When we launched the PLoS store back in November 2009, we promised to continually update it with new designs and merchandise.  We’ve been true to our word.  For the last couple of months, we’ve been creating our Spring range, so now you, your home, office or lab and the kids in your life can look cool and support the PLoS cause.

Over the years, folks have continually asked us for a Future PLoS Author kids range – you are never too young (or old) to get behind Open Access.  As you can see from the adjacent photo of Pete and his daughter, we road tested these designs and products on our own kids. When we were told by the eloquent three year old of one of our team that she couldn’t read the words on the tees because they were too fancy, we changed them so that they were readable.

For those of you who prefer a more classic look, there are new embroidered tees, hats and hoodies. We think these look particularly nice on a classic polo or baseball cap, but you can decide for yourself how and where (they are smart enough for the boardroom or golf course) you want to wear them.

Since everyone loves dinosaurs and PLoS ONE in particular publishes a large amount of Paleontology research, we couldn’t resist developing a range around this theme. We have dino tees, mugs and mousepads, just take your pick.

While we were in all out creative overdrive, we also came up with new mug designs and a few posters to brighten your home or lab walls, so check them out.

Visit the PLoS store today to find these featured products and many more. Through your purchase, you can support our non-profit mission. Happy shopping!

The first photo shows PLoS Biology Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Eisen and Bora (Bora is wearing the ever-popular “hamsters love PLoS” shirt, and Jonathan’s shirt was a homemade ‘one off’ as far as we know we stand corrected, see the comment thread – Ed.). Photo credit: @ivanoransky (via Graham Steel)

Graham Steel also attended Science Online 2010, although as a virtual participant. He too opted for an item from the “hamsters love PLoS” collection; this time, a hoodie, which given the recent UK weather, is more suitable than a t-shirt. Photo credit: Graham Steel

The third photo was taken on Pete Binfield’s latest trip to Paris with his family. Pete’s daughter is wearing the PLoS ONEsie in front of some non-descript French building… Photo credit: Kim Binfield

Finally, the last photo is of me, mid-run, in Central Park on a recent trip to New York. I’m wearing the PLoS ONE first birthday t-shirt (you can see the t-shirt design better in this photo from PLoS ONE Section Editor Jason Stajich).

Today is my last day at PLoS so I won’t be blogging here any longer (although you can find me on Twitter); however, after three great years at PLoS ONE, I have amassed a fair amount of PLoS gear (including the now rare messenger bag), which will undoubtedly come with me on my travels.

For now, though, thanks for reading and goodbye!

With a wide range of t-shirts (including some designed specifically for the season of goodwill) and other merchandise, you can let us solve your shopping nightmares. We would encourage all of you to shop the store, spread the word and support our cause.

The PLoS t-shirt phenomenon was started by co-founders Pat and Mike who know that in the lab, comfort is everything. They started producing cool and funky t-shirts to get the word out about PLoS and soon folks started to ask them when new designs would be available.

Realizing this was a popular and unstoppable trend, PLoS started using t-shirts to say thanks to the community for their involvement on our editorial boards. We also gave them away at conferences because it made people flock to our booth and we wanted to talk to them about open access and publishing with us. PLoS will continue to offer free t-shirts to the community using store revenue to offset some of these costs.

The only problem was that the more popular our t-shirts became, the more labor-intensive life was getting at PLoS’s San Francisco office. Often times, Allison, our Marketing Project Manager, had to organize top notch editors and publishers to stuff t-shirts by hand into envelopes (their only compensation was free pizza). On the busiest days, it felt like we had turned into a t-shirt supply company. Something had to give.

Enter Stacy, our new Marketing Intern, with a background in Information Science, a love of PLoS and Open Access, and a burn to learn. Within days of joining, she had selected Zazzle.com, the well respected on-demand merchandise company, as the right partner for PLoS – she even visited their head offices in Redwood City and grilled them for a few hours to make sure they were up to the task. Their 100% satisfaction guarantee, good product reviews, excellent client support, and localized websites (available in the UK, Germany, New Zealand, Australia and Canada) that enable lower delivery costs also convinced us that this was the right decision. You can read the Zazzle blog about the launch here.

Having customized the PLoS store herself, in partnership our creative team, Stacy then embarked on a series of product sample tests which involved other members of PLoS taking t-shirts home, wearing and washing them and then reporting back on how well they held up (very nicely).

The final result is a PLoS store that has been as rigorously tested as possible with a pretty extensive product range (including hoodies, kids wear, organic, and fitted women’s shirts). Every product is created digitally just for you.

We sent a link to the prototype store to a group of trusted community testers, including Kevin Zelnio, a researcher at the Marine Conservation Molecular Facility at Duke University’s Marine Lab who also blogs on Deep Sea News, the Online Laboratory, and The Other 95%, here’s what he said when he saw the store:

“The store looks great, really professional and clean. The designs are strong too. My first reaction was that I was ready to buy the Open Access t-shirt. I like the logo and it makes a statement on a subject dear to my heart. Although I really want a PLoS ONE shirt too. It operates and transitions well, had no hiccups. Being able to choose from a few different colors, and to zoom in on designs is fabulous”.

It’s worth knowing that there is only one official PLoS store and it contains images and logos that have been approved by the organization. However, if you search on Zazzle for PLoS you will find products bearing our name that have been created by other individuals because Zazzle allows anyone to start their own store and feature their own designs. You are welcome to shop where you wish but only the official PLoS store contains our approved merchandize.

The plan is to introduce new designs as and when they become available, increase the product range (my son is waiting for the PLoS skateboard), load up cover images, introduce more user customization and make improvements based on your e-mail feedback.

Happy shopping!