan feedback on the Enchanted Tiki Room tee concept that I decided to roll out another concept I've had collecting dust in the wings.

Unlike my typography case studies, I have enough shirt concepts to get me through another two years if I just posted only concepts for apparel but I'm not a one trick pony and typography is my passion. I had some free time this weekend to actually begin tracking down original typefaces and display font used throughout The Land pavilion.  Hopefully, I will be able to find more vintage research...most likely I'll have to break down and use some of todays fonts and typefaces.

Back to this weeks concept, the design is based on one of the Disneyland marketing photos of Walt actually inside the show building. I decided I really wanted to push my experimentation with frequency and dot angle when it came to halftones, not to mention it has a nice throw back look. I scaled the color of the photo back to a darker shade of the tee shirt color. On top of the photo I overlaid a graphic from a 1963 marketing piece that came from a simple 4 color brochure. 

I went back and forth on color combinations of this design. In the end I decided to keep the color palette 85% true to that simple 4 color brochure, while the colors don't necessarily harken the themes of Adventureland, they do hold true to my original inspiration. 

I could see the shirt paired with a nice pair of deep khaki cargo shorts and sported on a warm summer day. Well that does it for this weeks post. I hope all of you have a good week and see you back here real soon!

Enchanted Tiki Room

Welcome back to a new Designerland post. I'd like to first of all thank all of your who ordered the new edition of the Tiki Pineapple Whip shirt! I will be placing the order this week and they should be on the print production schedule for next week, be sure to tune in for my updates. Now onto this weeks post...


As I've mentioned before I just acquired a home and have been spending all my free time with this retro renovation therefore the Designerland Typography Case Studies have taken a back seat. Hopefully, I'll get around to our next one in the upcoming weeks as I have some downtime from the home. 

Now onto this weeks post. . .a new Retro '55 shirt. While the content may not be from the year 1955, the ideals and dreams surrounding it come from the yesteryears of classic Disneyland which we all love and enjoy.

This weeks concept is based on the World Engagement print advertisement put out in June of 1963 in promotion of the Enchanted Tiki Room. 

Well that will do it for this weeks post. Tune in soon for more fun Designerland updates. Thanks as always for stopping by and have a swell week!

Disney's Worlds of Oz

Welcome back to Designerland and a long-overdue post. By now you probably know that this upcoming Friday, Disney will release its second trip to the Wonderful World of Oz with their new major motion picture, Oz the Great and Powerful.  I'm truly excited to see how Disney handles it. I hope it fairs well as I love the mythos of Oz and would like to see a franchise with this property. 

I grew up with Disney's first Oz film, Return to Oz, which still remains one of my all-time favorite Disney films. To celebrate both the new and the old, I created a few shirt concepts. The first two are based on Return to Oz and the last is based on the new film. 

The first shirt is based on the Powder of Life and the three magical words spoken to activate it. The design plays heavily with ornate typography and flourishes that pay homage to both the time period and the movie.  For you extreme fans, take note of the typography used on the electro shock machine—the logo is brilliantly ornate. Also, the typography used for the Doctor's newspaper advertisement? The same font used for the home of 999 happy haunts. The back of the shirt has a small tag depicting the Gump.

The second shirt pays homage to my favorite character, Tic Toc. To this day, I love that one steampunk-like mechanical man is the sole army and protector of Oz. The shirt is based on the badge on his left chest. 

The last concept is based on the new movie logo and ornate typography combined with the new letterpress technique.

Well that does it for this week’s post. I apologize for my lack of posts as of late, but I'm juggling a few projects, and one in particular is rather big. I just recently purchased my first house and am in the midst of a complete renovation...so hunting down typography has been put on the back burner for now. I hope to find some time in the next two months to tackle a new Epcot Case Study. Thanks for stopping by and see you all real soon!

I almost forgot to mention, don't forget to order the LE Version 2 of the Tiki Pineapple Whip Tee. I'll be taking orders for another 3 weeks—after that, the design will be retired for good, so don't hesitate. 

Back by popular demand!

The votes are in and Concept D of the new Tiki Pineapple Whip tee is the fan favorite! Thanks to all who voted. To celebrate I'm now taking presale orders on the new tee!

