024/365: T-Shirts? (Patreon)

As Mel Brooks said in Spaceballs, "Merchandising!" ...Nah, not so much of a cash grab as a rarely produced Boba Fett action figure from 1979. 

First thing's first — I'm dipping my toe into the pond of T-shirt design. Am I a master graphic designer? Hardly. Is expressing myself visually something I've pledged to do in 2020? That's more like it. If, on the off chance, someone stumbles across one of these expressions and cares to make it a rotating member of their laundry basket? That's the ticket. :-)

For my inaugural design, a more concise version of an idea I had a few months back. It's inspired by a quote from Carl Sagan that's been resonating with me for years now. 

If you decide to visit teespring, where these products are listed, you'll see the following block of text in the description at the link below. If not, that's cool; I'll C&P it here:

"Our remote descendants, safely arrayed on many worlds throughout the Solar System and beyond, will be unified. [...] They will gaze up and strain to find the blue dot in their skies. They will marvel at how vulnerable the repository of all our potential once was, how perilous our infancy, how humble our beginnings... how many rivers we had to cross before we found our way." —Carl Sagan

This design was inspired by many elements of my life. By my favorite author, whose words (above) will always inspire me; by my love of communication, represented by the Morse code; by my love for our home planet, the Pale Blue Dot, that sits in the dark among a smattering of stars; and an homage to the number of rivers so many of us have had to cross to get where we are.

So, there you have it for now. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be the next Donna Karen, but for what it's worth, this design means a lot to me, and getting it nailed out in a print-ready format was a delightful way to spend the downtime over the last few days. We'll always have Paris. 

And, here's the link. (For you Morse-savvy sailors out there, PLEASE don't tell my I got my S's and O's confused — that would be terrible, second only to getting a tattoo in hanji that you're sure meant "peace and love," only to discover later that it means "pork dumpling." :-P )

Mmm... pork dumplings sound good right now...

Where was I? Oh yeah!

teespring.com/stores/heather-with-the-beck