About Me.

Before you get to know Altered Artspace, I’d like to let you know more about me.

My name is Karen, and before you ask, no, I don’t want to speak to the manager. I’m a young Canberra local with a passion for art and graphic design. My whole life, I’ve wanted to follow in my mum’s footsteps - be a graphic designer and a stay-at-home mum, doing craft projects and selling my work. I’m still many years away from being a mum, but I achieved my goal of being a graphic designer.

In 2019 I started working for a company as their in-house graphic designer, growing my skills and learning how to be a social media marketer at the same time, and by 2020, I had developed the skeleton of a 10-year plan. I had just learned how to do screen printing and was really excited by the idea of turning it into a business. So, the rough idea was to spend 5-8 years or so working in 2 or 3 different graphic design roles so that I could build my experience, knowledge, and portfolio, then take what I had learned and become a freelance designer working from home for a few years, and eventually build a screen-printing business selling t-shirts with my own designs.

In 2021, I decided it was time for me to move on from my position in my first graphic design job, and start looking for somewhere new to continue my growth. This turned out to be more difficult than I had initially anticipated, and 8 months later I still hadn’t managed to find a new job in my field. Some days I thought it was just bad luck, others I thought it was because I just didn’t have enough experience, however, the optimistic side of me likes to believe it was the universe telling me I needed to start my 10-year plan, 9 years early. I joined an online course learning small business management and got to work building Altered Artspace.

Now, in 2022, Altered Artspace is my small business, where I work from home, and sell my creative projects.

About Altered Artspace.

As of right now, Altered Artspace is an online store where I sell screen-printed t-shirts with my own graphic illustrations. The inspiration for my designs comes from tattoos and tattoo-style artwork, with the goal of making tattoos made wearable. The reason behind this is that I have always loved tattoos, but have been too picky and too indecisive about getting one on my body, so designing tattoo-inspired artwork to be printed on t-shirts seemed to be a good compromise, that I believed others would also appreciate.

I have big dreams for this brand and don’t plan on it being just a clothing line forever. In the years to come, I hope to sell other creative projects including resin game pieces such as dice and chess sets, and prints of my own photography.

Our Mission

Quality: Produce high quality prints on high quality t-shirts so that you have an awesome t-shirt that will last you for years.

Inclusivity: T-shirts are for everyone, so we want you to be able to enjoy our products regardless of age, size, shape, nationality, or, gender identity.

Sustainability: Source products that are as eco-friendly as possible, and minimise the business’s impact on the earth.

Our Values

Respect: Treating our customers, suppliers, and the environment the way we hope to be treated.

Integrity: Being honest and owning up to our mistakes.

Passion: Loving what we do, and doing what we love.