By Carmen M. Woodson-Wray, Gary Crusader
Some 20 years ago, Patrick Broden discovered the love he had for artistic designing so he enrolled in school to further his skills. Now after years of furthering his artistry Broden has now started his own business designing T-shirts under the name Tension Design.
He started his business by selling is shirts going to barber shops, beauty shops and car washes to anyone interested in his designs. Now that his business has picked up tremendously he designs shirts for individuals, family reunions, church groups and even for schools with their logos and their sporting teams. One of the schools he has designed shirts for is the Heritage Institute of Art and Technology in Merrillville.
Broden said one of his most interesting shirts depicts a shadow of a person in three stages that their life could possibly take. He said, “The shirts show a person’s shadow in three life directions. The first shows a person’s life that could be in jail, the second one shows it dead and the third shows it as a graduate.”
Broden says he gets the ideas for the wording on his shirts from God. One of his shirts says “If You Prayed About it, Don’t Worry About It”.
He does not use ink on his shirt designs which makes the wording last longer than the shirts. He said, “I make the designs on my laptop vinyl which is very durable when you wash it. It will be there forever and outlast the shirt.”
Broden says he is learning more and more about his craft because of all the technology available. “I’m 50 years old. I’ve been out her for 15 years. I came back into it when my 8-year-old son was playing football and my wife told one of the parents that that I did T-shirts and that’s what encouraged me to get back into it. If I do it, I’m going all the way with it. I was born with this and it’s not hard for me to do. I’ve been working in the mill for 17 years and this keeps me rounded.”
Borden’s shirts are available in all sizes up to 7X.
