Heart of Lincoln Land » made in the U.S.A.

Lincoln Apparel 2011 market schedule announced

Heart of Lincoln Land — Tue, 17 May 2011 00:18:38 +0000

Me, last year at the artisan area at the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market, showing my Lincoln T-shirts. That’s me wearing the blue "Back to Springfield" T-shirt – there’s still a few of those shirts left if you like them!

Last year, I was at the artisan area at the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market and, despite some incredibly hot days, it was a lot of fun, so I’ll be doing it again this year!

This year, I plan to be at the artisan area at the market (which is located at the southeast corner of 4th and Adams Streets in historic downtown Springfield) every Saturday in June, the first, third, and last Saturday of every month from July to September, and the first and third Saturdays in October. Here’s the full schedule (you can find it on the Local page on the Lincoln Apparel website too):

Saturday, June 4, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 11, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 18, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 25, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 2, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 16, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 30, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 6, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 20, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 27, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 3, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 17, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 24, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 1, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 15, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

This year, I hope to have a tent so that I’m not sitting out in the sun all the time like last year, and so that I can make a better display with my T-shirts. I’d love to hang some from the sides and/or the roof so that people can truly get a feel for my awesomely huge, colorful, and artistic designs. I plan to make up some neat signs, too, that detail how my shirts are designed locally and are American made, a blog review or two of my shirts, and that have Lincoln Apparel’s new slogan, “T-shirts Lincoln would believe in” (I thought of it myself).

Of course, I plan to have my little CD player and portable speakers set up so I can play some cool 80s tunes again – I love it, it’s lots of fun and goes along well with my shirts – and speaking of shirts, I’ll have some new designs this year, in addition to old favorites like "80s Abe" and "Purpose". I’m working on getting my next design, “Hair Metal Lincoln”, printed as I write this, and hopefully it’ll be done by the end of May. It’s going to be the first Lincoln Apparel shirt to have shiny metallic ink – and it will look awesome! I’ll make a post about them when they’re done.

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The new “Young Mr. Lincoln” T-shirts are here!

Heart of Lincoln Land — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:08:43 +0000

As I promised before, by the holiday season I’d have my new "Young Mr. Lincoln" T-shirts available for purchase. The day before Thanksgiving, I updated the Lincoln Apparel website with the new shirts, so take a look at them!

The T-shirts feature the rockin’ bright colors and complex artwork I am known for and come in two color combinations – “Original 80s Colors” (the first color scheme I thought of for the design) and “Illinois Colors” (featuring blue and orange, colors that represent Lincoln’s home state). More color schemes may be available in the future. I may actually limit the amount of shirts made with each color scheme, to make each “Young Mr. Lincoln” T-shirt more unique.

“Young Mr. Lincoln” is my biggest design yet – at 17×22 inches, it fills up the entire front of an adult small T-shirt, and looks awesome on bigger sizes, too. The design features colorful, vibrant artwork that I created, and is based on the earliest known photo of Lincoln, taken in 1846. The design is meant to bring out the energy of Lincoln’s Springfield years, as these were some of the best years of his life. I used lots of different colored lines to create the picture of Lincoln that is on the shirt. The lines in the background are areas where the original 1846 negative was scratched. Rather than remove the scratches, I decided to keep them and make them into colored lines to make the design feel more energetic.

Finishing up the design is Lincoln’s signature, and the text “The Young Springfieldian”, to state who and where Lincoln was at this point in his life. All variants of the design are screen printed onto 100% cotton, black American Apparel T-shirts. Like my other T-shirts, these T-shirts are made in the U.S.A. and sweatshop free, the way Lincoln would want them.

You can read more about the creation of this shirt in my previous post. In addition to my website, the new “Young Mr. Lincoln” shirts (along with all of my other T-shirts) should be available at Springfield Novelties and Gifts located at 229 S. 6th Street (near Monroe Street) in historic downtown Springfield very soon.

