Many people on twitter know me as @ahbseenkwestion. Some know that I am a Graphic Designer, others think I'm just some dude that rants from time to time. I'm both of those and more. As of late, I have tilted my design hat in the direction of apparel.The result is STOLEN Outfitters.
Born out of the need for examples of black entrepreneurship and a sincere passion for fly vines, I started to sculpt STOLEN from my own personal philosophies and ideologies about the evolution of the human mind....that has been stolen. Through the use of simple symbols, not unlike hieroglyphics, I find that you can convey a myriad of concepts that may embed themselves in the human psyche. Modern Mass Media does this successfully, and to the detriment, of the general public. STOLEN is a response to these subliminal acts of corporate colonization. We don't want to build consumers. We want to build connoisseurs. Not just of textiles either, but of life and all of it's associated lessons.
Sure, skeptics will be like, "You plan to do this with T shirts?" Little do they know, we encourage that line of questioning. Within those lame inquiries that reveal several degrees of preprogrammed suppression of initiative, we can find what prompted STOLEN to come into being. When you are better equipped to question change than make it, it doesn't spare you from having to or wanting to spend money or specifically to spend money to clothe yourself. This means we can sell shirts to people who see eye to eye to eye with our ideology and those that just like the product. They both will spend the same money. The both will promote the same message. Most importantly, we can direct the funds towards projects that improve the quality of life for our community without the need for consistent and nominal donations. Projects that will be explained as STOLEN gains traction.
My role as designer is to ensure the viability of the product. I have to keep the product's value up. I love the flea market but this isn't flea market fare. This is boutique level merchandise that reflects our origination in wealth and abundance. That is not meant to be excessive or exorbitant but secure in the understanding that pettiness is new to us. It is the result of being left the scraps to hone our ingenuity with. Instead of anchoring this condition further into our beings, we seek to illustrate that ingenuity by changing problems to products.
I spend much of my time building graphics, corralling vendors and authoring quotes with my Operations Manager, @khairiakili , to make STOLEN Outfitters a brand worth mentioning and supporting. The visuals are designed to inspire thought, spark conversation and to connect people through a brand.
Each product will come with an explanation of the philosophy behind it's design. This will effectively keep the patron from having to guess what their shirt is saying. No flaming skulls and grim reapers without a synopsis of what they represent. This functional mind fashioning is part of our enlightened entertainment platform. Every step of this platform is being developed to usurp the community's attention from Mass Media and redirect it back onto the community itself. We should advertise our brands, support our kids and celebrate a culture of enlightenment not disconnected, discontent zombie-isms.
We're happy to announce our first shirt, Stolen University, is available for purchase. Three more designs will be available in two weeks. We are currently gathering photos and are asking customers to take pictures in their STOLEN shirts so we can cross market you and our product on our twitter page: @SToutfitters.
We urge you all to rock with us. Our vision is broad. Broad enough to encompass entrepreneurial and trade education, manufacturing aspirations and all associated hiring potentials. On top of that, the shirts are hot, so get your cool and your jewels up. Uhuru!
@khairakili:
When I was first approached about creating Stolen Outfitters, it immediately struck me as a necessary addition to the community, a feeling that has continuously grown as our vision has progressed and been refined throughout the creation process. As a member, supporter and student of a wide range of afrikan-based social movements, the well-deserved admiration for Marcus Garvey within the struggle is as prevalent as the lack of concise plans for economic development,which has been increasingly troubling to me. The church-like collection plates but lack of products and services are equally disturbing. So when presented with
an opportunity to create products that raise consciousness to in turn use the funds generated to support movements for the people, I recognized that this was a first step in filling a void. Not only are we attempting to steal back the minds of the people through our own branded materials but we are reaching out to the movements of the masses to design and provide product for them to raise awareness and jump starttheir own economics. We are also in support, not competition, with other upstart and established entrepreneurs, especially those that have some concept of community-building. We impart goods but also provide the services of modernizing marketing tactics and maximizing social media through workshops and webinars. The aim of all this is to create an economic network which can increase the power of the people. It has been shown and proven that corporations have a larger reach than individuals and we are adding this weapon to our arsenal and trying to help others do the same.
The core problem for anything stolen is the lack of power to determine its own future. This is especially true within our communities. One of the main methods used to control our power is through employment and this is where we would like to make headway. Selling merchandise is good but the ability to hire and then teach the process to someone else is powerful. The creation of alternative methods of dressing, working and interacting with each other are necessary aspects of transitioning from Stolen to Sovereign and there
can be no goal more admirable than that. Uhuru.
