I’m digging the illustration work of Colby Nichols, the silent half of the Substratum Apparel line. An Art Institute of California graduate and now San Diego resident, Colby’s love for the line and shape mix with his humor and passion creating complex stories that guide us to the very core of his strange brain. Strange indeed, but quirky, entertaining, and often silly as well. Check out some of the prints, apparel, and other goodies in his little online shop.

Josh Kenyon, whose designs for clothing company Substratum some of our readers may be familiar with, just relaunched his personal portfolio site. Featuring examples from his areas of well-developed expertise (illustration, print, apparel and identity), Kenyon’s new site nicely highlights some of his best work to date, including some amazingly beautiful apparel and the custom wedding invitations pictured here. Josh is currently relocating to Chicago with his new wife (wait…I think those are HIS wedding invitations) where he’ll be starting a new job at Lakonic. We wish you the best of luck, Josh, and we’re looking forward to seeing what you come up with next!

The guys at Substratum have been working hard on their new store and latest apparel line– they’re very proud of the new designs, and they have reason to be– they’re some of the best yet. Pop by their site and be sure to check out the new Seven Deadly Sins series, as well as the Land and Sea. One of my favorite designs, The Blooms (squid) is shown here on the right in orange. They also have a nice promotion going on through the end of the holidays– buy two shirts and get one free, can’t beat that!

The name Substratum comes from the idea of having a solid foundation: Layers of appreciation for design, art and life. The recently founded apparel company has a great starting lineup of t-shirts and prints for sale. This one, Call Me Ishmael, was inspired by the tale of Moby Dick. Call Me Ishmael tells the story of the harpooners and illustrates the captains madness seen through the eyes of Ishmael. Shirts are affordable ($20) and prints are fresh. Check them out!