Since that first project in 2011 when Tyler literally and figuratively became the creative arms and hands of a quadriplegic U.S. Marine, both he and Michael knew they had a new mission and duty to continue sharing Veterans stories through this powerful collaborative outlet.
To do so, the HERO[series] was established, a powerful collaborative design process that pairs a Veteran with a designer for the shared mission to tell their story through the mediums of art, design, and fashion.
Each year, [HAS HEART] would slightly change the ‘recipe’ of the project until they got it ‘just right.’
Starting with the 2012 HERO[series], [HAS HEART] partnered some of the top-selling Threadless artists from across the country with a handful of the most awe-inspiring Veterans, flying the majority of them into Grand Rapids for a week of design projects, field trips, and local experiences.
The following year, the 2013 HERO[series] project featured regional artists with Veterans flown-in from across the country.
Then, it clicked.
Tyler was a local chapter member of the professional design organization, AIGA. After successfully pitching the concept to board members from his West Michigan chapter, the 2015 HERO[series] project partnered five local Veterans (four of whom were Vietnam-era Veterans) with five designer members from his AIGA West Michigan chapter.
For [HAS HEART], this was the first step towards building a significant partnership with the nation’s oldest and largest professional design organization that had chapters already established in 70+ cities across the nation.
The next step towards establishing a larger AIGA partnership was implemented in the 2016 HERO[series] in which the project would travel to a new city for the first time — its first test of mobility.
Michael and Tyler loaded up their cars and drove 300 miles due East to the incredible city of Detroit to partner five Detroit-area Veterans with five AIGA Detroit artist members.
The project was so well received, including in the local media, that [HAS HEART] worked with Bedrock Detroit to open a temporary pop-up shop in the heart of downtown Detroit that was open throughout the Christmas shopping season.
Throughout these five years of hosting annual projects, the HERO[series] process was refined again and again with the long-term vision always in mind: to impact more Veterans, engage more creatives, and reach more civilians.
The process was refined to partner one Veteran with one artist…
Now that the process was refined and ready, the question was: how does a small, self-funded, non-profit organization reach more people?
That’s exactly the question Tyler and Michael had to ask themselves…