How to Create Custom School Spirit T-Shirts: Our Expert Tips

You’ve been tasked with ordering custom apparel and other merch for your school. Maybe it’s for school spirit, a pep rally, or homecoming or maybe it’s for a particular school club. But you’re not a graphic designer or a fashionista – how can you quickly and easily create something that everyone will love and want to keep wearing?

At Custom Ink, not only have we helped thousands just like you, but we have been exactly where you are. We’ve found ourselves volunteering for our child’s school activities and suddenly being responsible for the custom gear! We’ve felt the panic of being tasked with spending the money of the school (or other parents!) to come up with great custom merch, and not sure where to start.

We know what it’s like to want to create something cool that students are excited about and wear again and again and feeling overwhelmed by the process. So let us take some of that weight off of your shoulders.

• We designed our ordering process for schools to be truly stress-free.
• We have an easy to use design tool – just upload your school logo and add your text.
• We can handle your school’s tax-exempt status.
• We have high-quality product options no matter what your budget.
• And we make it simple to order for groups.

To make the process even easier, we’ve put together our top advice for creating great school shirts, hoodies, and other clothing (including from two of our own who have been with Custom Ink for 20+ years!). These simple tips can help you quickly create a custom merch order for your school that students, parents, and teachers will be delighted by.

How to Create Students’, Parents’, and Faculty’s New Favorite T-Shirt or Sweatshirt

We all have gotten a custom t-shirt or sweatshirt, whether from school or work, that has become our favorite go to when we want to feel comfy and cozy. What’s the special ingredient that keeps it from being like the apparel that ends up in the back of our closets, never to be worn again?

The elements of great custom school apparel are:

• High quality materials that look good and are comfortable to wear
• A simple design
• A relevant design that doesn’t feel generic

Choosing High Quality, Comfortable Materials

Before we talk about designs and colors and slogans, we’ve got to talk about quality. Shirts and hoodies with the coolest design in the world will end up on the donation pile if they are scratchy, shrink in the laundry, or come unraveled.

Look for comfortable cotton blends, durable stitching, and long-lasting inks. Those are the qualities that cause students, parents, and faculty to not only reach for these tees and hoodies again and again but look forward to the next re-stock!

We know that you have a budget to work with, so we’ve curated high-quality options at every price point. To stretch your  budget even further, consider using fewer colors in your design and skipping special effects in order to splurge a bit on your product choice.

Increasingly, quality is also about sustainability. Jason Leger, our Creative Director, explains:

“Quality and sustainability have really become a huge trend over the last decade. Reusable items like water bottles and tumblers, and apparel made from recycled or eco-friendly materials, are gaining traction. They might cost a little more upfront, but they last longer, and people want to hold onto them because of that quality factor.”

 

Stanley/Stella Crafter short sleeve t-shirt 100% organic combed ring spun cotton Double-needle topstitched sleeves and hem Self-fabric back neck taping and tear-away label	Hanes Perfect midweight pullover hoodie 80% cotton blend Double-needle stitching Twill drawstring 1×1 ribbed collar, cuffs, and waistband Tear-away label	25 oz Blaire water bottle Recycled aluminum Bamboo lid Double wall construction Easy carry handle BPA free

Creating a Simple Design

The biggest mistake we can make with school swag design is including too much in it. Too much text, too many fonts, and too many colors can overcomplicate the design.

A simple design is easy to read, pairs well with anything, and isn’t overwhelming.

For custom school swag that’s easy to design and easy to love, we recommend:

1. Limited colors: Choose one to three colors. You could use all school colors or pick one of your school colors and then use a color wheel to find a contrasting or complementary shade.

Ben Carter, Director of Brand and Creative, shares a smart color-picking strategy for school apparel:

“One of the easiest ways to elevate your school’s swag is by playing with shades of your school colors. Instead of sticking only to the exact standard color, you might choose a version that’s a little lighter or darker. Many of our products come in over a hundred color options (check out this t-shirt with 152 color options or this hoodie with 60 color options), so finding, say, a red that’s just a touch deeper or brighter is simple. It gives your group a fresh, distinct look while still staying true to your school’s identity.“

Bella + Canvas ultra soft pullover hoodie	Bella + Canvas jersey t-shirt

2. Clear typography: Stick to one or two fonts that are easy to read.

3. Simple graphics: Many designs don’t need graphics at all, but a well-placed school logo, mascot, or other relevant icon can personalize the design and make it easily recognizable.

