Calling all a

So start designing! Remember that uploaded files should ideally be no larger than 480×400 pixels (but we’ll need hi-res artwork if you win, so save the original!), 72 dpi and less than 2 MB. The site will only accept .gif, .jpg or .png files. You can use any media you want, but remember that the design is for the front of a shirt – generally speaking really complex designs don’t image very well on jersey. If you’d like to see some of our previous winners, click here and here. If you’d like to learn more about our brand or see Fresh Produce’s current screenprint collection, click here. Happy designing!

The first place prize goes to Marie for her fresh take on a timeless icon – ‘Peace’ is both adorable and topical and will perfectly compliment FP’s sunny color palette.  Congrats Marie! Thanks for all of your pretty entries!

Second prize goes to Jackie for ‘Three Dragonflies,’ a whimsical triptych of happy dragonflies in perfectly springy FP colors! Jackie submitted several fantastic designs as well, but Three Dragonflies really struck a chord with our customers and judges. Way to go Jackie!

Thank you to everyone who submitted artwork and shared their talent with us. Here are some other entries that deserve honorable mentions:

From right to left, top to bottom:

1. Purple Pansies & Starfish by Wild Granny

2. Cactus Garden by funZies

3. Dog Garden by Poilu’s Mom

4. Muffy 1 by Marlene

5. Valentine Flower by coco

6. Sidewalk Chalk Flowers by happy2draw

7. Morning by hobbes

8. Garden Shades by JMBergman

9. Garden Bugs by Boatergal

The next Wear Art Thou contest  theme is Under the Sea. Call for entries begins April 1st, so start creating!

You can buy ‘Beach Houses,’ the winning T-Shirt from our last contest on our website www.freshproduceclothes.com.

Here they are! The first two winners of our Wear Art Thou T-shirt design contest. Both beautiful winning designs are being offered to our retail dealers in a February screenprint catalog! Entries were ranked by our customers (Was it you? If not, you can be a judge!) and then final selection was made by an FP in-house jury. Artwork then went over to our screenprint house to confirm that it could be effectively “color separated” and made into a screen for printing. And the, Voila! We had our winners!

We were overwhelmed by all the artwork we received from incredibly talented artists from around the county and want to say thank you thank you for the inspiration and for being a part of Wear Art Thou.

Here are our winners…drumroll please!

First Place $1000 – By Fresh E
Beach Houses
This artist has always been intrigued with color vernacular homes throughout her travels. These, she imagined, were the perfect set of beach huts; a place where she could invite all her friends and family to come stay and watch for the perfect wave.

Beach Houses by Fresh E

Second Place $500 – By Wabe Sabe
Beachcomber
This artist really knows that the beach is the spirit of the Fresh Produce brand and entered several great designs, but Beachcomber came out on top. It could have been the color or the composition that spoke to our voters and jury, but either way, this great design reflects beautifully everyone’s favorite found beach objects.

Beachcomber by Wabe Sabe

Our “Gardener’s Delight” contest is on now so if you’re an artist or know one,  be sure to get your artwork in by February 15. You can also be one of our very important judges and rank each design – give it from one to five starfish based on how much you’d like to see it on a Fresh Produce T! One starfish means “not for me” and five starfish means “gotta have it!”

Go to freshproduceclothes.com and click on the Wear Art Thou icon for all the details and official rules.

Congratulations winners!

Here are a few honorable mentions that we’d love to share with you as well. These entries received high marks from our panel of customer judges. Thanks again to everyone for their awesome artwork!

Sand, Sun & Sky

Heart Bloom

Lavender Fields

Day four started off with a ferry ride over to Balboa Island. A pair of dolphins escorted us over to the island to visit and shoot lovely customers at our year old Handpicked Store.

Happy Anniversary to Deanna, Stacy and their team! If you’ve never been there, Balboa Island is absolutely tiny, (yet oh so charming – in a storybook kind of way) so we had quite the time finding a parking spot for our van. However, we persevered and found a place right in front of the Balboa FP store, a converted fire station! After makeup and hair, we took our gorgeous models, Ashleigh, Diane, Margie and Linda out on location for their close-ups. Modeling our fantastic new polo shirts, the girls had some fun and kicked up their heels in the sand. Deanna’s man, Charlie, even brought his vintage Corvette out to Balboa for the shoot. Let us tell you, it’s in mint condition! After shooting more Spring 2009 product and great new patterns like Pick a Posey and Sweet Poppies, we headed to The Cannery for lunch. It was a nice break from the heat and humidity!

Diane in the Sweet Poppies print

Margie in Pick a Posey

Lunch was followed by an afternoon of shooting Ashleigh at Newport Beach and the pier. And even though it was quite hot and humid, the light was amazing and the Spring 2009 product, exquisite. We know you’ll love this stuff when it hits stores next year!

After saying goodbye to Ashleigh we packed up the van and headed to Santa Monica. During the drive we watched one of the prettiest California sunsets we’ve ever seen and ended our adventure with dinner at The Lobster on the Santa Monica Pier…sidenote: John Wayne’s grandson served us cocktails All in all, a busy but very eventful and fun California day.

And last but not least, our playlist…enjoy!

Woke up to rain and dense coastal fog in La Jolla. We tried to check out a few old school surfer beaches on our way to the OC, but couldn’t even see the shoreline through the clouds! Rolled into Newport Beach to pick up Ashleigh, our covergirl, who had flown in from Miami. She lost her lugage on the flight, but still looked like a summer breeze even in a pinch. Model in tow, we made our way to the Laguna Beach Handpicked Store (our very first FP store 14 years ago), where we were warmly greeted by both store staff and the elusive SUN! Double bonus. Holly, Sandy, Marsha, Becky, Paulie & Irene graciously agreed to model for us – they did a bang up job and represented the Oxford Shirt and our collection of screen printed Ts very well!

Ashleigh gave them some insider modeling secrets as an extra special touch. A couple of our FP beach balls made their way on to the beach and into the lives of some sun worshiping families. Be free beach balls, be free! CELEBRITY SIGHTING ALERT! Alex from the original MTV series Laguna Beach was rolling down Forest Avenue in her BMW X5 - not a life-changing sighting, but apropos to our location for sure. Around 5:30 the light was amazing – Anne, the owner of FP Laguna and her precious baby, Luca, brought us to Agate Street Beach, a beautiful little stretch with really incredible rock formations. We took advantage of the sunny gift and shot Ashleigh until the sun set.

Then back to Newport for an exhausted, sub-par brewery dinner and off to bed. Another successful day on the road! Thanks everyone for your help today! Nighty night.