Two years have passed and I am beginning to wonder if that translation of hobby to income will ever take place. There has been lots of effort for all involved, but the apparel (especially t-shirts) is hugely competitive. One cool aspect has been the opportunity to design for major brands of the world. However, the designs presented have yet to yield the orders that lead to revenue.

There is no telling how much longer it will take to see the fruits of all the hard work. No idea how long I can hold out for that to happen.

Here’s to the hope something will come to fruition soon.

Much frustration remains.

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Truth is, I lost my drive to do anything after being asked to stop selling certain items.

My frustration and discouragement led to motivation. I have been asking questions and learning the process for creating and selling officially licensed products. Still learning.

One great thing that has come about was an introduction to a company that is a licensed manufacturer of apparel. No, not Nike or adidas…but a company that has a product I believe in and can stand behind. Their apparel products are made from post-consumer recycled plastic bottles.

I have been designing artwork for the licensed properties they work with. So far I have gotten to design for several universities, my alma mater included. Waiting to see if schools chose to offer the apparel selections in their various retail outlets. A few schools have already; University of Oregon. UMASS, and Ithaca College.

One of the coolest opportunities was designing items for the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Visitor Complex. Two of my designs were selected and are now in the gift shop and online store for KSC. Funny side note, I started out in Aerospace Engineering in college with dreams of being part of the teams that design and built spacecraft for human travel. That lasted a semester. That field is tough…and meant for the intellectual elite. I found my way to graphic design and now have a product associated with NASA. I’ll take it!

Men’s T-Shirt Official NASA Meatball Recycled Material Gray

Men’s T-Shirt Rocket Science Recycled Material Navy

At some point I plan to offer my own private designs that are not related to trademarked properties on the recycled plastic bottle products. For now, I will gladly continue to design for the different properties and organizations they are connected with. Hopefully their message of sustainable products grows and my designs are part of it.

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