About The Department of Mental Mechanics
Orientation Briefing: Welcome to the Department
We’re genuinely glad you found us — great minds think alike, after all.
You’ve joined a small community of people who see the world a little differently: thoughtful, quietly funny, and not afraid to find lightness in the heavier parts of life.
The kind of quietly honest sentiment that tends to end up on our shirts.
This corner of the internet exists to highlight real-world issues and unseen struggles through designs that make people stop, think, smile, and maybe feel a little more understood.
Every design is rooted in lived experience and a very dry sense of humour. We only make shirts we’d be happy to wear ourselves — because every idea comes from somewhere real. Sometimes it’s from hard days, sometimes from hard laughs, but always from a place of shared humanity.
Our aim is to spark connection and conversation through mindful, quality designs that shine a light on the things people often think about but rarely say out loud.
“A brief personal note from me: the designs you see here aren’t abstract ideas. They come from things I’ve lived with myself — the quiet anxieties, the social awkwardness, the low days, the overthinking, and the humour that helps take the edge off. Turning those experiences into something open, honest, and a bit funny felt like a way to make them less isolating — for me, and hopefully for others too. If these designs help someone feel seen, understood, or simply less strange for being human, then the Department has done its job.”
Phil Howard
Founder & Chief Cognitive Engineer
Because different doesn’t mean broken. Stay curious. Stay kind.
The Department of Mental Mechanics · Est. 1885
Filed under: Public Records, Section 3 — Modern Department Activity