Happy holidays, everyone, and I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too. Enjoy the new shirts, and I hope you all thanked Abraham Lincoln for providing us with a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

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Lincoln Apparel’s first year: a look back

Heart of Lincoln Land — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:58:19 +0000

In September of last year, I officially registered Lincoln Apparel as a business. I had finally decided that after my success earlier that year with my “Back to Springfield” and “Equality” designs, that I’d take my artistic Lincoln T-shirts seriously and turn them into a clothing line. I had always loved creating Lincoln T-shirts; I feel they are a great way to spread Lincoln and his legacy, and their large canvas size makes them perfect for creating large, colorful, complex wearable art.

The month prior, I had set up an Etsy store, and later, my own website, with the one design I had printed to sell on line at the time – “Equality”. It wasn’t long until I made my own run of “Back to Springfield” shirts (my most popular design in 2009) to sell on my own website and elsewhere.

That run of shirts is when I decided to have all of my shirts be American made, and printed as close to Springfield as possible. I didn’t like how so many of the shirts for sale in Springfield are cheaply made in China or other third world countries (likely with sweatshop labor), nor did I like how so many of them are poorly designed by large companies who probably have never even been to Springfield. I wanted my shirts to be high quality, something that would still look and feel great after many washings. And with the economy being the way it was (and still is) I thought it was time to focus on our own prosperity, so with all of these factors in mind, I decided I’d make my T-shirts right here in the USA, in ways in which Lincoln would approve of – no sweatshop labor or anything. I wanted my Lincoln T-shirt line to be something Lincoln would be proud of, something that respects his legacy, something people would wear and that he would want to see other people wearing – and NOT something that Lincoln would have a moral problem with. I just don’t think Lincoln would sleep well at night knowing that T-shirts with his image on it are being produced with the very thing he fought so hard against – slavery.

"Immortal Words at Gettysburg", the third Lincoln Apparel T-shirt. This is the second and current version of the shirt, which features a printthat fills the front of the shirt. Copyright © 2009 Lincoln Apparel.

So, I eagerly posted the new run of made-in-the-USA “Back to Springfield” shirts to my website (after taking out the extra shirts I ordered for myself to wear, something I always do with each design), and gradually posted them to my Etsy store (since I read on the Etsy forums that it’s not a good idea to post everything at once). I did the same in late October of last year for my 3rd design, “Immortal Words at Gettysburg”.

It’s hard to believe that at this time last year I was only selling two designs through my website and Etsy. Lincoln Apparel has now grown to 6 designs, and my shirts are available locally now as well. Some highlights from the past year:

Mid-November 2009: My shirts begin to be carried by Springfield Novelties and Gifts on 6th Street, near Monroe Street, in historic downtown Springfield, on a special order basis. This included all three of the designs I had at the time – “Equality”, “Back to Springfield” (in all 3 color variants), and “Immortal Words at Gettysburg”.
Late November 2009: I sell my first shirt under the Lincoln Apparel name, an “Immortal Words at Gettysburg” T-shirt to someone from Ireland. The sale was made on my Etsy store. I was ecstatic when it happened. It still gives me a great sense of pride and excitement to this day whenever I sell one of my T-shirts. It makes me feel like I’m furthering my mission to spread Lincoln and his legacy, through my artistic T-shirts.

"80s Abe", the fourth Lincoln Apparel T-shirt, and the most popular. I feel this shirt, and "Back to Springfield", are the best representations of the Lincoln Apparel style. Copyright © 2009 Lincoln Apparel.

December 2009: I come up with my “80s Abe” design. The design was literally something I thought of after looking at that “crew cut” portrait of Lincoln in one of my Lincoln books as I was falling asleep. I remembered it after I woke up the following morning, and felt that it would be cool to make an 80s-style “full front print” Lincoln design out of it. Over the following days I spent many hours (and a lot of fun) working on the design, combining my Lincoln interest with my 80s interest. Due to the Christmas holiday it was not printed until January, and it became my first design of 2010. It is now my most popular design, and one of the designs that (along with “Back to Springfield”) I am the most proud of. “80s Abe” and “Back to Springfield” both share the bright colors and large, complex, detailed artwork that typify my designs, and I feel they represent my work the best.
March 2010: My 5th design, “Purpose”, is created. Like “80s Abe”, it’s a full front print shirt, as are all of my designs from “80s Abe” and this design onward. I was going through a rough couple of weeks and decided to create an inspiring Lincoln T-shirt. It also became my first women’s T-shirt. The original design featured pink highlights in Lincoln’s face and hair, so I created a turquoise version for guys after the original one was finished. The shirt remains more popular amongst women than men (my other designs I sell about equally to both men and women). Also this month, my main site’s traffic and sales surpass Etsy, which suffers a traffic nosedive this month.

