It started with a tiktok

On April 6, 2025 I saw John Proctor is the Villain  – a Broadway play about female friendship, the power in their collective voices and the ultimate silencing of young women.

I was immediately inspired and struck with the significance of the show, so much so that I went home and made a merch design. The video – to the right – accumulated over 20,000 views and caught the eye of the show’s producing team.

I was absolutely ecstatic when they asked me to design an official merch item for their show. The team wanted something similar to what I made in my TikTok, so with that in mind, I got to work.

BRAINSTORMING

The process of working on this began as all my brainstorms do – with my notebook. I took to the page and began with a list of imagery that I associate JPITV.

DRAFTS

It was then time to pitch ideas to the JPITV team. This was one of my favorite parts of the production process, as I got to explore the different avenues that I could take the design in. Using the shows preexisting color palette and aesthetic, I came up with multiple designs as a jumping off point. Below are some options that we didn’t go with.

THE FINAL DESIGN

After sending the above drafts, we landed on not using any production art and instead leaning into the witchiness of it all. I went back to my brainstorm list and saw the answer there… “Witches holding hands in circle and dancing around a cauldron.” To me, JPITV embodies the female spirit of anger, sadness, joy and community. Below is the final design.

SEEING THE MERCH IN THE THEATER

In my professional career, I had never been so overcome with emotions than when I stepped foot into the Booth Theatre and saw my merch sitting under the spotlights. Not only that, but people were buying it… a lot of people. So many people bought that merch both in person and online that it sold out over five times! The response was overwhelming and the amount of support that I received in my dms, in my comment section and even on the street was a dream come true. From seeing people wearing the shirt on the streets, to having someone get a tattoo of the design, I cannot wrap my head around the love that this merch design and myself received. I am forever grateful for this experience and for this show.