Threadless tee strikingly similar to Imaginary Foundation graphic leads to contest benefiting CC

In 2005, our friends at surrealist clothier and thinktank Imaginary Foundation created the design above left, “Music is a Force of Nature.” Recently, IF designer Nick Philip spotted the, er, similar graphic above right for sale on a Threadless t-shirt. Nick wasn’t particularly shocked or upset, as t-shirts that appear to have bitten IF’s graphics show up online and even at mall chains with some frequency. In fact, Imaginary’s own roots are in the Dada-inspired culture of collage and appropriation. But this time, Imaginary Foundation has decided to act. No, they didn’t have their lawyers send a nastygram. Instead, Nick made the “source files” of the Force of Nature t-shirt available for free and is encouraging remixing. IF’s Director will then pick his favorite design and have it printed on an Imaginary Foundation t-shirt with full credit to the artist. All proceeds from the shirt sales will then be donated to, you guessed it, Creative Commons! Good on ya, Imaginary Foundation! Evolve and Remix