Since the end of the last tiki whip sale two years ago, I've received daily emails asking for the reprint of the original. I never knew that 2 years later people would still be asking for the shirt. Now is your time to act because I don't know if I'll revisit the design again...maybe in another two years I'll be singing a different tune. LOL!

I recommend ordering a few. Think of friends, family, holidays and birthdays because once I'm done with presales I won't be taking any additional orders.

You have from now until March 24th (sale ends at Midnight EST) to order, if you have any questions please contact me at my gmail account.

You can CLICK HERE to order or simply click on the side banner over to the RIGHT.

Mahalo and thanks again for the support! Look for new Designerland content coming soon.

Cast your vote now!

I told myself I would never do a rerun of the original tiki whip shirt I created two years ago and I still stand behind that...but I never said anything about a new take on the graphic, new ink color ways and new apparel! So cast your vote now, who knows what I may do with the information!?!

The Living Seas

Welcome back to Designerland and our first case study of 2013. This year we'll be looking at the amazing fonts found throughout Epcot Center, with our first stop in Future World. Unlike the Magic Kingdom, when my family arrives at Epcot, we always begin our journey counter clockwise, so it only feels natural to dive in to the fonts of The Living Seas. I'll only cover the typography from the pre-Nemo era since this is the Living Seas we all remember and love.

One thing I appreciate about Epcot and especially Future World is the symbiotic branding of each pavilion, so we’ll see many of the same display fonts and classic typefaces over and over again. That's called hierarchy of design, but over time, we see that hierarchy broken as wackier, overly-themed display fonts sneak their way in.

In particular, when looking at the Living Seas, sans serifs fonts are the most prominent, which is fitting because sans serifs are generally used to convey a modern, futuristic feel. There are a few extremely futuristic display fonts scattered throughout Sea Base Alpha, but not too many. As I mentioned before, Disney fans weren't all too keen on photographing signage back in the heyday of the Living Seas, so tracking down fonts was somewhat difficult. Over time a few serif fonts such as that classic but overused Times New Roman made an appearance within the pavilion. In my research I found only one place this typeface was used—while I suspect this was just a quick fix type of situation, it still makes me cringe. 

The Living Seas was my all-time favorite pavilion within Future World, partly because of the powerful preshow with its amazing narration and partly because I have a fondness for water. This week, in addition to the type case study, I'm also showcasing a t-shirt concept honoring my favorite pavilion. 

The design is based on the vintage graphic illustration used on an early letterhead that promoted this new pavilion. The design is a simple three color gradient in shades of blue taken from the front facade of the building. This is set in front of a simple back print medallion with the Seas icon, typeset name and original Epcot Center logo.

Well that does it for this week’s case study. I hope you all have a great week and see you back here real soon. Thanks for stopping by.

Spaceship Earth

Welcome back to a new year here at Designerland. I hope all of you had an amazing holiday season and are ready for what 2013 has in store for all of us!

As you all know, this year we will focus on the typography used throughout Epcot Center, starting in Future World then making our way around the World Showcase. I've spent the last few weeks hunting for display fonts and various typefaces. So far in my research, I have noticed two things: 1. Disney fans just don't take as many pictures of signage/environmental graphics in Epcot as they do in the Magic Kingdom and 2. The typography in general is lighter in terms of usage when looking at Future World.

If you have photos of any Epcot signage or if you're out and about with your smart phone handy, do me a kindness and start snapping away photos to share!  Living in Indiana really limits my access to the parks in order to conduct my research. Before I even started Designerland, I had spent about two years hunting down and cataloguing the materials I’ve covered thus far in our typography case studies.

Next week I'll look at the fonts used throughout the (pre-Nemo) Living Seas. I've tracked down a few fonts but could always use more.

Now onto this week’s post. Since we're celebrating the kick off of Epcot typography here at Designerland, I thought it be fitting to release a new Retro '71 shirt concept based on Epcot...one from the Designerland vaults as they say.

This week’s concept is based on the mural painted by Claudio Mazzoli at the entrance of Spaceship Earth. The entire mural design is framed in a rounded-corner rectangle with the Epcot Center and Future World typeset logos. Lastly, some light distressing gives the overall design a not-so-perfect printed look.

Well that does it for this week’s post. Tune in next week as we release our first Epcot Center Typography Case Study. Until then, have a great week and see ya real soon.