Release Date: Friday, August 12th 2011
At New Tempe T-Shirt Shop, Artizen Apparel, Fresh Design Meets Environmentalism
A t-shirt is a t-shirt.
For Scott Allison, a t-shirt is a canvas, a labor of love and, now, a livelihood.
The ASU alumnus and artist recently relocated his environmentally-friendly screen-printing and clothing shop, Artizen Apparel, to downtown Tempe from his previous home base in Florence, Arizona.
"Casual cool" is an apt description for the owner, the shop and the clothes, alike. Allison is the sole artist behind the quirky designs printed on t-shirts, dresses and t-shirts and, once cold weather rolls around, hoodies and scarves. Many graphics are hand-drawn, some painted, and all are printed using environmentally-friendly processes, he says.
The t-shirt designs seem to be largely Threadless-informed – some prints rail on humor (a mod bowl and chopsticks emblazoned with "Pho Shizzle") or irony (a peace sign composed entirely of automatic weapons), while many are just aesthetically beautiful (an elephant composed of geometric tilework) and interesting (any number of the street art-inspired collaged works). Any of Allison's designs would fit right in on the shelves of Urban Outfitters down the street.
And while environmental designs skewering society's modern excesses aren't exactly far-flung off the grid, nowadays (his ‘barcode as forest of trees' design looks like a Banksy ripe to be ripped off by Target), he practices what he preaches with water-based inks instead of petroleum and certified organic cotton instead of recklessly spun tees.
Most stores don't go quite so far, he says."It's just a message that doesn't mean anything," Allison says. "It's part of the problem."
Allison is an admitted do-it-yourselfer, and his modest shop shows it. Little evidence remains of the location's previous incarnations; a slew of sports bars like Fumbles, College Dropouts and others we can't or don't care to remember, and even a forgotten indie rock venue called The Green Room.
Allison, with help from his brother and dad, stripped the space down to its bare bones. After a six-week renovation, the place is airy and clean, splashed in greens and browns that fit the organic feel of the store's inventory.
The shop's work space is separated from retail by a partition of discarded antique doors, many snagged from historic homes in Florence. A drum kit from Allison's now-defunct band "Sex for Cigarettes" is parked in one corner, next to an area that he says will soon serve as a lounge hang-out with free coffee and wi-fi. Arcade Fire's latest blares from thumping speakers next a screening press – Allison later admits he's an audiophile.
Before his first stab at operating a retail store starting in 2009 in Florence – the geriatric locals didn't too much care for his design aesthetic and most of his business came from printing bowling league shirts – Allison bounced around various odd jobs, plying his craft as a sign-maker and, most regrettably, a travel agent.
"I don't really take well to sitting in a cubicle with a headset," he says."
But fondly-remembered experiences in the Valley's art scene – featured exhibitions at Modified Arts, studies at ASU with an emphasis on painting – lassoed him back to Tempe, where he says he always wanted to end up, on his own terms.
"I feel like I found a loophole," Allison says. "I don't have to go schlep around art-shows and deal with that scene."
The man has big plans for Artizen Apparel; in-store art shows and events, grassroots social media campaigning and guerilla marketing (he says he's working his connections to plant pieces from his "Hardcore Foodie" line on a well-known network cooking show). Five or six years from now, he says he'd like to produce his own line for mass-distribution, that he'll teach himself how to tailor clothes just like he taught himself how to print on them.
For now, it's usually just him, buried in towers of organic cotton tees, a man and his press listening to "Harry Potter" audio books through the night.
"I always get excited when I sell a piece," Allison says, his mind wandering off to manage his fashion empire of the future. "I think I'll miss this feeling."
Artizen Apparel, 560 S. College Avenue, Tempe, 480.966.1383, www.facebook.com/artizenapparel
