Students for Justice in Palestine Shirt Design

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Illinois at Chicago launched a fundraising campaign featuring specially designed shirts. The shirts showcase the map of Palestine adorned with poppies, the national flower.

This project marked my first attempt at shirt design—a valuable learning journey. Initially, we encountered challenges with the first batch, prompting an eventual second launch. The original design proved intricate for the print shop, and the initial shirts were of low quality, resulting in premature fading and peeling after washing. I openly acknowledge these missteps as part of my commitment to growth and improvement in design and working with manufacturers and third party venders.

In response, I acquired a new print shop and the revised design streamlined the petal details for easier printing and incorporated a sleeve design contributed by a colleague. The overall design also appeared larger on the shirt. The sleeve features the word "Resistance" alongside a key symbol, representing the enduring struggle of Palestinians reclaiming their ancestral homes following displacement and ethnic cleansing by the zionist entity known as Israel. Many Palestinians still carry keys to the homes they were forced to leave.