About Us

Fruit of the Room: A Gay Geek's DIY Project

Fruity Wallpapers

Our story

More than a store, a sense of belonging

The glowing rectangle in Ray's hands was a portal to a world of endless frustration. He scrolled through page after page of online stores, the same anemic designs blurring into a sea of corporate rainbows. There was the ubiquitous, generic "Love is Love" text, the flag that looked like it was thrown on a shirt as an afterthought, and the merch clearly designed by someone who'd seen a single episode of a gay TV show and thought, "yeah, I get it now."

As a self-proclaimed, chronically online nerd, Ray's sense of humor was a niche within a niche. He wanted a shirt that referenced a deep-cut Dungeons & Dragons meme and an obscure 90s queer film. He wanted a hoodie that made a pun about a JavaScript framework and bisexuality. He wanted clothes that said, "I'm a geek, I'm queer, and I'm tired of having to choose which part of me to showcase today." Most of all, he was sick of seeing designs made by people who clearly weren't part of the community and were just trying to make a quick buck off of it.

Late one night, staring at a blank screen after yet another fruitless search, the idea struck him with the force of a perfectly executed pun. He thought about the brand's name, then the old slang term for a gay person, and a smile spread across his face.

"Fruit of the Room," he muttered to himself. The name was perfect. It was a little bit cheeky, a little bit nerdy, and it immediately signaled that this was a space by us, for us.

What started as a joke quickly became a mission. He spent the next few weeks—fueled by copious amounts of coffee and an unhealthy amount of screen time—sketching out designs that folks like him would truly appreciate.

He launched the site as a hobby project, a simple little shop he built himself. He didn’t expect to make a profit. It was a creative outlet, a small act of defiance against the commodification of his identity. Each order is a validation. It wasn't just him; there were other nerds, geeks, and gamers out there who were also tired of feeling invisible. "Fruit of the Room" is not just a store; it is a clubhouse, a place where the weird, the witty, and the wonderful could finally find merch that exemplifies belonging.

Disclosure on our use of generative AI tools

Because we use a print-on-demand service, it's not financially feasible for us to order every product we design (we do order some because we want them ourselves). Instead, we use traditional and AI-assisted mockups to showcase our designs. The final product will be based on the design you see, but there might be slight variations in color or placement due to the printing process.

Our art and design are created exclusively by human artists. Every piece is either original or licensed, and thoughtfully composed by Ray without the use of AI. However, we do use AI tools to help write initial drafts of our product descriptions, because to be honest, Ray likes graphic design way more than writing.