"Purpose", the fifth Lincoln Apparel T-shirt. Shown is the original design, using pink colors, made into a women’s T-shirt. A men’s version, using turquoise, was also made. Copyright © 2010 Lincoln Apparel.

April 2010: I apply to become an artisan in the artisan area of the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market. I find out later that month that I am accepted. I’m excited (and nervous) to do my first craft fairs.
June 2010: Springfield Novelties and Gifts begins stocking my T-shirts (all 5 of my designs, and all the color variants). No longer are they only on special order. They begin to sell rather well there, and at the market which begins this month. In fact, due to selling locally my sales explode by 10-fold. I also have “Immortal Words at Gettysburg” reprinted as a full front print design, the way it was originally intended. (Most of the original shirts had sold out by this point). Due to my presence at the Old Captiol Farmer’s Market I also get noticed by the Abraham Lincoln Observer, a Springfield blog at the State Journal Register newspaper, who interviews me about my Lincoln T-shirts (though he does not have one yet – tsk tsk).
July 2010: I come out with my 6th design, “Wide Awake Club”. I designed it in the spring to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s election in 1860. I just didn’t have the money to print it until now.

August 2010: “80s Abe” sells so well that I get it reprinted and add a new color – yellow.

And finally, some observations and things I’ve learned in the past year:

All of my designs so far have sold well overall. I have yet to have one that turned out to be a dud.
While my T-shirts remain the most popular amongst people who are relatively young (in their 20s or 30s), I’ve sold to people of all ages. You’re never too old to love a good artistic Lincoln T-shirt.
Different designs sell well in different places. I have some that sell well at the market, some that do well at Springfield Novelties, and some that do well on my site. What sells well at one venue won’t at another, and vice versa. It’s helped me greatly to diversify selling venues.
Selling locally generates lots of exposure and sales and doing shows allows you to see how people react to your designs. It’s also very much helped legitimize Lincoln Apparel and make people realize it is a serious T-shirt line created by a serious T-shirt artist. I’ve even had other shops contact me due to my local presence – maybe some of them will start carrying my shirts in the future. I can’t imagine how much I’d still be struggling if I only sold online.

Lincoln Apparel at the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market in June.

Generating attention online is very difficult. I didn’t sell in significant amounts until I started to sell locally. One of my biggest mistakes was spending 100 hours or so on Facebook and Twitter earlier this year (and late last year) talking about Lincoln and trying to get the right people to notice my Lincoln T-shirts. I learned that those sites are mostly a (very frustrating) waste of time, filled with chit chat and white noise. “Social networking” (in the modern sense of the term) is an oxymoron. It’s hard to get replies to anything you say, and everybody writes stuff (often the most mundane things), but nobody reads anything. So much for the much hyped “ineraction” in “social media”. This is in stark contrast to forums and message boards I’ve participated in, and blogs I’ve commented on and read. I maintain a minimal presence on Twitter now (I’ve got a few Lincoln friends there), and I quit Facebook in February. I absolutely love to spend the time I’ve saved by not using “social” sites on new designs and other Lincoln related creative projects, or on fun activities out in the city, not to mention I feel better too, since I don’t have to care about how many online “friends” I have, or wonder why somebody’s post about what they had for dinner gets more attention than my post about Lincoln. As Lincoln said, "This habit of uselessly wasting time, is the whole difficulty; and it is vastly important to you [...] that you should break this habit." I wish the whole “social networking is free, it only takes time, you gotta be there or else” proponents would listen to Lincoln and realize that time is the most important resource.
Etsy never worked out for me. My main site, lincolnapparel.com, does the vast majority of my online traffic and sales now (over 90% of it). I thought that Etsy would take off first and that my main site would take longer, but that wasn’t the case – it took all of two weeks after my first sale on Etsy to get my first sale on my main site (and that was for two shirts, not just one). I started to realize after my traffic crashed in March there that it might not work out, and during the busy summer tourist season I pretty much quit doing anything on Etsy (unless I got a sale). I was never able to get my shop to take off, but my main site always had steadily increasing traffic and sales. I started to realize Etsy was more expensive than my main site, with a lot less control – 20 cents to list something for 4 months plus 3.5% commission if it sells. And there’s no size dropdowns for T-shirts, so that makes listing things there a pain. To list my entire inventory over there (all the size and color variants) now would be over $15 for only 4 months, and if a shirt sells, I have to pay about $1 extra for the 3.5% commission. I’m not selling anywhere near $15 worth of listings every 4 months on Etsy so most of that is wasted. To top it all off, Etsy doesn’t properly advertise, and as a result a lot of people don’t know about Etsy and are confused about what it is or how to spell it, so my main site is trusted more. I can list as much as I want on my main site for $10/month, and only pay PayPal fees when I sell something, and as my site has become more well known, that cost has more than paid for itself.
It’s one of the greatest feelings to see people in your shirts. It’s part of why I made a “Wearing Lincoln Apparel” page – so that people can show off their purchases. If you have one of my shirts I’d love it if you added your picture to the page!

