MGoShirt Alert+MGoBlogStore+Rudyard Kipling+six zero ended WWII with vector graphics+T-shirts

"The wolverine will hunt and kill whenever the opportunity presents itself and they are tireless and persistent in their hunting activities. They will take a wide variety of foods, including hares, mice, lemmings, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots and beaver. When food is scarce, the wolverine will attempt to kill big game animals and there are authentic records of attacks upon mountain goats, moose, deer and elk.  The wolverine is a courageous animal which is respected and avoided by other predators. Even cougar and grizzly bear have been known to abandon a kill on the approach of a wolverine."
--montanatrappers.org

This is the fifteenth and final entry of the 2009 MGoShirt Alert, a design project that will enable MgoBlog readers to vote for upcoming designs in the new MGoBlogStore.  Tomorrow we'll unveil a non-BCS final elimination vote of the top four finalists .

The last entry.  I've designed over forty separate shirt designs for this contest, and spent a lot of time, usually while mowing my steroid-ridden lawn, trying to think of what to do with the next shirt.  Some shirts were an assumption of what I thought people wanted, and others were more carefully researched ideas of what would make a good MGoBlog shirt.  Some of these appealed to me very little, but that doesn't mean they did not perform well in the MGoShirt voting.

Well, you know what-- this last one is for me.  I designed THIS ONE because I wanted to.

IMPLICIT WARNING-- FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO SAID MY STUFF WAS TOO BUSY AND NOT SIMPLE ENOUGH, YOU ARE ABOUT TO EXPLODE WITH SEETHING HATE AND/OR DISAPPROVAL.  IT IS BUSIER THAN THE ALABAMA ADMISSIONS OFFICE ON SIGNING DAY, SO IF THAT'S NOT YOUR THING THEN PLEASE LOOK AWAY.  YOU HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED.


YES, I KNOW IT'S NOT GOING TO SHOW UP FROM A DISTANCE
AND I DON'T CARE, SO CLICK HERE FOR THE DETAIL

More than any other design, I enjoyed drawing this one the most.  I also spent far and away the most time drawing this one.  I enjoyed drawing a wolverine maim, eat, disembowel and otherwise destroy the mascots of our opponents.  I feel no sorrow or shame or regret for doing so, regardless of what I'm sure some of you will say about it.  I understand and appreciate your perspective and whatever backlash I'll hear for it I fully accept.  I also am fully aware that the legal ramifications of this shirt could be just south of Ragnarok.  But from the beginning of this contest I wanted-- no, I needed-- to create the sight of a ferocious carcajou shredding Brutus to pieces, and the rest just kind came together around that.  (And no, this is not the shirt that Dex now hates me for by not showing).

More than anything, I wanted to create a shirt to set the tone for the year...
THE BIG TEN IS OUR PREY.  It's time to put last season to bed.  It's time to get out there and kick the ass of anyone who dares enter our stadium.  GO BLUE.

Time to vote.  What do you guys think?

***** Five Stars:  I hate Brutus.  Period.  The sky is blue.  Water is wet.
**** Four Stars:   Sparty is a big puffy bastard and I can't stand him.
*** Three Stars:  The ND leprechaun-- real person or not, I just wish for him to trip.
** Two Stars:  Damn that Penn State lion-- leave your damn ears alone already!!
* One Star:  Herky the Hawkeye is a loser.  Yes, Iowa has a mascot.

So there you have it-- fifteen shirt designs over the last three weeks.  You loved some, you hated others... if anyone wants to go back and look through them all, click here. Without gettin' all soft and squishy, I'd like to thank everyone for getting involved and sharing your comments and just taking part in the whole thing.  More than anything I feel like I got to really know some new faces/icons around here, and was re-acquainted with a few I hadn't seen since the end of the 3-9 nightmare.  Either way I hope you had fun and I hope the MGoShirt Alert helped get you excited about the upcoming season. 

BUT WAIT!! Where do you think you're going??? Tomorrow is the most important part of the entire project... Check back tomorrow morning when we unveil the MGOSHIRT ALERT DEATHMATCH ELIMINATION ROUND!!  The top four shirts, as voted on by you, the readers-- facing off in one last vote to see which design will show up in the store!!  This is your last chance to contribute to democracy, to have your say, to-- ah, hell, man, just vote tomorrow. I'll see you then!

“WE NOW RETURN TO... CLASSIC LITERARY QUOTES with LLOYD CARR”

This is the third entry of the 2009 MGoShirt Alert , a design project that will enable MgoBlog readers to vote for upcoming designs in the brand spankin’ new MGoBlogStore.  To reach the store, click here.  To read more about exactly what MGoShirt Alert is and will be about, click here.

CLICK HERE FOR PRODUCT DETAIL

For our next entry, I am proud to recall the words of Rudyard Kipling.  The son of a transplanted British architect teaching in Bombay, ol' Rud traveled the world before settling down in Vermont, of all places.  He did pass through current-day Big Ten country in 1889, although there is no record of him stopping in Ann Arbor for an American football match.

Either way, some hundred years later his work caught the eye of one Lloyd H. Carr, with this particular line becoming something of a catch phrase for the defense.  I'm sure there's plenty of John Spyteks and Zach Kaufmans out there that still hear this line in their sleep.  And dream of killing quarterbacks.

For the eyes, they are part of a logo set I designed over a year ago, and actually just submitted it for consideration in another minor league hockey contest. I struggled with the idea of giving this one out because it has personal value to me-- it's currently my desktop wallpaper as I type this-- but it just seemed to best match the attitude and swagger of this shirt.  I played around with a tackling sled in its place, but it didn't have the same effect.

So, time to vote!  What do you guys think?

***** Five Stars:  KILL! KILL! KILL! I AM CONSUMED BY RAW ANIMAL 
  PREDATORY INSTINCTS!  BLOODLUST!! GO BLUE!!!
**** Four Stars:   Looks great!  I am suddenly dying for a very rare steak.
*** Three Stars:  That's a nice shirt, although I'm worried about my cholesterol.
** Two Stars:  It's okay, but I'm just not that hungry.
* One Star:  Anyone have any broccoli?

Yesterday some of you asked if I have a portfolio, and YES, I have two in fact-- one for branding and design, and another for hand-drawn illustration.  Now, are they currently online??  No.  I've built a personal Flash site, and it's pretty much ready to go... but I've since decided to link my branding work out to an independent Six Zero Branding site, and have opted to wait and launch them together.  Sorry... I am involved with a few hockey design sites such as Puckdrawn and Icethetics if anyone cares.  Place your votes, ladies and gentlemen, and feel free to add any comments below!  For tomorrow's shirt I'll be digging deep into the archives for an old take on a new phrase.   See you then for another exciting round of – MGoShirt Alert!!