Stellar Kin Shirt

Band merch design - Stellar Kin "heart" shirt

Stellar Kin | Bowling Green, KY

I toured with the band Stellar Kin for six years. In addition to writing and performing, I created all of our band merch design. It is a special feeling to know that there are hundreds of these floating around out there with my former band’s name emblazoned on them.

Band merch design story

This shirt design is one of my favorites. I sought out to use an alternative placement from the beginning. Why not wrap the art around the side? The story of how the artwork came together for this jade green shirt is a unique one.

When I lived in Bowling Green, Kentucky, I came home from work one day to find that a neighbor’s home had burned down. Some of the debris had blown into my yard. I picked up a burnt piece of a page from the Bible. It instantly inspired me to create a unique band merch design. Not only did it contain scriptures about how we are called by God to love one another, it was distinctly shaped like one half of a heart. I scanned both sides of the page and simplified it to a simple high contrast solid black.

After I mirrored the two sides of the page to form the focal heart image, the phrase “Love never fails, even when we do.” came to mind. It sums up the main idea of the scriptures, as well as a personal mantra for myself. I set this text in a distressed typewriter font across a grungy faux papyrus scroll.

I distressed the band name “Stellar Kin” as well, featuring it in a pirate style script. Finally, I colored in the background of the art with some hot pink paint swaths to add extra chaos, while still tying the art together.

Your band needs a graphic artist for your apparel art.

I love working with independent musicians when they need merchandise designs. Bonus points for an unusual concept or a random twist on a conventional idea. Contact me today to get started!