Hi,

I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!

Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right now they’re available to buy and ship worldwide at www.webworm.store.

(Boring but important sidebar: all prices are in US dollars at the moment. We’re working on a little tweak that will display things in your local currency ASAP!)

I’m not really sure how to explain how excited I am about this, so here’s a picture of my landlord modeling a Webworm t-shirt and tie dye cap. Look how happy he is!

The shop is live now with a whole bunch of Webworm items — and in the coming months we’ll keep adding new little surprises to keep you looking spicy.

I’ve been a fan of Jess Johnson’s work for a long time. She refuses to blow her own trumpet, so let me: She’s amazing. Her work — often involving video, VR and textiles — has been exhibited worldwide, and she’s repped by galleries in New York, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

And for some reason — Jess has decided to design a whole line of original Webworm merch, including t-shirts, caps and stickers.

And I couldn’t be happier.

My favourites? Me, my friends, and my friends’ kids have worn some of them for you:

Right now there are seven t-shirt designs to choose from in a variety of colours. They are all hand drawn by Jess, before being digitised and printed onto the tees. We selected colours that worked best with each design.

They come in a range of sizes, and we’ve spent many months testing the shirts, designs, prints and colours so we’re 100% happy with the results.

As well as the t-shirts, there are also a bunch of really fun stickers, and tie die embroidered caps.

I did this because I love the idea of Webworm existing out in the real world.

I personally like showing my support for stuff I like by wearing it — it’s why you see me in so many HEALTH and Nine Inch Nails shirts. And so… why not do this with Webworm?

The community that’s grown here is one of my favourite things — and this is just another way to make that more fun and interactive.

It’s also a way to keep Webworm thriving: Any money raised from the sale of this stuff gets split evenly between the creative team (Jess, and tech and design guru Bobby) and Webworm (to pay for legal advice, guest writers, and to allow me the time to write).

New designs and items will be added to the store in the coming months, reflecting the themes and ideas that Webworm deals with. It will be an ever-evolving, weird space that hopefully has something for everyone.

And again, I can’t say how happy I am that Jess is doing this collaboration. It’s a “pinch me to check I’m awake” moment for me.

Again — all this stuff is available right now to ship worldwide at webworm.store.

I’ll be in the comments all day to answer any questions!

LA Popup & Meetup!

To celebrate this new lil’ experiment, I’m really looking forward to meeting some of you at the Webworm pop-up this Saturday in Los Angeles.

Date: Saturday May 11
Time: 2pm-6pm
Location: 1944 Riverside Drive (the space directly across the parking lot from the Elysian Theatre).

I’ll just be there hanging out and selling shirts, and happy to chat Webworm, Tickled, Dark Tourist, Mister Organ and Flightless Bird; journalism and documentary; X-Files and Jurassic Park; cats and squirrels. Whatever you want, really.

Jess Johnson is also coming from her Roswell studio, and bringing a bunch of custom, one-off tie dye shirts she’s created. My friends are also coming with lil’ stores — including Everything Is Terrible, Freak Nature Puppets and the Lil’ Guys board game.

My friend Rach is baking cookies, and we’ll have a little bar of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Bring your kids, bring your dogs, bring your parrots.

My mean fear is that no-one will come — so please drop in! And tell your friends!

I’ve put the flyers on my dropbox in case you want to help spread the word.

We’ll be bringing a bunch of stuff from the online store: Caps, stickers, and tees which Jess can scribble on if you like. They’ll include the CURSED WORMS t-shirt, where you’ll find a lot of Webworm easter eggs that sum up the last four years in our lil’ community:

The PSYCHIC TV shirt will be there —

And you can grab a DINOSAUR PARK tee, inspired by the Jurassic Park Webworm event we put on in New Zealand last year — fit for child and man-child alike:

We’ll also have the ORIGINAL LOGO tee — designed by my older (and much more talented) brother Rob, plus a bunch of pop-up only tie dye tees.

When I launched Webworm four years ago with this logo (me as an anxiety-ridden worm) I never expected it to turn into this community which I love so much.

I really hope to see you at the popup — I need more LA friends! Me and Jess will be doing a similar pop-up in New Zealand later this year. Come say hi.

And in the meantime — enjoy the online store at webworm.store!

David.