Art for XMRV Action postcards, t shirts

[citybug]

Art for XMRV Action postcards, t shirts, and bags!

I set up a zazzle account with some images that appealed to me from the forums, for actions and to benefit WPI.

I think that images with our letters can help us be remembered. Postcards could be sent to representatives, maybe an aide would post them in the office. Postcards don't have the same security delay as letters. You can send a personal handwritten note. The cards online are customizable, you can get a blank postcard or add text. You can also use it as online inspiration. I hope to collect more images of actions. These could be an addition to the daily email action.

There are other products including buttons, already a couple of mugs were sent to Collins and Sebelius.

It's like an art project or a bake sale to make money for WPI, with 10-20% of any sales donated to WPI (rest to zazzle).

So far there are panels from Dreambirdie's youtube video CFS Patients Address the CDC, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7VdXX9P58w (these have the highest print resolution), Rivka's one woman protest (and her Mom!) video http://peggymunson.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-awesome-friend-rivka-staged-one.html, Villagelife's WPI 's opening celebration artwork from a thread here, and my protest sign drawings.

If there are any actions around the CFSAC meeting, please try to get some high pixel images and with some signs parallel to the picture plane.

I haven't seen the finished products yet. Anyone else want to post their t shirt sites on this thread?

http://www.zazzle.com/artforxmrv

 

[Tammie]

I think the postcards are a great idea and the pics shown on this link are great; however, personally I would never order t-shirts from zazzel....really normally would not order anythign from them, but since I don't know of anywhere else to have postcards made, I might get those through them

there are several places that you can use to have t-shirts made, though the one that I have found to be the best (& have heard others say the same thing) is cafe press....I think that the living death pic and the AIDS comparison pic would make good t-shirts, too

I wrote about zazzel elsewhere (as to why they are so bad).....I will post it here, too when I have a chance

sorry, I really don't like to shoot down good ideas, and I do think the post cards are still a possibility (even through zazzel)....but I would definitely get the t-shirts elsewhere

 

[Tammie]

ok, here's why I don't like zazzel at all.....

in my own experience (& that of friends), they have:

-failed to include the entire order (which only had three things so it was not even like they had a huge amount to deal with and could have easily missed one), then they ridiculously tried to blame me for their error & tried to get out of ever sending the rest of my order (their main explanation was that I must have missed the shirt even though they HAD to have included it in the bag - they most definitely did not include it, and there was no way to miss it - though they role their shirts together, I took them apart and tried them on immediately upon receiving the order, and then double and triple checked that it wasn't in the small bag and had not dropped out on my floor)

-taken a very long time to respond to problems (two months)

-failed to answer direct questions re certain products (a couple of questions a friend had re the material used and the type of transfer - and he wanted to place an order, so this wasn't them trying to get out of a problem...they were very pushy and yet would not give him a straight answer)

- taken a couple of months to send a product (when inquiries were made, they said they had failed to put the order through properly and would put the order back into the que (rather than consider an already late due to their mistake order as priority and move it to the front of the que)

-terrible quality; the material in one shirt I got from them was so poorly made it literally fell apart after ONE washing, and the couple of other things I ordered from them were not much better quality & fit oddly

-sent emails that have generally been very rude and condescending (to me as well as to a friend- and the emails that were sent to zazzel in the first place were never even a little rude, so there was no excuse - not that they should be responding rudely to customers even if there were an excuse)

-no contact phone number or address, so email is the only way to get in touch with them with questions and/or problems

 

[ballard]

Free Graphic



This is the first time I have tried to post a graphic on PR. If it doesn't work, I'll try again.

Our local CFS support group sent this postcard to our legislators this year. We made 137
individual contacts.

Some of the postcards also read "CFS Ruins Lives."

The back of the postcards were pre-addressed to the legislator and read:

"Chronic Fatigue Syndrome creates a level of disability comparable to MS, chemotherapy, and the final stages of AIDS.
CFS receives inadequate research funding due to widespread misunderstanding.
Funding by the NIH for MS research is 140 million dollars. Funding for CFS research is 5 million dollars.
Please take action now. Increase CFS funding to match the level of disability."

