Every now and again, I come across something that simply begs to be shared with my daughter (age six going on 16). I’m not a fan of using video and screen time for “educational purposes”, but sometimes a great one comes along and I feel compelled to watch it with her. Or in this case, five great short ones.

Planet Money is a podcast sponsored by National Public Radio (NPR) in the USA. The Planet Money team spent months researching, documenting, and putting together a month of podcasts on the life of a T-shirt, from start to finish, and all the people who’s lives are touched along the way. The process and the people involved, from the cotton fields of Mississippi to the factories in Bangladesh, Columbia, and Indonesia, and the various shipping methods in between are all fascinating and much more complex than one might think.

All of this material has been condensed into five short videos, each just a few minutes long, on the Planet Money website. If you can get to a VPN, it is worth watching with your kids. Not only will they be mesmerized by all that goes into making a humble T-shirt, they will also likely never look upon a shirt in quite the same way again.

To learn more, check out http://apps.npr.org/tshirt/#/title.

Photo courtesy of npr.org

Craving original, humorous, and ingenious tees? Wishing to show off your stunning artwork?

Threadless is the answer to your desires. Founded in 2000, the online graphic design network sells apparel, bags, pillows and even dog bowls, all of which feature the works of modern artists around the globe.

Threadless not only provides a constant supply of unique and creative products, it also allows artists – whether amateur or professional  – to submit their designs and have the opportunity for their artwork to be worn by hundreds. Furthermore, if an artist’s design is chosen and printed, he or she is rewarded up to 2,500 dollars, as well as a Threadless gift card. The process is almost too simple: All you are required to do is create a personal account to be able to submit designs and purchase clothing.

Another unique aspect of Threadless is in its community-minded decision making process: consumers can actively participate in choosing various shirt designs that are to be printed and sold.After designs are submitted and approved by Threadless administrators, they go through a scoring process. During this period of time, individual customers give the design a score out of 5, with the highest score of 5 meaning “$!!! I would buy it!” and 1 translating into“UGH, NO.” After a few weeks, when the scoring period ends, the top-ranked designs are printed and put up for sale in the online shop.

Threadless regularly hosts design contests that address themes for specific clothing collections or products. Previous contest themes include Iron Man, Disney villains, greeting cards, and sock designs. Contests in the past have also centered on creating exclusive designs for companies and organizations such as GAP, Sony and the World Wide Fund for Nature. Additionally, Threadless has collaborated with popular contemporary musicians, in the last year hosting t-shirt design challenges for the bands Foster the People and Arcade Fire.

With a constant supply of original designs, Threadless provides a rich source of innovative products, as well as a great platform for artists showcase their work. Shoppers, artists, and those just plain curious, you can check out Threadless at www.threadless.com.

This article originally appeared in the May/June 2013 issue of UNIT-E. It was written by Rosalind Chang, a student at the International School of Beijing.

About UNIT-E
UNIT-E was founded in the spring of 2010 with the aim of establishing a non-profit, student-run magazine for international students in Beijing. Staffed by current students from a range of international schools, the magazine provides an amalgam of cultural tidbits, fragments of Beijing student life, and a broad spectrum of unique perspectives from a diverse group of young adults.

Photo courtesy of UNIT-E

When I passed by Geoff Ballard’s booth at the WAB charity bazaar, I almost didn’t stop as T shirts were not on my mind, but when I saw someone holding up a shirt with a skateboarding monk on it, I thought I should take another look. Geoff teaches graphic design at WAB and has clearly spent some time trying to soak up the Beijing vibe. His t-shirt designs are fresh, fun, and definitely will remind you of your time in the Capital. Although Geoff told me his website is not set up for online shopping yet, you can see the 18 designs he has on offer by visiting www.gballardart.com and you can place an order by emailing him via the contact page (unfortunately, you may need to use a proxy to open his website at the moment). As for me, I took one T-shirt for myself, and a couple of extras for some skateboarding fans that I know. Get one while you can.