Fow Wow Designs Owner Just Wants to Have Pun

When it comes to “Made in Alabama” retail merchandise with a twist, nobody does it better than Jonathan Fowler, owner of Fow Wow Designs.

Demonstrating a big love for the Huntsville community matched with an imagination just as large, Fowler has come up with a quirky, yet memorable assortment of coffee mugs, t-shirts, ballcaps, and assorted decals. Many of his designs are nods to Monte Sano, NASA, Big Spring and other things that make Huntsville so unique.

The most notable is the “Eggbeater Jesus,” the iconic mosaic design that adorns the First Baptist Church on Governors Drive. Those familiar with it cannot help but smile when they see it on a coffee mug or t-shirt, with the words “Whisk You Were Here” underneath the design.

With a career in the banking industry, Fowler often looks at Fow Wow Designs as a “side hustle” – but a side hustle that helps Fowler give back to the community. A sizeable chunk of Fow Wow’s sales revenue is redirected to a variety of local community agencies.

Proceeds from the “Whisk” T-shirt help to support His Way, a local live-in Christian men’s drug and alcohol recovery center. The “I like Big Spring Ducks” t-shirt helps to support First Stop, a local nonprofit that serves the homeless.

As a Type 1 Diabetic, Fowler first came up with quirky design ideas related to diabetes.

“I started coming up with Type 1 Diabetic puns and I put them on stickers,” said Fowler. “I thought, ‘I should put some of these on a shirt,’ and I actually did.”

Fowler came up with a design with an insulin bottle, a slice of bread and had them in Run DMC clothes with the caption, “Breaking it Down.” However, he noticed there weren’t too many people in the market for a punny Type 1 Diabetic shirt.

Fowler began developing a series of Alabama puns while working at a job that he didn’t like. Then, he decided to take a screen-printing class at Green Pea Press, designing a t-shirt featuring a unicorn, sporting a Saturn V rocket as a horn, with the saying “Keep Huntsville Magical” underneath the design.

After that, things took off like a rocket.

Fowler ordered 80 “Keep Huntsville Magical” t-shirts and put them in the Pea Pod; they sold out quickly. The next design he came up with was “You can call me AL,” which also sold well.

As the t-shirt business slowly grew, Fowler had a couple of friends who died after struggles with drug addiction.

“I felt I needed to do a shirt to give back money where my buddy Jeff was in recovery, which was His Way,” said Fowler. “That’s when I did ‘Eggbeater Jesus.’ I was kind of nervous about doing that.

“Everyone called it ‘Eggbeater Jesus,’ but no one was doing art with it, and I was the first one that just jumped on it. In about 2 weeks, we made probably $1,500. That was the first moment that I saw that there was something to this.”

“Eggbeater Jesus” effectively put Fow Wow Designs on the map. In November 2017, the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau contacted Fowler to design the t-shirts for the #iHeartHsv 5th anniversary.

Fow Wow Designs are more than just an assortment of iconic, tongue-in-cheek merchandise. The revenue generated supports local charities and demonstrates Fow Wow’s passion for Huntsville by offering goods that also do good for the community.

“That’s where we’re at right now,” said Foster. “We’re doing well and the main thing, we’re able to give back to the community. Last year we were able to give back to six places.

“This year, we’re looking to do the same. We’re looking into some nonprofits that people don’t know too much about.”

For more information, visit fowwowdesigns.com