Remembering our Roots with BHS French T-Shirts

EWI founder Evan Webster, a Brookline High alum, has been printing t-shirts for the high school’s French Trip since the early years.  The program is pretty awesome – it’s a biennial full home-and-away exchange experience for about 25 students. In France, students travel through the Loire Valley castles on their way to see their host brothers and sisters in Angers, France.  Students visit classes and take part in local visits, getting to know the culture of France before traveling on to Lower Normandy and Paris.

Back in 2009, EWI’s first year, the BHS French Trip project was the first job that required Evan to use plastisol ink.  Plastisol has better opacity for bright whites and is the most common ink used today for screen printers.  That first year, t-shirts were printed on a hand-made one color press in Evan’s mom’s basement just a block away from Brookline High.

In 2011, EWI’s six color press had seen over a year of projects flowing through his Brookline Hills basement “studio.”  Student art was used for the fun maroon tee.

By 2013, EWI had moved from Brookline, MA to Shelburne, VT.   The new studio boasts high ceilings, natural light, and creative vibrant small business neighbors in the Shelburne Green business park.  Evan can bike to work while enjoying views of rural Vermont fields, forests, and mountains.  Brookline, however, is where both Evan and EWI started.   It’s always a special treat to work with Brookline clients to be reminded of our roots and stay connected to where it all began.

Check out this year’s t-shirt – a continuation of cute student-drawn art that helps to creatively raise money for a great trip.