Urban Mushroom was founded in the Summer of 2018 (go check out their website to learn more).
I had the privilege to join one of their workshops in March 2024. In the workshop, we got to gather in the newly built classroom. We learned the daily routine of Russell - The founder of Urban Mushroom, of how he manages his mushroom babies by making sure they grow in an organic and healthy environment. It was truly eye-opening! For me who always seeks new inspirations in nature & mushrooms being one of my favorite things to look at, I felt like I finally could see them more closely and know them more than just beautiful creatures (they are not plants, just so you know.)
After the workshop, we got to grow our little mushroom at home. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out very well for me but it was indeed a good learning experience, also got me to think of all the precise work Russell is doing in his little shed.
I started developing this set of illustration! And the idea of GIVE TO INSPIRE came to my head (Thanks to Simon Sinek's Start With Why). And I started thinking of what I can possibly do to fulfil my desire of making a nice T-shirt for Summer, but also linking the crowd that love mushrooms and to help Russell since he is doing all these amazing jobs by himself only?
That's how I started this T-shirt and this whole Campaign/ Project basically! Thanks to my friends & supports, by donating $50 out of each T-shirt, we gathered not just more than 1K but 2K to help out Russell! It also got me to think about the original plan and fear I had with this project. Being a rather sensitive person with people's opinions, your action wiped away my initial worries of this being like a scam project/ one of the many projects that is only for the show or to fulfilled one's ego rather than actually supporting organisations that deserve it. It's a team effort!
Thank you all for your support!