What I Got - Bleeding Hearts Club

2008 is looming and it's time to get your politics on! The candidates are going about kissing babies and shaking hands to garner votes and there are your political-themed t-shirts making their rounds hoping to get their message across.

Bleeding Hearts Club is no different but they do it in style.

I've received a package from them...

... and you know it's gonna be good if the sender writes his return address with a heart...

... I mean, doesn't that just make your day? And he even colored it, isn't that sweet?

The package that the contents came in was different. It was made of some sort of recycled material and when I tore it open it, it left behind a small mess, like I've just crushed drywall. A small inconvenience for saving the earth, I guess.

Here's what I got.

Peace Czar, for those of you who don't watch the news (or the Daily Show) is a reference to the White House wanting to appoint a czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's a simple design with with the weight of meaning behind it.


Look what's on the sleeve! Wearing a Bleeding Hearts Club... on your sleeve! Ha!

This was the other design that I was offered but I declined...

... I've a very sensitive black friend. Still, it's a great design though.

Now about the t-shirt. Bleeding Hearts Club have their wares printed at TS Designs. Designs were printed through the REHANCE process. What is REHANCE, you ask? Well, grasshopper, you know your run-of -the-mill t-shirt is printed with plastisol, which contains PVC that's harmful to the environment. REHANCE is eco-friendly, plus the printing won't crack or peel over time.

Not only can I see the difference. I can also feel the difference. The print looks solid but it doesn't feel raised beneath my fingers.

The t-shirts are also manufactured by TS Designs with organic cotton but the medium sizing was a tad big on me. I wear a medium AA, just to clarify.

I've seen political t-shirts but most of them are usually done without much depth in thought. For instance - "Stewart and Colbert for 2008." You've seen them. It's an interesting concept but it soon runs out of steam as other "Stewart and Colbert" tees start popping up. Now Bleeding Hearts Club lineup not only have interesting slogans but they managed to execute it pretty well. Their designs are like pieces of clever art (see Neopolitics and If You Disarm...).

Jon Kraus, the man behind Bleeding Hearts, toured colleges in the northeast, which is great a marketing move because not only do you reach out to wide demographic, you reach out to a demographic, who in the future, will transform this country.