All our members had to do was sign their names to the postcards, so this project was "easy advocacy."

If anyone would like to use this graphic for any cause that benefits CFS research in any way,
please do so.
Best wishes.

 

[ballard]

I don't know how to post the above CFS graphic so that it is large enough to see, but if you click on the graphic it will become larger.

I would love it if someone would tell me how to make a graphic appear larger on PR without having to click on it. :Sign Help:

The third line above should have read : Some of the postcards also said "Solve CFS Now."

 

[citybug]

Hi Tammie,
I believe you about the t shirts but I think it's worth trying the other products. They do have a lot of card sales. On the t shirts you can choose the brand of t shirt like American Apparel instead of their bargain shirt. They do use a different print process. If anyone wants to set up a cafe press account it would be great. I used paypal for my order to see some cards and buttons just in case any problem. And zazzle has 30 day money back. Was your experience with them recent?

There was just a demo in Rome with socks and t shirts. Did anyone see that on Facebook? They had shirts that said mistreated abandoned and ignored on the front (I think, guessing from Italian), one said invisible on the back.

 

[citybug]

Ballard great card. Can you say what state did that? Did you have labels to stick on or preprinted addresses? The congressional districts are so varied I wonder how you did it. And if a coalition of local support groups is built, it seems like the regions that group together are the strongest, like the NJ group doing a conference is a coalition of groups in the state. Should I put it up on zazzle with text?

Villagelife did you see all the positive comments on facebook about your work? Someone else had posted the WPI picture.

 

[ballard]

Our card came from The SeattleCFS Support Group. The back side of the card included the text on one side and the Congressperson's name beside the text with a place for a stamp and a return address. It was all pre-printed and I just ran it off on card stock on my home printer. All the support group members had to do was sign and mail the postcard. If they were unable to get to the post office easily, I mailed the card for them. Many of the members of the group asked their family and friends to send cards, too.

For congresspersons in other states, on appropriations committees, the cards were hand addressed.

If you pm me and give me your address, I will send you a master copy that you can put on your printer and make your own postcards, if you wish. (while supplies last)
If you think zazzle would be good, thanks, that would be fine.
Best Regards

 

[Tammie]

Hi Tammie,
I believe you about the t shirts but I think it's worth trying the other products. They do have a lot of card sales. On the t shirts you can choose the brand of t shirt like American Apparel instead of their bargain shirt. They do use a different print process. If anyone wants to set up a cafe press account it would be great. I used paypal for my order to see some cards and buttons just in case any problem. And zazzle has 30 day money back. Was your experience with them recent?

There was just a demo in Rome with socks and t shirts. Did anyone see that on Facebook? They had shirts that said mistreated abandoned and ignored on the front (I think, guessing from Italian), one said invisible on the back.

several experiences, not just one & I have tried different brands of shirts - I gave them a couple of chances and I also have a couple of friends who have tried them.....none of us had good experiences

the worst one for me, though, was the most recent - probably about a yr ago (though one of my friend's experiences was more recent than that....probably 4 months ago, maybe less)

as to the money back thing - it is great if they actually honor it, but based on the previously noted experiences, trying to contact them is not easy and takes so long, it would not surprise me if they were to delay responding and then say it is past the 30 days.....or just never respond at all.....sorry - I really try to give individual people and companies the benfit of the doubt, but they had several chances and after the way they responded, I would never give them another....just not worth it, esp with really no recourse

like you said, the postcards may be better & I truly hope they are

 

[ballard]

View attachment Everybody's CFS R&#1.pdfView attachment CFS Ruins Lives M&#9.pdf[/ATTACH]

Here's a little postcard making kit. I print these postcards out on both sides of card stock on my home computer. I cut them apart and then our support group sends them out. Easy.

To save time, cards to our congressional delegation were pre-addressed. A card was made for each legislator and printed in multiples.

The cards that say "We Salute You" were sent to people who help us, such as researchers and people like Anne Whittemore.

I am new at sending attachments, I hope this works.

