One of the best parts of running a site like this is getting a chance to talk to cool people who are doing cool stuff in the t-shirt design industry.

And let me tell you what, t-shirt people are awesome people.

A few nights ago I had the opportunity to talk with Kamil Chmielewski, one of the founders and programming geniuses behind Cameesa (pronounced “Kah - mee - sah”, for all you people out there wondering, like I was).

Although the site has been brewing for a while under development, Cameesa officially launched in summer 08 to a marketplace that already had more than a few heavy hitters. Half-joking, I asked Kamil if he was getting sick of being compared to design-competition Goliath, Threadless. He laughed, and then explained that comparison to one of the most successful and oldest t-shirt sites out there was sometimes tough to avoid.

But to be fair, Cameesa is an entirely new type of t-shirt marketplace. And at the core of that marketplace is the concept of “crowd-funding.”

Instead of simply voting for the shirts they like, community members on Cameesa purchase shares (or “parts per design”) in their favorite shirts. A share costs $20.00 (essentially what a really nice t-shirt costs anyway) and gets you one of the t-shirts if they’re printed. It also makes you an investor in the design: you make a residual amount on every shirt sold after the initial batch.

(some of the already printed tees available at Cameesa, check out the store.)

Cameesa is an fantastic opportunity for any designer, but the system especially favors lesser-known artists who don’t yet have the reputation and rabid fan following that’s almost required to make it at some of the more well-known competition sites. With only 50 supporters required to reach the tipping point and get a design printed, it’s easy for a designer to enlist their friends and blog/website readers.

The site is looking fresh after a recent redesign, but Kamil told us that there was a lot more in store in the next few months: tools to help designers promote their designs, tweaks to the support system, new ideas from community members, and a bunch of other super secret stuff that he wouldn’t tell me (even after I threatened him).

For right now, thanks to Kamil for taking the time to talk and share his vision for Cameesa. Here’s some of our favorite designs from the site that you should support:

Top row: Shapes and Sizes, One Tree At a Time, Lost Soul
Bottom row: Skulls are Still Kool!, Pola-pimpn