Cartoonist wins Weird Fish competition to design artist T-shirt for The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Congratulations to professional cartoonist Tim Harries, whose work - Raiders of the Lost Lark (clever! - shown above) won him a design competition hosted by clothing brand Weird Fish.   Tim's work will adorn the next limited edition T-shirt for The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (rspb).

Tim who regularly supplies cartoons, comic strips and illustrations to the likes of Reader’s Digest and Private Eye, said: “ I look forward to seeing the limited edition T-shirt in the shops later in the year.”

The Weird Fish and rspb partnership began in January 2015 with the launch of The Lord of the Wings T-shirt, followed by the sale of pin badges and staff members running the Cheltenham half marathon raising money for the charity. At the end of 2015, Weird Fish launched its Darth Wader T-shirt, inspired by the rspb wading bird logo. The clothing company achieved record-breaking sales with this item, resulting in 60 per cent of stock being sold within the first week.

A number of successful campaigns with the rspb are now followed by the launch of Harrier Potter and the Deathly Sparrows artist T-shirt. Weird Fish will donate £9 from each Harrier Potter T-shirt sale to the rspb, the UK’s largest nature conservation charity. Weird Fish has raised a total of £44,000 for the charity since 2015.

John Stockton, managing director at Weird Fish, said: “The new Harrier Potter T-shirt is a great example of Weird Fish’s creativity and sense of humour. It’s bold and quirky and helps support the rspb at the same time.”

John added: “Weird Fish is proud to continue its work with the rspb. We have an eco-garden at Weird Fish HQ which makes an enjoyable outdoor space for our staff.

The rspb kindly helped us out with some bits for the garden to make it a more habitable for wildlife too.”

Weird Fish clothing is available to buy in the UK from Weird Fish retail stores and online. There are 13 branded stores and stockists include Debenhams, Cotswold Outdoor, Haskins and Blacks Leisure.

Weird Fish scoops prestigious ECMOD Direct Commerce Award

Congratulations to British casual clothing brand Weird Fish for winning the Best Multichannel Retailers Business to Consumer Award at this year’s ECMOD Direct Commerce Awards.

Weird Fish clothing is available to buy nationally from Weird Fish retail stores and online. There are 13 branded stores and stockists including Debenhams, Cotswold Outdoor, Haskins and Blacks Leisure. 

The ECMOD Direct Commerce Awards spearhead the recognition of business excellence for organisations engaged in direct-to-customer retailing across traditional and newly emerging channels. With categories designed for those targeting sales to businesses as well as for those selling to consumers, these Awards also celebrate the achievements of businesses of all scales.

By utilising channels such as Amazon and eBay as well as its own website, Weird Fish won the Best Multichannel Retailers Business to Consumer Award with annual sales of between £5 million and £15 million.

Gerald Dawson, finance director at Weird Fish, says: “It was an absolute honour to receive this award on behalf of everyone at Weird Fish. We have been incredibly busy in the last year, introducing new products, opening stores and increasing our internet orders by 60 per cent so it was nice to take time out to mix with our peers at the Direct Commerce Awards.”

Cheltenham-based Weird Fish is currently shortlisted for the Cotswold Live Engineering, Manufacturing and Innovation (EMI) Awards in the Best Place to Work category. Winners will be announced on September 22.

Fashion retailer ‘fishes’ for an artist to design its new charity T-shirt

Here's one for nature lovers and talented artists.

Clothing brand Weird Fish is in search of a new artist to design its next limited edition T-shirt for The Royal Society for theProtection of Birds (rspb).

Weird Fish’s first artist T-shirt was created in 1993 and its quirky and bold T-shirt designs are sought after by many.  Now the company is offering artists the chance to create a new design with instant impact for the rspb, the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, working to secure a healthy environment for all wildlife.

Entrants need to submit at least three of the six design ideas created in the last competition, which are: The Redshank Redemption, Wuthering Kites, Raiders of the Lost Lark, Purple Crane, Jurassic Lark and Cranespotting.  

Designs for the competition must be submitted by midnight on Wednesday May 25. Weird Fish will then select the winning design to be made into the new rspb charity T-shirt, with the opportunity for the winner to join the team of Weird Fish artists, and create designs for future seasons. 

Weird Fish continues to support the rspb as its chosen charity. 

Entries can be submitted in JPEG, PNG or PDF and can be uploaded to Weird Fish’s Facebook, tweeted to @WeirdFishTweets, tagged on Instagram @Weirdfishltd or emailed directly to retail@weirdfish.co.uk with the subject line ‘Find an Artist Competition.’

John Stockton, managing director at Weird Fish, added: "Weird Fish makes clothes for people who enjoy nature and getting outdoors. Through partnering up with the rspb, we're able to make a difference to the green spaces and surrounding communities across the UK, which is something our customers care about, too. We are keen to extend the opportunity for new artists to join our team and bring some fresh ideas to our legendary artist T-shirt range."

The winning T-shirt will be produced from November 2016 and the chosen designer will receive £250 to spend online www.weirdfish.co.uk and may have the opportunity to join the Weird Fish team in a freelance artist position.

For details and Terms and Conditions of Weird Fish's 'Find An Artist Competition', click HERE.