Okay, so I went down a bit of a rabbit hole recently trying to find some decent psychology-themed stuff. Not like textbook covers, you know? More like cool, subtle things – maybe a mug, a t-shirt, something you’d actually use or wear.
It started because I wanted a gift for a friend who’s really into behavioral psych. I started searching online, typing in the usual stuff. Honestly, a lot of what popped up was either super cheesy, like “Freud’s Mom” type jokes, or really clinical and boring looking. Just diagrams of brains or complicated theory names that didn’t look great slapped onto a shirt. Not quite the vibe I was going for.
After clicking through pages and pages on different sites, I got pretty frustrated. It felt like there wasn’t much out there that was clever or well-designed without being overly loud about it. I just wanted something that maybe hinted at a concept, like classical conditioning or cognitive biases, but in a more creative way.
Trying to Make My Own Thing
So, I figured, how hard could it be to make something myself? I’d seen those print-on-demand websites where you can upload a design and they put it on whatever product you want. Seemed straightforward enough.
My first idea was a simple t-shirt. I thought about using a minimalist design related to Pavlov’s dogs. Just a simple bell icon, maybe? I messed around with some free design tools online. Let me tell you, making something look good, even something simple, is harder than it looks. My first few attempts just looked… amateurish. Like, really basic clip art.
Then I tried a mug design. I found a quote about cognitive dissonance I liked. Slapped it onto a mug template on one of those sites. Ordered just one to see how it turned out. When it arrived, the print quality was okay, but the placement looked a bit off. And honestly, staring at the quote, it felt less cool and more like I was trying too hard.
A Bit of a Rethink
Alright, plan B. Maybe designing from scratch wasn’t my strong suit right now. I started looking differently – not just for “psychology merchandise,” but maybe for independent artists or designers on places like Etsy or Redbubble who had a style I liked, and seeing if they had anything related to science or brains or thinking, even if not explicitly psychology.
That approach worked a little better. I found some stuff that was more abstract or artistic. Not exactly what I first imagined, but closer. Found a few sticker designs that were pretty neat – one was a stylized neuron, another played visually with an optical illusion related to perception.
What I Ended Up With
In the end, I didn’t find that one perfect item I had in my head initially. But the process was interesting. Here’s what I actually got:
- A couple of those cool, artsy stickers I found from an independent artist. Put one on my laptop.
- A notebook with a subtle brain-pattern cover. It wasn’t explicitly “psychology” themed, but it felt relevant enough and looked nice.
- I eventually found a t-shirt with a very simple, minimalist maze design. Again, not screaming “psychology!”, but it hinted at problem-solving and cognition, which I liked.
So yeah, the whole adventure didn’t lead to me starting my own merch empire or anything. Mostly, it just showed me that finding niche, well-designed stuff can be tricky. And that maybe my graphic design skills need some serious work before I try making my own things again. But hey, I got a few cool items out of it and learned a bit about those print-on-demand services. It was a process.
