Seeking an opportunity to combine his passions for social justice, art, and entrepreneurship, Charlie Booth, a multifaceted Fifth Former, recently revamped his graphic design t-shirt company, Ebb & Flow. With the intention of spreading social awareness, each product is fashioned with unique artwork and designs, created by local artists. Charlie’s idea for a socially-conscious fashion company began 5 years ago in 2014, and recently he introduced some cool new designs and a new e-commerce platform, hoping to improve sales.
I asked Charlie how the program worked: “It’s pretty simple really. I enlist the help of qualified teens and get them to submit unique designs in Illustrator, Photoshop or PDF. I choose the ones I think will sell and put them on the web site. I don’t do slogans or political stuff. I like designs which reflect the laid-back image of Ebb & Flow. The artists get $5 per shirt and the profits go to a social cause that I choose. Right now, I am really focusing on climate change, an existential threat to us all. The Grantham Foundation in Boston is fighting climate change by supercharging the communications of the problem. I have a friendly printer in Canton that likes what I am trying to do; she gives me a great price for the shirts.” The designs and photos on the shirts are displayed on Ebb & Flow’s easily navigable website. Once you enter in your PayPal credentials, Charlie delivers the shirts himself or mails them. Each shirt costs $19.99, so with $5 to the artist and less than $10 for the printed shirt, Charlie reckons his company is profitable. Charlie has embarked on a social media campaign to raise interest in the company and invites everyone to follow @ebbandflowtees on Instagram. Charlie hopes that with his company, one will be able to “find something you’d be happy to have on a t-shirt.”