 

[ballard]

Well, the attachments didn't work quite as I had imagined, but if you click on "Solve", "Everybody's" and "CFS Ruins" you will find all of the masters ready for printing. "Everybody's" contains two pages. :Retro smile:

 

[citybug]

Thanks Ballard. I want to try them out and then ask questions if I run into any.

 

[citybug]

View attachment 4291View attachment 4292[/ATTACH]

Here's a little postcard making kit. I print these postcards out on both sides of card stock on my home computer. I cut them apart and then our support group sends them out. Easy.

I forgot there were more files so I didn't do both sides, but I printed out CFS Ruins Lives and it was very easy. Just print one page, and there are marks for cutting into 4 postcards.

My only question is how do you make a pdf for images like this?

 

[citybug]

Postcards and Make your own button

I got the postcards I ordered and they look really good. Especially http://www.zazzle.com/dreambirdie_devastating_postcard-239388854375396947

They have a nice postcard weight and professional looking printing. "minimal funding after 30 long years" is cropped close to the type but still reads well. Those black and white images are really rich. I also did Clinical Trials Now and a couple of mine. Unfortunately I got several Dear Dr. Collins for my support group with preprinted message. We can still use them but I guess messages will be changing quickly. I got the more expensive tracking option for shipping which was about $8 from west coast to east US. There are separate charges for the different type items ie. postcards are manufactured and shipped separately from pins and magnets, which they show before check out.

I also got a couple magnets and square pins. They feel like metal. The quality seems good, I just wish I got bigger than 2 inch buttons, and had more message choices. I have some text to try out but they aren't the right file type -still learning.

People could also print their own button (or draw) on labels and stick them on their coats.
One idea:

XMRV
ACT NOW

You can make screen printed shirts at zazzle if you order 12 or more (with your own images) which should be standard screen printing methods.

 

[faisalmajeed]

great work

 

[pictureofhealth]

One of the funniest slogans a UK forum member came up with a few years ago, during a dark but comic moment, really made me laugh -

"Myalgic Encephalomyelitis! If you think that's hard to spell, you should try living with it!"

Its a bit impractical, due to length of message, for T-shirt printing and it isn't a campaign slogan, but it did make me chuckle!

I remember the slogan, but I really wish I could remember the guy's name ...

 

[citybug]

Now there are shopping bags, totes on www.zazzle.com/artforxmrv. See Bags. Since it is winter up here and not t shirt weather, these can transmit a message no matter what you are wearing. I put 10% for WPI to keep costs low. Some are 9.95 or 14.95 and cotton. I can add more slogans, (send a pm). You can also experiment with make a product and save it, to see how it fits.

The site has a code for free shipping for $50. And here is a code for free shipping on mugs MUGSHIP4FREE until 12.31.10. Order early, that's for slow shipping.

Also remember to do holiday shopping with igive.com. You can go to their site mall, or download toolbar for IE or Firefox (firefox add ons) so they keep track automatically. At Igive choose Whittemore Peterson Institute for your charity, or group of your choice. Then 2-4% or more of your purchases goes to the charity.

http://www.zazzle.com/bag_xmrv_research_act_now-149033800464379477
http://www.zazzle.com/bag_89_27_trials_now-149867531978768812

I need a good slogan about the money.

 

[citybug]

There are some powerful new images of the UK protest by photographer Mario Mitsis from demotix.com in the card section.

And I posted on the holiday cards in the other thread. There is are protest bags with I've been, or my friend has been sick for ___ years.

Here are some codes from zazzle
Free shipping on orders of $50 or more Use Code: FREESHIPFORU
HLDYGREETNGS for discount on cards

 

[citybug]

Now there are some bumperstickers, bags with slogans and a few holiday cards.
Unfortunately there is no way to post their file images. You have to click on the link.
http://www.zazzle.com/artforxmrv
Maybe people will see the cards and learn about XMRV.

 

[BEG]

citybug, Nice artwork. The Holiday Card sale is wonderful. I like notecards because I can't write much at a time. The option to choose the size of the card is great. Thanks.