Today, I wanted to explain the story behind our shop. The Walking Exhibit really began in 2010 as a doodle of a red violinist-- the man known as the "devil of the violin", Niccolo Paganini-- drawn on a whiteboard during a summer camp in Maine. We loved it so much that we began to print it on handkerchiefs for use around the house. The next spring rolled around, and then the devastation in Japan happened. It was March 2011.
My brother and I began a series of classical music concerts in the Wilmette area dedicated to orphans of the disaster. With the concert series, we designed and ordered t-shirts to sell to further raise money. Eventually, the concerts became an annual event. It was named Walk With Children-- and it was our first step into the world of t-shirts.
When we ordered the t-shirts the first year, we loved seeing our designs represented by musicians. It was a refreshing print perfectly conveying the connection between the people of the world and the orphans who are created out of tragedies such as that of the fateful earthquake and tsunami of Japan. Further, it stood out with each musician despite what instrument they played; whether it was the violin, cello, or piano, the print stood out clearly from the crowd. But soon, the print on the shirts began to crackle and peel-- and while the shirt remained intact, the print began to fall apart. While my family debated on what to do, my father took the challenge to design and print the shirts himself.
It was a big change. Our basement turned into a workshop and we had to get rid of things to fit in equipment, including a large table my father built. While, at first, the project was only for the Walk With Children concerts, we decided to seriously dedicate time into our creations. It was December 2013; we named our new project, "The Walking Exhibit," and began to remodel our Etsy page. We started with the pictures, which were against a black, hazy background with artificial lighting; we chose a lighter, more organic background, and used natural light. We also created a banner to go with our products.
Our last post on this blog was right after our second remodeling, which incorporated a central theme to our products using the beach of Lake Michigan; although we're far from being satisfied, we hope you're enjoying seeing our transformation! Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions. And, if you'd like to donate to our Walk With Children project benefitting orphans around the world, our Walk With Children t-shirts are coming soon to our shop.
Kelly
My brother and I began a series of classical music concerts in the Wilmette area dedicated to orphans of the disaster. With the concert series, we designed and ordered t-shirts to sell to further raise money. Eventually, the concerts became an annual event. It was named Walk With Children-- and it was our first step into the world of t-shirts.
When we ordered the t-shirts the first year, we loved seeing our designs represented by musicians. It was a refreshing print perfectly conveying the connection between the people of the world and the orphans who are created out of tragedies such as that of the fateful earthquake and tsunami of Japan. Further, it stood out with each musician despite what instrument they played; whether it was the violin, cello, or piano, the print stood out clearly from the crowd. But soon, the print on the shirts began to crackle and peel-- and while the shirt remained intact, the print began to fall apart. While my family debated on what to do, my father took the challenge to design and print the shirts himself.
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| Our Walk With Children design |
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| Our first, second, and third (current) banners. |
Our Walk With Children shirt-- coming soon to our shop!
Ciao!
Kelly
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