Shepard Fairey and Gloria Steinem just teamed up on a new line of election merch
Artist Shepard Fairey’s Studio Number One and activist Gloria Steinem have contributed designs to a new collection from the fundraising platform Merch Aid to raise money to support voter engagement. Merch Aid’s Election Collection features T-shirts showing a quote from Steinem embroidered in her handwriting, “If you don’t vote, you don’t count!” Fairey’s Studio Number One contributed a design showing a dove that makes the shape of a checkmark inside of a box that reads “Vote For Our Future” as well as a poster of a raised fist that says, “Your Vote Your Power.” Fairey tells Fast Company that he hopes “the messages I create resonate with people or can be a gateway to another way of thinking, forcing people to question the system or the rhetoric.” Fairey says that democracy doesn’t work as well as it should because of low voter turnout. “I think that participating in democracy is the only way for an individual to shape the society we live in,” he says. . . . “Voter apathy means deep-pocketed and influential forces can wield more influence within the system. Not participating makes this dynamic even worse, plus there is a lot at stake in this election. I’m voting because there are fundamental rights that are hanging in the balance—equal rights, reproductive rights, the environment, income equality, to name a few. This election is one of the most important elections we’ve had in this country.” Glorian Steinem [Image: courtesy Merch Aid] All the profits from the shirt and poster sales will go to a nonpartisan get-out-the-vote organization, Merch Aid says. The group also has two additional drops before Election Day, one with artists from swing states raising money for local causes, and an election drop of items they suggested were designed to be worn when you vote. “These designs are meant to express values, provoke thought, and inspire action—giving people a way to both wear their beliefs and support a cause that matters,” Merch Aid’s Chloe Saintilan said in a statement. Fairey, who released a portrait of Harris in August in the style of his famous “Hope” portrait of former President Barack Obama, has contributed his work to a number of causes this year, including an “Artists for Democracy” campaign with People for the American Way and his first-ever coin to fund grants for photojournalists.
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Artist Shepard Fairey’s Studio Number One and activist Gloria Steinem have contributed designs to a new collection from the fundraising platform Merch Aid to raise money to support voter engagement.
Merch Aid’s Election Collection features T-shirts showing a quote from Steinem embroidered in her handwriting, “If you don’t vote, you don’t count!” Fairey’s Studio Number One contributed a design showing a dove that makes the shape of a checkmark inside of a box that reads “Vote For Our Future” as well as a poster of a raised fist that says, “Your Vote Your Power.”
Fairey tells Fast Company that he hopes “the messages I create resonate with people or can be a gateway to another way of thinking, forcing people to question the system or the rhetoric.”
Fairey says that democracy doesn’t work as well as it should because of low voter turnout. “I think that participating in democracy is the only way for an individual to shape the society we live in,” he says. . . . “Voter apathy means deep-pocketed and influential forces can wield more influence within the system. Not participating makes this dynamic even worse, plus there is a lot at stake in this election. I’m voting because there are fundamental rights that are hanging in the balance—equal rights, reproductive rights, the environment, income equality, to name a few. This election is one of the most important elections we’ve had in this country.”
All the profits from the shirt and poster sales will go to a nonpartisan get-out-the-vote organization, Merch Aid says. The group also has two additional drops before Election Day, one with artists from swing states raising money for local causes, and an election drop of items they suggested were designed to be worn when you vote.
“These designs are meant to express values, provoke thought, and inspire action—giving people a way to both wear their beliefs and support a cause that matters,” Merch Aid’s Chloe Saintilan said in a statement.
Fairey, who released a portrait of Harris in August in the style of his famous “Hope” portrait of former President Barack Obama, has contributed his work to a number of causes this year, including an “Artists for Democracy” campaign with People for the American Way and his first-ever coin to fund grants for photojournalists.