The Wearing Lincoln Apparel page as it looked on October 4, 2010

So, what’s the next year going to be like? I hope it’s even better than the last one! I plan to release my next design, tentatively titled “Young Abe Lincoln”, sometime this month, which will be the first design that includes long-sleeve shirts. "Equality" and "Back to Springfield" will eventually get replaced by new designs, once they start to sell out. I’m not sure what will happen to my Etsy shop, but my main site at lincolnapparel.com will always be there, and contain my full selection of T-shirts. I think I might list a few popular shirts on Etsy for the Christmas season, then close it, or maybe just keep a minimal amount of shirts there “just in case” somebody finds me there. I also plan to look for other shows in Springfield, particularly towards Christmas time, where I can sell my shirts, and at other shops here that might be interested in my shirts also. Hopefully next year, you’ll be able to find my shirts in more places!

And, lastly, thanks to all of my customers, both local and online, in the past year who have purchased Lincoln Apparel T-shirts and helped make Lincoln Apparel a success. I appreciate every one of you. You’re supporting a small, local artist who lives in Mr. Lincoln’s Hometown who is dedicated to keeping Lincoln and his memory, and his legacy, alive. Thank you!

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The new “Immortal Words at Gettysburg” T-shirts are in!

Heart of Lincoln Land — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:05:20 +0000

For some time I’ve been meaning to restock my Immortal Words at Gettysburg T-shirts, since I sold out of most of them. Along with that, I always wanted to redo the design as a large "oversize" print, so that the details in the fonts and in the picture of Lincoln could be seen. I now have the new "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" T-shirts redone with the big print, and I posted them on the Lincoln Apparel website last night. (I’ve also been working on redesigning some parts of the Lincoln Apparel site, and adding new features to it – you’ll notice some of this when you visit.)

The new T-shirts feature a 15×20 inch print, as opposed to the 12×16 inch print on the old T-shirts (of which I still have a few). The bigger design makes the text that much more readable and detailed, and the picture of Lincoln more imposing. It was always my intent to have this design printed so that it filled much of the front of the shirt; now, I’ve fulfilled that intent. In addition, "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" is now available in both men’s and women’s versions. The new ones are on American Apparel, so they are made in the USA and sweatshop free, the way Lincoln would want it to be.

The original "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" T-shirt, for comparison purposes. Still a good shirt, but notice how the design is smaller.

"Immortal Words at Gettysburg" is one of my most popular designs so far. One of the interesting things about it is how it seems to draw more attention online than locally. It is a design that explores how Lincoln is remembered by many different cultures and generations, using the words of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which is printed in its entirety on the shirt. I used a different font for each of the 272 words in Lincoln’s address, representing the different eras and different kinds of people that have evoked Lincoln and his memory. I created the design last fall about a month before the November 19th anniversary of the date Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address. You can read more about the creation of the T-shirt and the Gettysburg Address in the above linked blog post.