Check out these perfectly simple examples:

“We made these shirts to wear for our AP calculus test. It’s tradition to wear matching shirts so you feel a sense of unity, because we were all in it together. Obviously, you can’t talk to others during the test, but you can see the sea of blue and feel a part of something successful which inspired us to keep going and do our best on such an exhausting/important test.” – Turpin High School	“We played a volleyball game and held a bake sale to raise funds for Sideout.org and Stamford Cancer Bennett Center. We hold this event during the month of October every year and we could not have been more pleased with Custom Ink from their customer service to their generosity!” – Westhill Varsity Volleyball team Dig Pink

If you’re tasked with creating a shirt design for a school orchestra, you could incorporate the school name and a musical note. Designing merch for the student council? Add the school mascot in a round logo to evoke the look of an official seal. Creating hoodies for math club? How about “your school name” + math club name = awesome!

Creating a design that’s relevant for the moment

Custom school swag fosters community and promotes school spirit. A design that’s specific can bring joy in the moment and evoke memories and nostalgia years later – both of which cause students, parents, and teachers to wear their merch more often!

Ben talks about Teacher Appreciation Night at Independence High School. Instead of relying only on the school logo, the design drew from the Declaration of Independence. It used an Old English font and personalized elements for teachers. The result was a design teachers and students associated with their school (and not just any school).

If you’re creating custom tees for the drama club, include the name of the play they are working on! If your club is headed to a competition, include the team name. Or, incorporate an inside joke that will make students smile every time they put the shirt on.

“Producing a musical with a cast of 100 middle school students is a fun challenge, and the kids LOVE LOVE LOVE their T-shirts! CustomInk far exceeded my expectations in convenience, creativity, communication, professionalism, quality, shipping, and service!” – WMS	“We are a rookie FTC [robotics] team and we won the first day of competition. Our robot was awesome! We will continue our competition throughout the year & wear our wonderful matching shirts each time!” – CDA Circuit Breakers

How to Avoid Common Mistakes in School Shirt Designs

By this point, you know that it’s easy to do too much by using overly complicated graphics, too many colors, crowded text, or oversized logos. You can avoid this mistake by keeping the design simple and clear.

Jason also recommends against creating a design around an in-the-moment trend that will soon be dated. He explains:

“Those things may be cool and fun and play off something trendy now, but in a few months or a year, no one’s going to want to wear it because it feels cringy.”

Everyone’s excited about the latest TikTok trend today, but next month, we’ll have a different trending song stuck in our heads on repeat.

By creating a timeless design, you can re-use it again and again. Not only does this mean less work later when you’re ready to re-order but the design can become part of your school or club’s identity and help build community! 

How to Create Timeless Custom Apparel Designs

In addition to classic design principles, we always watch for new components (not trends) that become part of the fabric of foolproof custom school apparel:

• Comfortable, high quality materials: we’ve found that no matter the generation (from the oldest teachers and parents to the youngest students),  fit is more important than flashy graphics.
• Sustainable choices: eco-friendly fabrics and reusable gear are only becoming more top of mind for students, parents, and teachers.

• Simple designs that aren’t generic: don’t overly complicate the design and start with a foundation of a school color, logo, or school club name or event. 
• Specialty printing: Used sparingly, puff ink, reflective lettering, glitter, and textured effects can add unexpected depth and stand out if your budget allows. 

Want more insights? Watch our video interview with Ben Carter, Director of Brand and Creative, and Jason Leger, Creative Director, to learn insider lessons from their decades of experience helping schools design apparel that builds community and lasting memories. And be sure to check out our services designed just for schools.

Learn more about how we can help with all of your school’s custom swag needs, including for school clubs, team jerseys, and spritwear.