Steampunk and amateur machining are both retro movements — a reaction against modernity if you will. There must be some resonance there worth pursuing for a PhD dissertation.

Kinko's also does things with tee shirts, coffee mugs, mouse pads, etc., and so does Bay Photo, so you can do a lot of shopping around. Look at who has the best wholesale lot prices, and have them make a single shirt or mug for you. If YOU like it, chances are your customers will, too, because you will naturally market them in the places where you go to the people you like to hang out with.

You can also license your designs to someone else to make, which is sort of what you are doing with Cafepress. Again, the big question is who will put the money into having them made and the work into selling them? If you have a business-oriented friend, perhaps you could go into partnership, with you supplying the creative talent and your partner supplying the business savvy. Many a family business has prospered that way, too. Know any sensible guys?

Associated Press – Barack Obama – Nuclear – Energy – Technology