In addition to my website, the new "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" T-shirts are available at Springfield Novelties and Gifts on 6th Street in beautiful historic downtown Springfield, and on Saturdays at the artisan area of the downtown Springfield farmer’s market, located at 4th and Adams. Of course, you’ll be able to find my other designs at these places, too. The next day I’ll be at the market will be this Saturday, June 19th, also known as Juneteenth, an African-American holiday that celebrates the date in 1865 that word reached Texas that Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had set the slaves free. It’s neat how this week’s date has a Lincoln connection. Hopefully Lincoln will give me some luck and I’ll do well, and I hope to see you there!

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New “80s Abe” Lincoln T-shirts available now.

Heart of Lincoln Land — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:38:24 +0000

OK, back to Lincoln now. I’ve created a new Lincoln T-shirt design, entitled "80s Abe", that blends my Lincoln and 80s interests. The T-shirts are available in black (shown), blue, and green on the Lincoln Apparel website, at my Etsy store, and at Springfield Novelties and Gifts on the 200 block of South 6th Street in historic downtown Springfield.

I’ve always wanted to create a "full front" print design, where the design fills up most or all of the front of the T-shirt. I’ve always loved how they look, and how intricate they often are. This is my first such design. I had a lot of fun making it!

This design was inspired by the famous "crew cut" portrait of Lincoln taken in February of 1865. As an 80s fan and a Lincoln fan, I’ve always loved this striking portrait of Lincoln. It shows Lincoln with an unusually short "crew cut" style haircut, perhaps because at this time sculptor Clark Mills was creating a life mask of Lincoln’s face. The plaster used to create the mask stuck to his hair, so Lincoln needed his hair cut short.

In the 1980s, this style of haircut became popular. So did bright neon colors, which I’ve always liked. It seemed only fitting that as a Lincoln fan, an 80s fan, and an artist, I’d create a T-shirt using this picture of Lincoln and bright 80s colors.

I figured that a design of this nature would look awesome as a "full front" print. Furthermore, it was simple enough that I could use it to "test" full front printing, but complex enough to be interesting and see how it would work before I made a very complex and intricate full front print design.

The results were spectacular, and I plan to make many more "full front" print T-shirts. The "80s Abe" represents a Lincoln for my generation, and for newer generations that have come to love the 80s. Lincoln, his words, and his memory have been invoked by every generation through the ages, and the 80s were no different. During that time, the "house divided" became a metaphor for the division between the Western democracies and the communist Eastern bloc countries, and his words were often used to extoll the virtues of democracy and promote its spread.

The fight for Lincoln’s ideals continues today. I chose to print this design on American Apparel, a sweatshop free, made in America T-shirt brand. I don’t think Lincoln would believe in sweatshop labor, so I won’t use brands of T-shirts that are made that way. I think he would want things to be made ethically, in a manner in which the workers have rights, so I make sure to make my T-shirts in accordance with his beliefs. These T-shirts are soft, comfortable, and durable, too – and I think Lincoln would like that!

Enjoy the T-shirt, enjoy Lincoln and the 80s, and feel good about it, too!

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New Gettysburg Address Lincoln T-shirt – in time for November 19th

Heart of Lincoln Land — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:29:55 +0000

On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered a “few appropriate remarks” at the newly-created national cemetery at Gettysburg. The speech contained only 272 words and lasted maybe 3 minutes, far shy of the main speaker Edward Everett’s speech, which lasted 2 hours. Many people attending the event did not realize that President Lincoln had given a speech until after he had given it.

However, the speech was soon recognized as a masterpiece. It became an eloquent embodiment of the ideas of freedom, democracy, and equality, and of the sacrifices made to maintain, and improve, those things. Down through the ages, its words have been interpreted countless different ways and for many different purposes. It has been memorized by countless schoolchildren, and I can recite it from memory.

