T-shirts as an artform? If you listen to the guys behind Faveur clothing, you just might believe it. Even the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) has asked for these guys to showcase their wares as part of a new design exhibit. In this feature, founders James and Bryan Atwood tell us about the idea, the future of these walking storyboards, and how to get creative with your message.

Matt: Some fascinating things are happening within the clothing industry of t-shirts almost becoming the new art form. Is that what drew you into this whole venture with Faveur?

James: We actually didn't pick it because of that. We started basically because it was happening. When we jumped in it, we didn't know anything about t-shirts, clothing or even art for that matter. But when we jumped in it, we realized there was a whole world out there - basically, a huge movement of using t-shirts not only for branding or advertising and those purposes, but as a canvas for art.

Can you talk about that idea a bit more of the t-shirt as a canvas?

James: Everywhere you go and everywhere you're at, you take that canvas and art with you. You're on exhibit. It's not just in a museum or magazine, but you're a walking canvas. To me, that's phenomenal. It makes it more accessible to get to see what hundreds of thousands of gifted people can do. It gives the designers a chance to have their work seen by the masses.

Bryan: One of the things when we first started that we tried to do, since all of our stuff is based on Scripture and faith, is to use a graphic or design that gets the attention and makes someone ask, "What does that mean?" It's how we try to separate ourselves from just making Christian t-shirts.

We want to let the people do the talking, not the t-shirt. A lot of people have a fish or some Christian bumper sticker and then that same person flips you off in traffic. A lot of people don't live a life that shows the best of Christ. But in this case, we look at the verse in Revelation 12:11, which says, "They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony." It was our idea to create something where you can share your testimony and you can have a conversation with someone rather than just billboard evangelism.

So that was the mindset when you first started?

Bryan: Yes. My brother - he could say this a little better - felt like God put on his heart what to call the company. Faveur, which is named after the favor of God. I was in school at Virginia Tech getting my Masters in Architecture whenever he got this word from God. We'd never done any kind of t-shirt or clothing or anything like that.

He was in Atlanta at the time, so I drove down there one weekend and we started working on t-shirts. The first few, as far as artwork, weren't the best. (Laughs). God's really blessed us in the last six months and just opened our eyes and our ability. Our church has a solid church and we're able to do stuff for them and other organizations we've had a chance to work with now.

You said you wanted to create these conversation pieces. Are you seeing that happen?

Bryan: It's hard to trace, except for MySpace. We can see for ourselves. We went to music festivals like Cornerstone or I preached at Youthfest and I can talk to people there. Casting Crowns has a song "Freedom" and they said our shirts reminded them of that. But MySpace is a great window for us because people comment and talk about whatever situation they went through and how they got to talk because of the shirt.

Now you both were going very different career directions and were quite successful from what I understand. How did all of this start?

Bryan: James had a construction company and I was still getting my Masters working on a solar house competition at Virginia Tech. I was wanting to be an architect and my brother's business was going strong. One day, we were both in Columbia because I had just started working for an architecture firm there and we met with a guy doing some videos for us for an event we were doing that summer. We're in the truck praying after this meeting at a coffeeshop.

At that point, I felt God put on my heart that we were treating this like a hobby even though we were called to do this. I'm not sure if God was telling me to quit my job, but it scared the crap out of me. (Laughs). I called my brother and said, "God's telling me something, but I don't want to tell you about it. If it's really from God, then you can tell me."

Then he said, "I think that God wants us to change what we're doing. We should treat it like it's full-time and to change our priorities." My brother let his business go and I quit doing architecture and we went full-time. The more we've gotten into this, the more than God has blessed us. We feel like our talents are increasing the more we turn to it.

James: The first original date was at the end of 2004. I was taking a red-eye to Tampa and praying to God about some drastic changes in my life. At that point, I got off the plane and driving to our apartment there in Tampa that we had for work and just felt like God told me, "This is what I want you to do. I want you to put Scripture as artwork on shirts." (Laughs).

Maybe somebody will see it but they won't think it's faith-based. That's okay. The message is still there. That next day I called Bryan and said, "This is gonna sound crazy, but what do you think?" That weekend, we spent all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday cranking out designs and they were really bad. (Laughs).

Worst design ever?

Bryan: Oh, yeah! "Soup in Hell." Gotta be. It was just a bowl of soup and it said, "They don't serve soup in hell." (Laughs).

James: You know, there was no originality to it. Don't get me wrong, it still is a great conversation piece. So I guess in that way, it was good. But it's just bad. It's worse than bad. Lord, forgive us for making it. (Laughs).

You laugh about that, but it brings up this idea of artistic responsibility. Do you feel that tension?

Bryan: Absolutely. First and foremost, we've always known the line that it is a business and there's no doubt about that. But our hearts are in the ministry of it. Even today after a year and a half, it's still hard to draw the line. But in the art aspect of it, we decided we have to give this up as a hobby. And at that point, we got really convicted on what we were putting out. The designs we were putting out and the garments we put the designs on, there was no quality involved in it. I hate to say it.

So we decided that if we're gonna do this, we have to make the best design for the messages on our heart on the best garment that we can possibly do and not settle for "This isn't bad." About five or six months ago when that happened, our whole design completely changed. Before that, we would come up with a concept and then get other people to develop the design for us. From that point, we brought everything in-house. We don't let anybody touch our designs. We control them from beginning to end and if they're successful or not, it's only between us and God.

You guys have your shirts at the Museum of Design Atlanta [MODA]. That's amazing. How did that happen?

James: We got an e-mail one day from Laura Moody, the art director for MODA. It said, "Hey we saw your designs. They're absolutely original and unique. If you'd like to enter them, we're having a t-shirt culture exhibit."

What are they trying to accomplish through this exhibit?

James: They're trying to show through the exhibit that the t-shirt is the new billboard. They are the new canvas. They're the new graffiti. It's become a whole culture, like you said. It's an expression of whoever you are, what music you listen to, your faith, your likes and dislikes or the books you read. That's what they presented at the museum and they did a phenomenal job. We went there for the opening night and they did a phenomenal job. They had people from all over the world and some really phenomenal artwork.

How many t-shirts are on display?

Bryan: Oh, wow! There are three galleries that are nothing but t-shirts. It's just huge man. It's actually amazing because you get to see some really talented people. Some of them are off.

What's great about it is that you actually had to send a bio of your company in. For us, we just said, "This is who we are. We're a faith-based clothing line and these are expressions of our faith in Christ." The fact that they saw that and still accepted that and printed it... it's hanging in the museum along with our designs.

Does that feel like the strongest validation you've received?

Bryan: Absolutely! I think just being recognized outside of the Christian t-shirt realm, as we call it. Going to our first designs, I think they were mercy buys. (Laughs). I really believe that. Some people will buy it or accept it no matter if it's good or not because it's Christian. I believe that's exactly what we were - a company that was Christian that made shirts and we sold stuff based on that alone.

I think MODA took us out of that. Now it's not based on anything but the unique designs of our shirts. It's a huge change.