2026 WTJU Rock Marathon Design

We were very excited when earlier this year our favorite local radio station, WTJU 91.1FM, asked us to design their 2026 Rock Marathon t-shirt. As long time listeners who are familiar with the great fund-raising marathons the station hosts, and the fun designs people make for them, we knew we wanted to contribute however we could.

While at a concert at The Southern with DJ Fontana Mercury a few months ago, we were introduced to WTJU Rock Director DJ B-Note. After talking with us for a while, and learning about our business, she asked if we would be interested in designing the next Rock Marathon t-shirt. We said yes immediately! DJ B-Note wanted something a bit edgy, with a protest vibe, that nodded to our current political climate. On the walk home after the show, Erin thought of the infamous Sex Pistols artwork featuring Queen Elizabeth II in front of the Union Jack as a symbol of protest. Our version would feature Charlottesville’s own Thomas Jefferson as the authority figure, with a tattered American flag behind him to convey a sense of our messy era. We called the concept “Anarchy in the VA.” While we presented four design ideas to the WTJU Rock team, this was the one that earned Erin a spontaneous hug from DJ B-Note.

Our process for creating the design was a team effort! Erin came up with the idea, art direction, and typography, and Jeff created the digital artwork. We used a collage approach, with a scanned image of a $2 bill for Mr. Jefferson’s portrait, a distressed American flag that we further edited and recolored, and ripped paper textures for the eyes and mouth. To keep with the punk aesthetic, Erin used type that felt handmade and true to the era. We collaborated with DJ B-Note and DJ Ciclamino throughout the process as we refined the final artwork.

For help learning about the screen printing process we approached Thomas at Infinite Repeats. He generously checked the artwork we designed to make sure it would print true to its design. Ultimately we were able to return to Infinite Repeats and photograph Thomas through the entire printing process.

If you’re interested in learning more about our thought process, our connection to WTJU, and a little more about us, you can check out our interview with the station here.