Progresswear Homepage Three
Six years ago I started a political t-shirt company. It was probably launched a bit late to capitalize on the slight fervor of the years in the leadup to the war, but I was tired of seeing non-designers who knew nothing about type putting out t-shirts with good message but horrible design. I'd also been looking for a way to rely less on client work so that I could paint and play music more and knew that I needed a product to sell. T-shirts seemed like the easiest route. Little did I know. Progresswear never exactly took off, but I met Michael Moore and Howard Dean and it led to spending 2 days with Howard Dean discussing Democratic strategy during the 2006 midterms.
The venture never paid off and we've barely released a new shirt in years until the Rally for Sanity in Washington last fall. http://progresswear.com/sanity_i'm_in_mens_tshirt.html http://progresswear.com/fear_fear_tshirt_men.html
When Osama Bin Laden's death was announced I was looking for a way to comment on it on Facebook and announce it to those oblivious to the news. I wanted something amusing. My first thought was Chevy Chase's classic Saturday Night Live oft repeated statement "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is Still Dead." Naturally my post had to be "Osama Bin Laden is Still Dead." My Facebook friends, knowing I had this t-shirt company all insisted I print some. A few hours into the night I came up with the other shirt we're releasing, "Donald Trump Killed Osama Bin Laden."
Making light of a somber occasion might not be in the best taste, but we hoped this event might draw attention to some of our other more serious offerings and help a great cause in the process. It's been an interesting couple of days trying to promote this. But I figured someone was going to be making t-shirts about this, I had a site in place to sell it and thought I'd give it a shot.
$3.00 from the sale of each shirt will be donated to Families of September 11th, the most vocal organization in the country relentlessly demanding answers of our leaders. After the pre-release sale we will donate $5.00 and if sales take off and costs decrease we will increase the donation accordingly.
I much prefer TypographyShop and our next venture http://thewisconsinstore.com There's nothing political about either. No walking on coals to sell your stuff.