Heart on Sleeve

For many years my nephew Dale, who works for the Suzuki super bike racing team, has given me last years pit crew clothing. Covered in their sponsors logo’s that change at the end of each racing season, makes the clothes obsolete. When I wear these in my workshop, it's good recycling but at odds with my environmental work. This spawned my idea of proclaiming my own beliefs and preferences in the same way on a new kind of shirt.

I have over the years refined this concept to produce the Heart on Sleeve shirt. Prototyped in an unbleached organic cotton T shirt, they have an embroidered Heart on Sleeve logo on the left sleeve and contact information on the right. This includes a QR code that could link you to a HOS social networking website enabling people to connect with you in the street and find you online if you wish.
The left chest has the things you like, for example a favourite band, local pub or venue and even your preferred supermarket if that's your thing.

On the right are the logo’s of organisations you support from a local charity you are involved with to an international humanitarian aid organisation like Oxfam.

When designing your T shirt on line the cost of having a charities logo would include a donation that you choose. The social networking site verifies your support and keeps you in touch with the organisations and their activities. 

The main benefit of these shirts are their on street presence, giving the opportunity for face to face social networking making connections with others. Having the opportunity to proclaim your support in the real world. You get to control how much information is printed on them and is available on line.
You choose which make of shirt you want and who prints it from a range of approved printers. We will assist not for profit organisations to set up small local printing shops or staff a pop up shop at a festival to give the project a local dimension and appeal to those not interested in the on line features. 

Thank you to Oxfam, Unicef, Virgin Money, Andrew Riddington and others who helped explore this idea.

Either Heart on Sleeve was a silly idea or it's ahead of its time, either way your thoughts are welcome as I'm finding it difficult to let it go and be happy being the only one wearing them.