Merch Announcement!
Designs and merch now available on the Artemis Merch Store! www.artemismerch.com.
Back on January 1st, 2020, I launched an online merch store. I’d been posting original new designs on instagram in 2019, and a couple of people expressed interest in having shirts or mugs with some of the designs.
I’ve never had a merch store before, but I figured it out and now many of my designs are available.
Many of my designs that are available at the time of this writing are transgender related, this post is to highlight them.
Transcend Gender
These five designs make up the “Transcend Gender” set. The original idea started with the transgender symbol as a silhouette over white, blue, and pink scanlines. It mixes futurism with minimalism.
Another version is an infinity symbol silhouette over the same scanlines. This is to represent the infinite possible number of genders/gender identities.
There is also a heart shape, made out of the scanlines rather than as a silhouette against them. The lines on each side are on a 45 degree angle, converging in the centre.
In the centre of the above image is a design which was loosely modeled after the logo of the Portland Trailblazers basketball team, two sets of the scanlines are offset against each other, two almost perfectly triangular chunks of these white, blue, and pink lines sit opposite, the left side appearing to shoot upward to the right, with the right side appearing to shoot downward to the left. None of the lines intersect, but they do converge near the centre of the design. This version of the design actually features the word “transcend” above and “gender” below, with the “cend” of transcend also partly obscured by black scanlines.
Lastly is a design I call “patchwork”. It takes the same nearly triangular chunk of white, blue, and pink scanlines, and pieces them together in uneven ways to create the rough shape of a capital “T”. This design is to represent the often clunky and imperfect process of transitioning, where parts can be cleaner and better aligned, while others are out of place or off-kilter. It is perfectly imperfect.
I HRT Myself
This is another series of designs, starting from one idea and iterating. The origin of the design idea started when I decided to re-write the lyrics to “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails (some may be more familiar with the Johnny Cash cover version), but replacing “hurt” with “HRT”, which stands for “hormone replacement therapy”, something many trans people go through to actualize their true selves.
The original design featured the transgender symbol (with a dot in the circle portion) which roughly forms a letter “i”, next to a large heart shape with the transgender pride flag inside (set horizontally rather than vertically), and capital “HRT” set inside the heart. HRT stands for “hormone replacement therapy” but can also be read as a short form for “heart” or “love”. Below the heart are the words “myself today”. Thus the entire design is meant to read as “I love myself today”, with the love being interchangeable with HRT, a play on words.
The second design features the outline of half of a trans symbol, with the circle part being open on one side, and words nested within. The words feature a gradient fill of the trans flag colours — blue, pink, and white. The words read:
“I HRT myself today
To align with how I feel
I focus on the me
Soon to be revealed”
The third design is an iteration on the first, simplified even further. The “myself today” is removed, and the “HRT” is set to the bottom right of the heart, rather than within it. It simply reads “I heart HRT” which can be read as “I love HRT”.
The final design uses elements of the other three but is not a direct iteration. I reads “Myself Today Forever”, with the “y” in Myself being replaced with the trans symbol (which somewhat resembles the letter “y”), and the “o” in “today” being replaced by a heart shape with the trans flag inside. It implies that the person is themselves now and always will be no matter what.
CATS — Cis-people Against Transphobia
This is another simple design. Both versions feature a cat’s paw shape with the trans flag filling it. The first version has the letters “c”, “a”, “t”, and “s” in each individual finger section of the paw, with the palm of the paw reading “Cis-people Against Transphobia”.
The alternate version features the same paw, but the text is all below the palm. Each letter of “CATS” is spaced out apart from each other, with the rest of each word extending down to the right on a 45 degree angle, reading “Cis-people Against Transphobic Scabs”.
Identity Badges / Stamps
Here is another LGBTQ+ themed design series I’ve created, launched mid-January.
There are five designs, all the same shape and style, but one for each of Aromantic, Asexual, Bisexual, Non-Binary, and Transgender. Each design features the official pride flag of the relevant identity, the name of the identity, and the symbol for the identity, all set within a shape that resembles a familiar brand logo.
I strongly considered making this series also available as lapel pins and embroidered patches, but within taking pre-orders, the up front cost is too much to take the chance on that they will sell.
Lastly, this is a design I call “Tranarchy”, because it is a mixture of both the transgender symbol, as well as the anarchy symbol. It fits in with the saying “simply existing as a gender non-conforming person in a gender normative society is an act of rebellion”.
The design comes in two forms — either just the symbol by itself, or the symbol overlaid on top of a plaid style transgender flag.
Thank you for reading. I hope you liked them and if you’re interested in getting one (or more) of them on a shirt, mug, pillow, etc — head over to www.artemismerch.com.
Artemis Creates is an artist, writer, curator, activist, and more. You can read more of her work at www.medium.com/@artemiscreates, email her at lacey@artemiscreates.com, and check out her website at www.artemiscreates.com.
