Design Great Apparel For Your Frat With These 10 Tips
We hear you'd like to create custom apparel that your brothers will love and other chapters will respect you for. You've come to the right place.
We’ve been in the business of creating collegiate custom apparel for 10+ years now. With this article, we’re revealing the information you need to know to create the best custom apparel for your fraternity.
Send Us Your Fraternity's Social Calendar
Our data reveals that most successful orders are placed weeks before the event they’re needed for.
It makes sense, doesn’t it? The earlier you figure out what you need, the faster you can get it. If you ever change your mind about what you want, you can make the changes without worrying about the timeline.
One easy way to do this is by sending your org’s social calendar to your Campus Manager as soon as it’s ready. They can make sure you get a head start on all your events for the rest of the semester.
If you don’t know who your Campus Manager is, follow these steps:
- Go to https://www.freshprints.com/about
- Scroll down to the ‘Our Campus Managers’ section
- Search your university’s name
- Click the picture of the CM to get in touch
Ask your CM what other schools and Chapters are working on
A little inspiration never hurt anybody! Our Campus Managers help other orgs on campus design great custom apparel.
The Campus Manager at your school is connected with Campus Managers at other schools and can easily give you this information.
When In Doubt, Ask For A Sample
Maybe you’re thinking of customizing products from a brand you’ve never heard of. Maybe you can’t figure out the sizing of an item, or maybe you want to see what something looks like in real life. The answer is simple: ask for a sample.
We do plenty of samples for free. So it costs you nothing and can save you time and money!
Go Beyond The Basic Custom Shirt
Our data backs it up: shirts are the most common collegiate apparel. Students love customizing them for all kinds of events. But if you want your Frat to have merch that's different, you should consider customizing items beyond that.
We can make custom sweats, decals, hats, bags, pens, notebooks, and more. We also do custom graduation stoles for your graduating members and banners for any event you want.
Don't Limit Your Audience
Gifting custom apparel to your brothers' partners and parents is a great way to spread the love beyond your Frat.
These can be event-tied for Parents Weekend and Valentine's Day or general feel-good PR merch for your members' loved ones. If you're not sure that enough people will be interested, you can play it safe and set up a group order link with the help of your Campus Manager.
The link will open a small temporary online shop for your members to choose the merch they like in their loved ones' sizes. When enough brothers show interest, it places an official order with us. If not enough people show interest, the order isn't placed and you lose nothing.
Fundraise For Your Philo With Great Merch
Remember the group order links we just talked about? Where your members can go in and choose merch in sizes they want and the order is only placed if a minimum number of people show interest?
You can use the same group order link to fundraise! Yeah. Along with designing kick-ass apparel, you are now also helping out your Philanthropy Chair. You're the best.
Simply ask your Campus Manager to upcharge the merch on the link and share it with as many people as you can. After the link closes, Fresh Prints will donate the extra profit to your fundraiser.
Rep Your Frat With PR Merch
Custom apparel does not have to be tied to events! Your brothers can rep your fraternity around campus with general PR merch too.
Maybe your members have a running joke that would look amazing on a shirt. Maybe you have a design in mind that you think will look great on a pair of shorts. Maybe you just want a hoodie with your chapter’s logo on it! PR merch is the way to go.
Set up a group order link (can you tell we love group orders, yet?) and let your brothers pick their items. If the link gets enough people showing interest, we will place the order.
Don't Forget about Nationals
Nothing sucks more than thinking of a sick design only to have it get rejected by the Nationals. When customizing apparel, it is very important that you don't forget your org's rules so you don't waste any of your time.
Our art gallery features original designs that Nationals will approve. You can make a design you like your own without worrying about approvals.
Another thing you can do is ask your Campus Manager for your Frat's rules so you know exactly what you can and cannot do before you get started. If you ever feel really strongly about a design that you think won't get approved, tell us about your vision and our artists will come up with designs that meet your needs and will get approved.
Get As Many Mockups As You Need
When people compliment your merch, 9 times out of 10 they’re complimenting the design.
The art process can be long but it’s important to get it right. Don’t be afraid to explore all your creative ideas. They may get crazy but our art team is crazier! We do free unlimited mockups.
You want a lighter shade of blue? You want 2 versions of the same design? You want to add elements? Remove elements? Let’s mock it all up and see what you like.
Use Free Resources
Having issues with multiple people telling you to do different things? Tools like Google Forms, GroupMe, and even your private Instagram story can help you survey everyone and come to a conclusion.
Need art inspiration? Browse through our art gallery to see what other orgs have created and get inspired.
Want to order merch but aren’t sure how many people would be interested? Create a group order link with your Campus Manager’s help. The link will only place an order if enough people in your chapter show interest. If you don’t hit the minimum number, no order is placed so there’s no waste of budget.
Free online resources make life easier! Use them as needed.
Bonus Tip
Make sure you’re having fun! It can get overwhelming at times but designing great custom apparel is a creative outlet. Let the pure joy you feel when you see everyone wearing what you made around campus fuel you! You got this!