Making Mascots Memorable with Custom T-shirts

Do you remember your elementary school mascot? Maybe it was something familiar, like the Lions, or something more unique, like the Papermakers. For the students at Blacow Elementary in Fremont, CA, their mascot has become one they’re unlikely to forget.

While the traditional PTA shirts inspired school spirit, Blacow Elementary School teacher Mrs. Savage saw an opportunity to help her students create something they would be even more excited about wearing. “I love children’s artwork,” she says. She knew that by letting them create class shirts with their own interpretations of the school’s mascot, she could help them build school pride while showing off their own designs. “I found Custom Ink and it was a match made in heaven.” Beyond being able to create cool spirit wear themselves, Savage felt like the custom school t-shirts would help her students learn about the process of becoming an author or an illustrator. “It’s one of our academic standards,” she says, “the concepts of print: print carries meaning.”

The students in Mrs’ Savages class show off their custom school t-shirts together.

The process is simple and fun for the whole group. Mrs. Savage shares a shirt from the previous year with the kids and gives them a grid where they can practice drawing the mascot. “The kiddos pick the one they like best and then I copy and scan,” she says. Then the designs are added to a layout with the school name so they can all be seen.

When everything is ready, Mrs. Savage makes a phone call to Custom Ink to get the order put together. “I look forward to ordering and dealing with the Custom Ink staff each year. I think this is why I still call because the staff is beyond friendly and helpful.” She calls Custom Ink, “the Disneyland of t-shirt companies!”

But unlike other art projects, this story doesn’t end when the designs are done. Two weeks later when the kids’ shirts arrive is when the true fun begins. “They spend the whole first day pointing and finding all of their art and names,” says Mrs. Savage. “We learn about becoming authors and illustrators.” The custom t-shirts are an awesome experience for all the kids, and beyond getting to create something special, gives them a sense of unity every Friday with spirit wear and on every field trip they take.

Mrs. Savage and her kids showing off their matching custom school t-shirts.

Mrs. Savage is thankful that she is able to give her students a platform to express themselves using custom school gear and a memory they’ll take with them “My hope is that these shirts are in their memory chests or incorporated into a quilt one day.”

Get Inspired!

Here are some tips to help you make your events more memorable:

1. Pick the perfect shirt for your group. With the top trending styles for everyone’s tastes, you can outfit your group in their favorite gear.
2. Upload your awesome design. Whether it’s everyone’s art or just an awesome design you created, upload it in our Design Lab or email it in and work with our professional artists.
3. Find your mascot. Creating something cool for your school, search our library of mascots for your specific design and add it in your school colors. 
4. Let us work with you. Give us a call and we’ll work with you to make your design perfect, whether it’s something you sent us or something you created in the Design Lab. 
5. Set up a Group Order Form. Easily collect and keep track of sizes and payments from all your group members without having to chase everyone down.