On a hot summer day in June of 2012, two guys were acting like “sofa spuds” and one looked at the other and said “Dude we have to get motivated, we are acting like a couple of old guys”. Right there the vision for Keepin’ It Young began. The idea of an old guy, being more active than we were, struck a chord and we thought how ironic, what is up with us? We started discussing a t-shirt line that would humorously show how this guy was outdoing guys our age and how shocked we were by it. Our “original guy” believes you’re as young as you feel, so he would take on any endeavor, always looking to live an active, healthy lifestyle and enjoy doing the things that we loved to do. We could show him excelling at different adventures or sports, showing up the guys like us, always with a smile on his face. We knew we could find funny ways to depict him in golf, surfing, fishing, cycling or something as simple as taking a cruise to the beach in his vintage Woodie.
What we needed now, was a character that would be our “original guy”. When thinking of how we would portray him we thought what if he was like one of our fathers. With that the design idea for our “original guy” began to take off. By incorporating many of the traits of our Founder’s dad, we started to build our character. The irony and humorous look of my dad wearing socks with sandals, and always having one sock lower than the other, we started the task of building our “original guy” from the feet up. During the summer, on a hot day, when visiting my dad he would appear at the door in his plaid shorts and t-shirt with those silly socks and sandals. This coupled with his great sense of humor and zest for life, along with his always present smile completed the inspiration for our mascot. Our “original guy” design was completed in 2012 and he is incorporated into both our logo and designs.
After the initial idea and excitement, life got in the way and our “original guy” design was stuffed in a drawer in the dark, very unlike our character and his pursuit of an active adventurous lifestyle. Roll forward 6 years and when we were cleaning out some drawers, that big smile looked up at us from the drawer, screaming to let him out and give new life to our idea. In 2018 Keepin’ It Young has become a reality and our “original guy” is fulfilling his quest to show us his passion for life and adventure in humorous graphic designs on our t-shirts.
Keepin’ It Young is a family-owned t-shirt and apparel company located in CARLSBAD, CA. Our humorous selection of graphic tees, are available in local retail shops and on our website. Be the first to proudly display our “original guy”. Pick your favorite sport or activity and wear it with honor! These premium shirts also make an awesome gift for a friend or relative. After all, who doesn’t love to give the gift of humor! Our t-shirts are perfect for anyone who believes that “Keepin’ It Young” is all about a positive frame of mind and a passion for life.