Local, Small and Cute All Over: Scared Panda T-Shirts

By Kim Bellware in Miscellaneous on Sep 7, 2010 9:40PM

Tamale! Tamale! t-shirt/ photo courtesy of Scared Panda

A shirt sporting tamales peeking out from a red cooler might be a little too esoteric of a reference for anyone but a Chicago denizen, but from the Scared Panda perspective, that’s entirely the point. “We definitely want our shirts to reflect the vibe of [Chicago],” says Kaitlin Olson, who along with co-founder Clint McMahon started the t-shirt company Scared Panda last year. “[The design ideas] are usually from an experience we've had in Chicago that we think other people have probably run into at some point or another.”

Though Scared Panda co-founders originally hail from the Twin Cities, Olsen said their love of travel and exploration led them to Chicago where their desire to create something in their community spurred the idea of a company that was focused locally in both its inspiration and philanthropic efforts. Scared Panda finds artists through a number of different channels (including Craigslist and word-of-mouth referrals) and are, according to Olson, involved in every step of process, right down to which Chicago non-profit receives a portion of the shirt sales. "We want each shirt to reflect the personality of that particular artist so we're very selective when choosing our artists,” says Olson. “It's important they get what we're about and that there's some chemistry there.”

So far, The Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago, Mercy Home for Boys & Girls and Esperanza Community Services, among others, have all benefited in partnership with the company. Olson says than in 2011, the company will narrow its efforts and select one area non-profit to partner with on a year-long basis. "It allows us to make a bigger impact and to get more involved with the nonprofit," explains Olson. "We're going to let the public help us choose a nonprofit and I think that will help people get excited and get involved in our volunteer days we do throughout the year. We'd rather be able to make a big difference to one non-profit than a tiny difference to multiple. It will allow us to really form a relationship with them, too."

Keeping a narrow focus is all part of the big picture for Scared Panda, who produces only 150 runs of each design. "By limiting the number of t-shirts we print and designs we produce we can focus on quality over quantity," says Olson. "Another reason is that people want to be unique. I, like most people, cringe when I see someone wearing the same shirt or dress as me. We want our shirts to be one-of-a-kind, something people will be proud to wear."

Olson says there are plans to produce a few more designs before the year is out, hinting at a winter themed shirt and an updated logo (the company name, Olson reveals, was inspired by the "sexual harassment episode" of South Park). The updated logo, Olson notes, will be incorporated in all future designs, just one of the many plans she and McMahon have planned for their burgeoning business. "We're having so much fun with [Scared Panda] and we really love everything about it," says Olson. "It's very exciting to watch it take off -- people are excited about the shirts and the nonprofits and that's very fun for us."