With merchandisers for the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and Republican National Convention (RNC) officially selected, voters finally are able to snag a sneak peek at some of the convention merchandise. The DNC selected Philadelphia-based distributor Impact Dimensions as the official merchandiser for the DNC three months ago, while the RNC selected Ohio-based distributor ASW Global last week.
Both merchandisers have released preview images of the products expected to be available at the conventions.
DNC’s Philly-inspired Merchandise
Luis Liceaga, president of official merchandise provider Impact Dimensions, wanted the DNC merchandise to reflect the city’s local art scene, he told the Philadelphia Business Journal. Many artists showed interest, but Impact Dimensions selected seven Philadelphia-based artists to design the collection.
“To get all these local artists to work with us is great,” Liceaga said. “We want them to succeed, and we want to feature them to give them credit. It’s a vehicle for them. … Some of them are small businesses that wouldn’t have the opportunity to be part of something of this magnitude. Hopefully the exposure … will make the businesses very successful in the years to come.”
“Designed by local artists, our merchandise will serve as keepsakes that convention guests, Philadelphians and visitors will be able to take home with them to remind them of this historic event in Philadelphia,” Kevin Washo, executive director of the Philadelphia 2016 Host Committee, told Philly Mag. The collection features apparel, pins, drinkware and desk accessories. The items will be sold in a pop-up store at Philadelphia’s Comcast Tower from June 29 through the DNC, set to take place July 25 to July 28.
Here is a list of the local artists that were selected:
- Dan Duffy of Philly Word Art
- Sean Olubodum of Duke & Winston
- Brett Bender of BBender27Arts
- Lisa Beth Weber of Cause Pins
- Dominique Streater of Dom Streater
- Mary Dougherty, owner of two Nicole Miller stores in Philadelphia
- Michael Fulkerson of Doyle + Associates
To see more DNC merchandise, visit the Official DNC store.
RNC’s Cleveland-inspired Merchandise
The RNC merchandise also is putting the spotlight on the host city—Cleveland. However, the RNC went with a classic skyline design for the collection featuring the message, “Proud Host.”
Check out the merchandise below:
The RNC merchandise also will feature merchandise with the Republican elephant symbol:
While the RNC merchandise is pretty straight-forward, the Republican Party’s store currently is selling a slew of retro-inspired Reagan-Bush merchandise.
Also available are “I Miss W” coffee mugs and headwear:
Convention attendees can purchase the merchandise throughout the Cleveland event, which takes place July 18 to July 21. To see more RNC merchandise, visit the official RNC store.
What do you think of the DNC and RNC merchandise collections this year? Let us know in the comments section.