Born out of the need for examples of black entrepreneurship and a sincere passion for fly vines, I started to sculpt STOLEN from my own personal philosophies and ideologies about the evolution of the human mind....that has been stolen. Through the use of simple symbols, not unlike hieroglyphics, I find that you can convey a myriad of concepts that may embed themselves in the human psyche. Modern Mass Media does this successfully, and to the detriment, of the general public. STOLEN is a response to these subliminal acts of corporate colonization. We don't want to build consumers. We want to build connoisseurs. Not just of textiles either, but of life and all of it's associated lessons.
Sure, skeptics will be like, "You plan to do this with T shirts?" Little do they know, we encourage that line of questioning. Within those lame inquiries that reveal several degrees of preprogrammed suppression of initiative, we can find what prompted STOLEN to come into being. When you are better equipped to question change than make it, it doesn't spare you from having to or wanting to spend money or specifically to spend money to clothe yourself. This means we can sell shirts to people who see eye to eye to eye with our ideology and those that just like the product. They both will spend the same money. The both will promote the same message. Most importantly, we can direct the funds towards projects that improve the quality of life for our community without the need for consistent and nominal donations. Projects that will be explained as STOLEN gains traction.
My role as designer is to ensure the viability of the product. I have to keep the product's value up. I love the flea market but this isn't flea market fare. This is boutique level merchandise that reflects our origination in wealth and abundance. That is not meant to be excessive or exorbitant but secure in the understanding that pettiness is new to us. It is the result of being left the scraps to hone our ingenuity with. Instead of anchoring this condition further into our beings, we seek to illustrate that ingenuity by changing problems to products.
I spend much of my time building graphics, corralling vendors and authoring quotes with my Operations Manager, @khairiakili , to make STOLEN Outfitters a brand worth mentioning and supporting. The visuals are designed to inspire thought, spark conversation and to connect people through a brand.
Each product will come with an explanation of the philosophy behind it's design. This will effectively keep the patron from having to guess what their shirt is saying. No flaming skulls and grim reapers without a synopsis of what they represent. This functional mind fashioning is part of our enlightened entertainment platform. Every step of this platform is being developed to usurp the community's attention from Mass Media and redirect it back onto the community itself. We should advertise our brands, support our kids and celebrate a culture of enlightenment not disconnected, discontent zombie-isms.
We're happy to announce our first shirt, Stolen University, is available for purchase. Three more designs will be available in two weeks. We are currently gathering photos and are asking customers to take pictures in their STOLEN shirts so we can cross market you and our product on our twitter page: @SToutfitters.
We urge you all to rock with us. Our vision is broad. Broad enough to encompass entrepreneurial and trade education, manufacturing aspirations and all associated hiring potentials. On top of that, the shirts are hot, so get your cool and your jewels up. Uhuru!
@khairakili:
When I was first approached about creating Stolen Outfitters, it immediately struck me as a necessary addition to the community, a feeling that has continuously grown as our vision has progressed and been refined throughout the creation process. As a member, supporter and student of a wide range of afrikan-based social movements, the well-deserved admiration for Marcus Garvey within the struggle is as prevalent as the lack of concise plans for economic development,which has been increasingly troubling to me. The church-like collection plates but lack of products and services are equally disturbing. So when presented with
an opportunity to create products that raise consciousness to in turn use the funds generated to support movements for the people, I recognized that this was a first step in filling a void. Not only are we attempting to steal back the minds of the people through our own branded materials but we are reaching out to the movements of the masses to design and provide product for them to raise awareness and jump starttheir own economics. We are also in support, not competition, with other upstart and established entrepreneurs, especially those that have some concept of community-building. We impart goods but also provide the services of modernizing marketing tactics and maximizing social media through workshops and webinars. The aim of all this is to create an economic network which can increase the power of the people. It has been shown and proven that corporations have a larger reach than individuals and we are adding this weapon to our arsenal and trying to help others do the same.
The core problem for anything stolen is the lack of power to determine its own future. This is especially true within our communities. One of the main methods used to control our power is through employment and this is where we would like to make headway. Selling merchandise is good but the ability to hire and then teach the process to someone else is powerful. The creation of alternative methods of dressing, working and interacting with each other are necessary aspects of transitioning from Stolen to Sovereign and there
can be no goal more admirable than that. Uhuru.
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