As a communications specialist and co-creative director at the branding and marketing firm of Renaissance Creative, Tim Hamby knows something about engaging the attention of others.
As a Christian with a strong desire to get today’s “social” generation talking about Jesus Christ, he believes he may have found a clever way to do it by combining his personal and professional passions.
Hamby is the creator of Sanctitees, a unique new line of Christian t-shirts that have come out just in time for the Christmas season. Sanctitees shirts feature quotes of Jesus, purposely selected to provoke curiosity and conversation. The modern, minimalist designs of clean white text on black fashion tees feature quotes that when read alone are either curious, funny, inspiring or provocative.
Examples include, “Feed my sheep”, “Am I leading a rebellion?”, “Where is your faith?”, “I am willing” and “Stop judging by mere appearances”.
On the sleeve of each t-shirt are three numbers that correspond to the book, chapter and verse numbers of the quotes on the tees. Names of the books of the Bible were purposely not used, so that the Biblical nature of the tees would not be obvious. The reason, according to Hamby, is that “the purpose of the shirts is to inspire questions from people who see them, allowing wearers to engage those who ask in a conversation about Jesus.”
To help the wearer in their response, each Sanctitee tee-shirt comes with an oversized hang tag/bookmark that directly identifies the book, chapter and verse of each quote and provides a thorough explanation of the meaning behind the scripture. For the sake of consistency, all scripture was pulled from the New International Version of the Bible, published by Zondervan.
Also, while the Sanctitees concept is geared toward stimulating and encouraging face-to-face social interaction, Hamby did not ignore contemporary society’s love affair with all things interactive, including the desire to participate in and help control the creation of the product. A form of “crowdsourcing”, this kind of involvement not only emotionally engages the consumer, but also provides useful criteria for market-relevant improvements. There are 12 quotes by Jesus in the initial design collection and visitors to the website will be able to peruse 40 additional selections, vote on their favorites, and/or submit their own ideas. The best submissions will be added to the vote list and the ones that get the most votes will be on the next shirts that go into production.
Initially, Sanctitees shirts will be sold exclusively online at www.sanctitees.com, but plans are already in the works to place the shirts with select retailers.
“They’re just really fun,” says Hamby. “Fun to wear; fun to read and vote on; fun to research, to try to find the most compelling quotes. They’re a great way to get people to read the Bible, while also focusing on the most powerful parts — the actual words of Jesus. But most importantly, they provide a way to engage others in a casual conversation that can ultimately change lives.”
All Sanctitees t-shirts are soft, stylish 100% cotton (American Apparel), made in the USA. There are separate styles for both men and women.
