Custom Ink’s 7 Essential Tools for Custom School Designs

It’s already August! Grills are still getting fired up, kids are finishing up summer camp, and school is about to be in session. Along with a new school year comes new school gear. Custom Ink has user-friendly tools to help you get the exact t-shirts and hoodies (and more!) you want and need for teams, clubs, faculty, and showing your school spirit. From creating the perfect design with our Design Lab tool to finding the right design template to fundraising to simplifying a group order and the shipping process, we have your back. 

7 Essential Tools for Custom School Designs

• Dive Into our Design Lab

Creating a t-shirt design for your class, team, club or event is easier than you think with our online Design Lab. Choose from hundreds of fonts and pieces of art to easily and quickly put together a fun design that brings together every member of your group. Already have a logo or design? Simply upload the file to the Design Lab and instantly see how it will look on a shirt of your choice. You can even add names and numbers to give each shirt a personal touch. Recognizing the unique contribution of each person on a football team, student council, department faculty, yearbook staff, newspaper staff, or theater role (to name a few examples) with personalized designs can create a memorable moment.  We’ve done our best to make this tool as easy to use and accessible as possible to ensure everyone has a chance to experience the power of custom group designs. The Design Lab is truly a chance to get creative and make something memorable for everyone involved. Still feeling unsure of where to start? Try out one of our design templates or the Find Your Mascot tool! 

• Ace The Test With our Design Templates

Get inspired by one of our hundreds of professionally designed school templates. Our template library is a wonderful resource for people who are new to designing custom shirts and for when seeing an example is helpful. We’ve got templates for mathletes, mock trial, drama, art, photography, robotics, chess, science, music, environmental causes, and so much more. The beauty of using a template for school activities is that the theme of the design stays the same, but it can still be made unique. After choosing a template, the words, fonts, colors, shapes, and art can be edited in the Design Lab to fully customize the design. Or feel free to keep it as close to the original as you like.

• Make Your Mark With a Mascot

One way to approach a school design is to start with the mascot, which is where our Find Your Mascot tool comes in. Simply search for your school’s mascot, and several options of designs will appear. We have an enormous collection of mascot designs in our library, but if you still can’t find yours, have no fear! You can still search for your mascot in our Design Lab, where it may be listed under another category, such as animals, sports and games, or school. Centering your design around the mascot can be an awesome way to unite your group, especially for activities that might take you off campus, like track meets, choir performances, spelling bee, marching band, cheerleading, and more!

• Find the Name That Cliques

Need help picking a fun team or club name, too? Check out our library of cool and funny name ideas! We’ve got ideas for nearly any team or club you can think of, like Wordsmiths for your writing club, Keeping it Reel for your film club, Cross Examiners for mock trial, or Shot Callers for the yearbook. This is an excellent creative resource for finding the perfect name that everyone loves or just for finding some inspiration while you brainstorm. Finding a clever and fun name for your group can create a uniting sense of pride among your members and ensure a memorable experience. If, after you’ve picked your name, you’re still wanting to spice up your design, our Design Services are here to help. 

• Our Design Services Are in a Class of Their Own

So, you’ve got your template, a mascot, and even a name. Perhaps you’ve started a design that could use a little more pizazz or you need help creating one from scratch—either way, we have you covered. Our Design Services gives you the opportunity to work with a graphic designer who will either upgrade an already existing design from our Design Lab or create a custom design based on your sketch, photograph, or even just an idea. This is an excellent service for educators who aren’t sure where to start or take a design or for those who are short on time. Whatever the situation, Design Services can help with creating something everyone is sure to enjoy and be proud to wear. No matter the idea, design, or budget, our Design Services will partner with you to create shirts your group will want to wear again and again. 

• Fulfill Your Dreams With Fundraising

Once you’ve created great custom shirts, engage your group’s community with a fundraiser. Selling custom t-shirts that promote your cause can raise money for travel expenses for a class trip, for example. With our fundraising platform, you can sell custom t-shirts and take donations with no inventory, hassles, or risk. Design your shirt, share why you are fundraising, and then promote your campaign. We fill the orders and send along the funds you raise! No matter where the people who purchase a t-shirt to support your campaign are located, we can ship their order directly to them, leaving you free to focus on what’s important. Even better, you or your cause gets to keep the money raised along with the awesome t-shirts. Custom Ink Fundraising is a great tool for any group, cause, or community.

• Skip Homework With the Group Order Form

Getting your group together in custom gear has never been easier. We’ve simplified the process so that you can focus on your group’s experience. Now everyone can place their own orders, find and enter their sizes, pay for their items, and even have them shipped directly to their homes. Once you’ve saved your design in the Design Lab, you’ll have the chance to start a group order. Your group members can select their own sizes using our unique Sizing Line-Up feature. Using the group order form is especially convenient for online students and faculty. Custom apparel is a powerful way to feel connected from a distance. 

Whatever your goals are for the school year, Custom Ink is here to help and make it easier every step of the way. Start your custom school design today!