Queer Road Sign T-Shirts Project

[Dan Q]

Before I lost my job early this year, my previous employer gave me like a bajillion t-shirts. And as much as I'm a fan of a free t-shirt, it feels increasingly weird to be walking around the whole time wearing the name of a company who let me go (quickly, brutally, and unfairly). So I need some new t-shirts.

And by that point, I figured, I might as well design my new t-shirt supply. Pick some things that are unique to me.

The first one I made, almost as a proof-of-concept, celebrates Slamilton by DJ Psynwav. Because sometimes you really love an artist and they don't have merch, so you have to make your own.

(This isn't even the first time. A decade or two ago I made pin badges in support of Pagan Wanderer Lu and he noticed one when I was in the front row of a concert, right after he'd sung (You & Me and) Winston Churchill, and said "Nice badge... hey wait; that's not one of mine!" Fun moment.)

Anyway, the Slamilton tee turned out pretty well, so I've started working on some t-shirt designs that connect my love of green transport with my support for queer activism. For these: I've been adapting British street signs!

Just thought I'd share the attached images with you, before they start appearing on my chest in the New Year!

[torquuato]

omg i completely forgot about slamilton!! this is so cool and amazing! thanks for sharing 

[kringle]

oh this is a fun project! and a nice way to reclaim your wardrobe. how are you making the shirts? and how many have you designed now? it would be really cool to hear if there was an update on this

ive thought before about diy-ing a shirt design with bleach pens but nothing large scale


also in the spirit of diy, what did you do/are planning to do with all those old shirts?

[Dan Q]

oh this is a fun project! and a nice way to reclaim your wardrobe. how are you making the shirts? and how many have you designed now? it would be really cool to hear if there was an update on this

I've been using Streetshirts to do the shirt printing. So far, my wardrobe has gained

• Trams Rights (as pictured above)
• Bi Cycle Lane (same)
• Slamilton (as mentioned previously)
• A Voxtech 'V' and the message "trust us with your everything"
• A simple blue tee with the stylised "sliced Q" I use around the place
• An adaptation of the "cis nonsense" diagram from this Webbed Briefs video: I'd have bought the actual shirt from Pickering if it existed, but it's not among the designs they've made available, so I instead donated them the cost of one of their shirts and then made my own!

Aside from the ones that've fallen apart, I've still got all of my old work's tees. I'm going to keep the Pride-adjacent ones and the open-source-promoting ones; the others I'll donate to a local charity shop or to the asylum seekers' shelter not far from where I live: they might as well get a second lease on life for somebody who needs them more!

[kringle]

it's not among the designs they've made available, so I instead donated them the cost of one

LMAO thats smart, you should show them the shirt i bet they'd get a kick out of it. unless you know they wouldn't!

its a shame i can't find how theyre supplying the shirts on the steetshirts website tho, i'd love to see how ethical their supply chain is

i hope all the shirts you donate find a good new home