What is Blacksunset really trying to say?
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What is Blacksunset really trying to say?

Mariliis Tehno Mariliis Tehno
5 min lugemist

What is Blacksunset really trying to say?

Brands compete for square centimeters on your body and head. The bigger the logo, the more prominent it is.

Blacksunset was born out of the feeling that I didn’t want to be a billboard for someone’s logo and wear it big. I want the design to say something that is already spinning in my head in one way or another – either sharply, softly, or instead swearing quietly.

To whom we do

The shirts I design are for people who think more than they say. For people who sit in a group listening to others, looking at the room, not rushing to be the center of attention. For those who have the sharpest sentences in their heads just when others have already said something.

But you don’t have to say these sharp sentences out loud. It is enough to have them on your chest.

Shield and bridge at the same time

A message on a T-shirt can act as both a shield and a bridge. “No Time For Bullshit” draws a very clear line: those who understand are welcome, but others can calmly walk by. As a bridge – because if someone is reading and smiling, the conversation is already half over without the need for *small talk*.

In 2025, we took this idea even further. For the Tallinn T-shirt art biennial, we created the Shift Theory collection – ten designs that are no longer just messages, but philosophical positions. “What If It’s Not a T-Shirt?” asks if a T-shirt can be something more. Not Here to Explain refuses to justify itself. “Presence Is Louder Than Noise” shows that silence is power. These are the shirts that hung on the gallery wall at ArtDepoo, alongside artists from Ukraine, Germany, and the United States—and they wore them out.

Word art on cotton

The art I want to create with Blacksunset is not complicated graphics. It’s word art with a cotton t-shirt as the canvas. One sentence or word must be able to convey a whole mood: frustration, irony, tiredness from noise, the desire to be alone, but not alone.

I use black and white in the design, sometimes also a golden tone. A classic. Not because I have no imagination, but because black and white is the most honest contrast. The message either works or it doesn’t – color doesn’t save.

I don’t want Blacksunset to look like another ‘funny t-shirt’ brand. It is not and will not be. There can be a joke, but it has to come from the right place – from self-sustaining irony, not from the fact that “humor sells in the market, so let’s do it”. Each design must be such that I am willing to wear it myself.

Don’t be an ad

I have a specific problem with the logos. The more I see people covered in big brand names, the stronger my inner “no” is. Not because Nike or Gucci are necessarily bad, but because the person is often reduced to advertising space.

Blacksunset’s message is: don’t be an ad. If you already wear something, wear a thought.

Of course I put a logo on my shirts, but it’s small, polite and doesn’t turn the wearer into a billboard. With the same principle, we keep the Tee Jays blank label – we don’t shame our partner or try to pretend to be something we’re not. It’s an honest approach and it suits us.

Less, but more meaningfully

In the background of all this, my point is very simple: less, but more meaningful.

I don’t want the shelves to be flooded with random ‘this too’ products. Better one sentence that hits you like a fist in the eye than ten that you say “well, the norm”. Better slower growth than feeling like I have to start making designs that I don’t believe in myself or even less want to wear.

This also applies to the choice of fabric. Our shirts are combed ring-spun cotton on Tee Jays premium blanks, better than most on the market. For those who want even more, we offer Interlock and Pima Cotton fabrics. Not because we have to, but because design deserves a base that matches it.

What does it mean to you?

If you come across Blacksunset’s website and feel that it’s a bit too quiet, too simple, too black and white, no lights and whistles, then maybe it’s not your cup of tea at all. And that’s totally okay.

But if you recognize the feeling of “finally someone who doesn’t shove their logo in my face” then you are in the right place.

This means you don’t have to act happy when you have a sarcastic monologue in your head. That a T-shirt with the right message will attract the right person and keep others at a reasonable distance. That something speaks for you and with you.

Blacksunset is not trying to please everyone. However, I am happy for all those who have found Blacksunset for themselves.

If you agree with my thoughts and designs, I am truly happy and thank you for carrying it with you, whether on your back or on your side. This is a clear sign that I am me and you are you.

It was given

(the guy who makes those shirts)

Blacksunset.ee

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Mariliis Tehno
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