Within my lifetime, the words of the Gettysburg Address have been used on both the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and at the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. It’s been used in advertising and in political campaigns and speeches, including Obama’s. The immortal and multicultural nature of the Gettysburg Address inspired me to create this T-shirt.

I made each of the 272 words of the speech (in red on the T-shirt) a different font, to reflect different eras and different cultures. I spent many hours tweaking the fonts to get them to play well together and look nice. I added this on top of a large blue picture of Abraham Lincoln, along the right side of his face. The picture of Lincoln is based off a portrait of him taken on November 8, 1863, 11 days before he gave the Gettysburg Address. I felt it was fitting and proper to use a portrait of Lincoln that was taken at around the same time as the address.

As finishing touches, I added Lincoln’s signature, the date (November 19, 1863), and the title, “Address Delivered at the Cemetery at Gettysburg”. This is from the so-called “Bliss copy” of the address, the last revision Lincoln made of the address and the text most commonly used as the standard text for the address.

Now you can contribute to the immortality of the address – and of the man who gave it – by wearing them both on a T-shirt. Neat, isn’t it? Check out the Lincoln Apparel website and my Etsy shop for my new Lincoln "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" T-shirts. The T-shirts are screen printed, and they are 100% cotton and are made right here in the U.S.A.

Here’s some more fun facts about the Gettysburg Address:

* There are only 10 sentences in the Gettysburg Address.
* Lincoln likely spent several weeks working on his address. Lincoln was known to take his time writing speeches, polishing them until they were “perfect”.
* No, Lincoln didn’t write it on the back of an envelope on the train to Gettysburg. The ride was bumpy and it was only 70 minutes long. In addition, none of the surviving copies appear on an envelope and the earliest known copy is on White House stationery.
* Lincoln likely did finish working on his address at the Wills House, where he stayed in Gettysburg the night before the speech.
* There are 5 different surviving copies of the address in Lincoln’s hand known today. These are known as the Nicolay, Hay, Everett, Bancroft, and Bliss copies (in that order). They all differ slightly. Supposedly there is a 6th copy (the delivery copy) of the address in Lincoln’s hand but it has not been found.
* The Everett copy is the one that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum here in Springfield has.
* The Nicolay and Hay copies are at the Library of Congress. The Bancroft copy is at Cornell University, and the Bliss copy is in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House (which was Lincoln’s office during his time).
* The words “under God” were added in the Everett copy.
* The last three copies were made as souvenirs. The Bliss copy was made because the Bancroft copy did not fit the format the printer was going to use properly. The dates and the titles were added in these.

Enjoy the new T-shirts and have some Lincoln fun!

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Finally, the new Lincoln T-shirts are available!

Heart of Lincoln Land — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:12:17 +0000

Yay! I finally have my new Lincoln T-shirts I blogged about earlier available now. I put them up on my website, Lincoln Apparel, today, after taking pictures and writing descriptions and Web pages for them. I’m working on getting them up in my Etsy store, too. It took a lot longer than I thought, but they turned out really well and I am pleased with them. They have the design pictured to the right, which I created, screen printed onto them, and they are available in blue, red, and black. They are 100% cotton T-shirts and are union made in the USA. They are comfortable and they look great!

The design is entitled, “Back to Springfield”. I wanted to portray Lincoln as if he came back to his hometown for his 200th birthday this year. I always thought it’d be neat if Lincoln was around to witness the 200th year of his life. This inspired me to base the design on the last known photographic portrait of him taken on February 5, 1865. To represent Lincoln coming back to Springfield, I wanted him to be standing in front of a recognizable modern Springfield landmark he would be proud of, so I chose his museum. Since Lincoln is a figure to be celebrated, particularly during the year of his Bicentennial, I wanted to create a celebratory mood. The fireworks idea just kind of came to me after that and after all the other pieces fell into place.

This was my first full-color design, so I didn’t know how well it was going to turn out at the beginning. When I got done with it, I knew it was going to be awesome. Because this shirt turned out so well and has been such a great success so far, I plan on keeping the picture used in this design around for next year, but next year’s shirt will mention something other than the Bicentennial, so get yours while they last!

Enjoy the shirts!

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