Last year this time, I attended the 2017 Women's March in Madison Wisconsin. I was filled with awe and patriotic spirit as I witnessed the enormous crowds of people who turned out to peacefully protest. A sea of people - many of whom were wearing these adorable pink hats - which I later found out were called pussyhats. I do not typically use this forum for politics, and I had never attended a political rally before that day, but as our government has shown of late, norms are there to be broken.
Since that rally I have attended 3 more protest marches and rallies, and I plan to go to the 2nd annual Women's March this year on Jan 20. In respect for my newfound surge of patriotism, I felt compelled and inspired to find a way to give back and support the #resist movement, in a way that makes sense to me. And what is a designer to do but to design?
The inspiration - the creation of a pussyhat logo
Initially, I just wanted to create something cute for myself to wear to this year's Women's March, as well as any other march or rally that I attend. I came up with a logo inspired by the #Pussyhat and #Resist movements. Then I did some searching online for resources to print this logo on a tee and found many options that make not just easy to design your own tee, but also to sell the tees to others. On top of that, Teespring allows you to donate proceeds to the charity of your choice. BINGO.
So, I've created this Teespring campaign selling men's and women's tees and hoodies, plus a mug, with the pussyhat resist logo on the front and the message #ResistEnlistPersist on the back. Best of all, 25% of proceeds will go directly to the ACLU.Â
This is my first attempt doing anything like this, and it may come to nothing. But I am happy that I am giving it a shot, trying to add my support to an important cause, in a way that makes sense for me.