10. Fringe Benefits

A classic Rise Up Design by Seth Roberts. Fringe Benefits is currently being used on the front of one of our stores in Cape Town South Africa. Look out for a remixed version that is more stencil based in coming seasons.

9. Globalization

A collaborative design between Dana Mackenzie & Jesse Roberts. A humorous look at the effects of globalization. One of our current pieces featured at Metro Park, and stores worldwide. Pre-Grammy Will.I.Am Party Ken from the The Crystal Method (w/Rise Up’s globalisation tee) & Dennis from Static Revenger.

8. Pilgrim’s Progress

This powerful artwork was done by Seth Roberts for Rise Up’s first season. It got an extra boost when Robert Downey Jr. was spotted in US Weekly wearing it.

Full photo.

7. Uprising

The main elements of this tee were part of a larger series of magazine adds that Jesse Roberts did as the creative director for the POOL Trade Show. The artwork appeared in Metro.Pop, Ready Made, Racket, Modernism The New York Times, ION, Bust, Beautiful Decay, Plenty and plenty more… Even though the design was printed on a unique color it proved to be a best seller for a few seasons and was carried by majors Metro Park.

6. Do I Look Illegal?

In response to Arizona’s Bill SB1070 we urged people to wear this shirt in defiance to the new bill which violates basic human rights The response was overwhelming! People joined forces to help raise awareness against it & we shipped shirts all over the country during the summer of ‘10. Click to see the Men’s Tee & Women’s Tee. Much thanks to Vanessa Bryant, (wife of Lakers super-star Kobe) who helped support our awareness campaign by wearing the “Do I look Illegal” shirt to game one of the Lakers playoff series against the Phoenix Suns. This may be our best selling online design ever, and we hope we played a small part in raising awareness which had led to the bill being suspended. Designed by Jesse Roberts.

5. Earth’s Guardians

Artwork by Dana Mackenzie this iconic design has been used as a symbol of Rise Up’s humanitarian movement. Maybe more than any other designs it symbolizes our core vision!

4. Sprout

Designed by Seth Roberts to help Rise Up launch it’s first series of organic tees. This design was used by the POOL Trade Show for it’s first Eco area of the show known as S(eco)nd. It has been beloved by Rise Up fans everywhere.

3. Silenced

A few seasons ago Seth Roberts killed it again and created one of Rise Up’s most powerful images. We have many stories about this design, but one of our favorites is when some Native American Elders took a handful of these tees from us at Earth Dance last summer and generously thanked us for spreading the message.

2. War Pageant

Seth Roberts created the quintessential Rise Up design three years ago for our first collection at the POOL Trade Show. Mindy Wiener, show director at the time said that after seeing thousands of designs over the course of the week that War Pageant was her favorite. As a result Rise Up was invited to be creative directors for the following POOL Trade Show, during MAGIC August 2007. The exposure helped propel Rise Up into a global brand. Three years later War Pageant is still being carried by stores around the world. A new batch will be hitting Metro Park this March 2010. (Thanks to Switchfoot for supporting Rise Up over the years. Here’s Jon Foreman rocking our War Pageant tee during a studio session.)

1. War Hurts

In 2006, frustrated by the Iraq War & the religious right’s support of the conflict, Jesse Roberts created an image for a pro-peace rally in California. With the help of some friends the design was picked up by major retailers: Urban Outfitters, The Buckle, Metro Park, Up Against The Wall, and stores worldwide. The satisfaction of having his message through art exposed to such a large audience inspired Jesse to start Rise Up. With the help of his brother Seth and a group of friends Rise Up released their first line February 2007 at the POOL Trade Show.

(The very funny Margaret Cho rocking the War Hurts Shirt in San Francisco.)

Honorable Mentions:

1. Asalam – One of our best selling girls designs. By renowned artist Adam Haynes.

2. Obama Is The New Black – Before Shep released his famous Obey Obama tee & the Obama tee craze, Seth Roberts designed a semi-controversial Obama tee which has been one of our most profitable designs to date. It was carried by major retailers, we had the luck of perfect timing before the storm.

3. Monks by Jesse Roberts was very well received by our core, and at one point was one of our top sellers.

4. Keffiyeh’s – Yes you can buy these on the streets of Barcelona or Paris, but Rise Up has established itself has one of the major web suppliers of Keffiyeh’s via our online store at Karmaloop. Maybe it’s due to the controversy, or lil Wayne, but THANK YOU!