Beltsville resident designs attire to improve self-esteem

Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007

Beltsville resident designs attire to improve self-esteem

by Jeffrey K. Lyles | Staff Writer

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Greg Dohler⁄The Gazette

Graphic designer Cheriss May of Beltsville has produced a line of T-shirts that bear positive messages.

Beltsville resident Cheriss May, 35, wasn’t pleased with the negative messages youth were showcasing on their shirts, so she decided she’d provide a more positive alternative with her Unified Soul clothing line.

‘‘There are a lot of the young kids wearing misogynistic graphic tees with sexual overtones or curse words and they’re presented in a way as if they’re almost trying to spin it in a positive light,” May said. ‘‘I’d ask them what does that shirt mean and is that who you are. The answer would always be ‘It’s just a shirt.’ But it’s not just a shirt but who you represent and what you subscribe to.”

After trying to come up with designs on the computer, the graphic designer said she felt inspired to come up with her own messages for youth, especially young girls, to wear. Some of the shirts have messages like ‘‘Soul, I love who I am” and ‘‘HBCU [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] Soul, I love who I am.” The shirts aren’t just limited to English. They are available in Spanish, German, Swahili and other languages.

‘‘Young girls’ self-esteem is very low,” May said. ‘‘The youth would wear certain things just for attention’s sake. I wanted to provide a positive alternative that promotes self-love.”

May began working on the idea in June 2006 and starting the business by herself proved to be challenging as she juggled designing, Web site maintenance and promotion with her full-time job as a graphic designer for an area newspaper.

‘‘It was a lot of late nights and early mornings,” May said.

Posting her T-shirts on the social networking Web site MySpace proved to be an effective advertising tool as Soul: ID, a R&B group from Brussels contacted her about designing their official shirts.

‘‘It’s been amazing,” May said. ‘‘They actually did a photo shoot with my shirts and did performances in the Netherlands with the shirts. That’s been interesting.”

The shirts received further exposure on Aug. 9 when one of the hosts of popular Black Entertainment Television show ‘‘106 and Park” wore one of the shirts. A Philadelphia boutique, The Kulture Shop, is also stocking the shirts.

May, who has also been teaching advertising⁄copy writing⁄design at Howard University since 2003, said she feels blessed to be able to spread her message.

‘‘To me the important thing is that people are embracing the message,” May said. ‘‘The response has been really positive. It amazes me how far it’s reached out. I’ve had people place orders from the U.K. and I’m wondering how they even heard about it.”

Denise Pumphrey, who runs screen printing business Pump Tees in Silver Spring, has worked with May since her shirts were in the conceptual stage and continues to offer design advice.

‘‘When [May] came up with the concept, I thought it was a good idea because she’s doing something different,” she said. ‘‘We print for a lot of people who want to design their own lines of clothing but fail because it’s not that unique.”

Pumphrey attributes the line’s success to May’s willingness to venture beyond the norm.

‘‘She’s making the shirts in different languages so they’re not just regular clothing but they also have a meaning,” Pumphrey said. ‘‘It seems to be working. She’s supposed to be doing it for dogs now believe it or not.”

For more information, visit May’s Web site at www.lovewhoiam.com.

E-mail Jeffrey K. Lyles at jlyles@gazette.net.