I’m going to take a little risk. It’s a tame one; there’s no jagged cliff or potential pregnancy involved, but it does involve a bit of assumption on my behalf. The thing is; I think you know about Threadless. I think you’ve visited Threadless, I think many of you own shirts you bought from Threadless, and I think many of you have submitted designs to Threadless. Some of you may have even been among the posse that packed out the first Threadless store in Chicago earlier this month. I can say this because, if you do fill that criteria, you are just another example of the kind of design-savvy, creatively driven reader we are blessed to have*. Taking that into consideration, I’m not going to thrown down a long introduction babbling about the magnificence of the of the site’s founders (particularly Jeffrey Kalmikoff, to whom we owe this interview) and the wonders of screen-printed cotton. In fact, all I’m going to say is that this interview is glorious, mainly because it is, but also because it’s Friday, and you need time to get your drink on. So read it, then drink (or drink, then read it, or drink while reading it).

*If you suffered from the sort of monastic upbringing that deprives you of the familiarity I presume you possess, click here before forging onward.

Joshspear.com: Where did the idea for Threadless come from?

Threadless: Jake and Jacob were part of an online design & development community called Dreamless. There was a tee design competition held on Dreamless to create the event tee for the New Media Underground Festival in London in 2000. Many entered, one man won. That man was Jake. Jake and Jacob had so much fun participating in this competition for a purpose, they decided to hold their own without a purpose… a free-for-all open-to-all-ideas tee design competition. And thus, Threadless was born (as a THREAD on DreamLESS… get it?)

JS: Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like you (all) have more of an entrepreneurial background than a design background. You must have had some history in design to come up with such an awesome concept…?

T: It’s actually quite the opposite. We all come from design or development backgrounds. The only real experience we all had with business was watching the people who ran the ones we worked for. READ MORE…

You know, a lot of galleries find it in their ad budget to brag about their amazing upcoming openings in Juxtapoz magazine. A bunch of talented artists are getting amazing exposure this way, and I think that’s super. However, I still have to say that flipping through that magazine without getting a teensy bit bummed is impossible, because there’s too many openings with too many artists happening at too many places for me to be at once. This month issue is represents a particular bummer for me, because there is no way I will be making it to San Francisco for the October opening of Mirror, Mirror on the Wall. And, oh man, I want to be there, because the work of Kukula, Kris Lewis (shown), and Travis Louie together is the kind of thing that would make me give up gummy bears (ahem, that’s huge).

Good thing some of you live in SF, because in my tragic absence I’m going to ask you to do the next best thing: Go for me. October 13th (with an artists reception from 7-11pm) thru November 3, you can experience this ridiculous intermingling of jaw-dropping artwork at The Shooting Gallery (at 66 6th Street; say hi to Satan for me while you’re there). If you do go, I’m dying to hear about it, so keep me on speed dial, or speed type, or whatever. Ugh, jealous.

It seems only natural that Ben The Illustrator’s SpeakerDog project would make its way to canine lover blog, PupStyle. Each SpeakerDog starts out the same way - on two pieces of standard A4 letter paper printed out from a downloadable PDF (use heavier weight paper and a color printer, please). Then, you just cut along the dotted lines, fold at the tabs, glue and you have your very own cubed pet for your desk. While they are mostly dogs, they can actually be any animal (bird, dragon, monster) or even object (television, bus, cupcake). The idea of folding papercraft is not new, but when you combine Ben’s clean lines and avoidance of excessive photoshopping with PupStyle’s love for man’s best friend, the end product is something that wil brighten your day and attract plenty of passers-by to your desk.

The Love Movement — the politically-charged/love-driven artist collective out of LA — has collab’d with ropeadope records to bring us several arty tees with mighty messages. Featuring some of TLM’s most popular artwork, the shirts communicate the same powerful statements of peace, equality and awareness as the originals they’re based on. I really like this Our Two Hands tee, partially because the TLM hand/heart thing has always made me smile, but also because proceeds from this one will go towards stopping genocide in Darfur. However, I wouldn’t really say it’s my favorite, because all the shirts — which run at 22 bucks a pop — are awesome. If you’re hunting for a little more TLM info read up here, then go nab one of their incredible (wearable) works of art for cheap!

If you were to take ecstasy laced with acid and drank it down with a couple of shots of high-grade tequila, it’d likely compare to the resulting psychotropic effect given off by Aussie label Schwipe’s Eyes Don’t Lies collection. Their new designs are the visual equivalent of BEING LOUD LIKE THIS, with wacky prints — cue fleshy brains and the same type of confusing dots you’re made to look at when taking the colorblind test at the optometrist’s office — adorning shirts and sweaters in an inescapable all-over style and in a pastel color mix that was surely put together by a high-as-a-kite Frankenstein. Their site is not recommended for weak stomachs or those suffering from grade-a hangovers; it’s grotesque and weird, mutant and monster-ish, but all the same it’s supremely superb. And just in time for Halloween too!

You may recall a while back when we pointed out Hitotoki, a literary site where readers can submit their stories about urban living. Last time we mentioned it, Hitotoki was in the midst of a call for entries in preparation for launching a New York version of their original Tokyo-based site. Well, that NY version is live, and it’s every bit as good and as well designed as it’s brethren.

Stories have rolled in from Washington Square Park, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and a few other well-known and not-so-well-known spots around the five boroughs, including authors such as NYT Designer Khoi Vinh. Hitotoki is still accepting submissions on a rolling basis, so if you have a wonderful NY story to share, drop them a line. As they say, “sharing a Hitotoki is almost always safer than kissing the pigeons in Times Square.”