custom mascot costume

Mascot Makers, Designers, Experts & Know-It-Alls

March 6, 2019Leave a Comment

From Idea to Mascot & BEYOND!!!

We’re with you from from concept to design to finished mascot. We can also guide you with your mascot strategic plan, mascot training and mascot safety.

There’s a whole world of mascot trainers, advisors, designers and performers who are also part of our world. We consult with them on a variety of projects almost daily.

We’re mascot know-it-alls

Need a custom mascot? Get in touch.

Adorable Crew

We’re a pretty adorable crew. The gaggle of mascot makers at AvantGarb are loaded with talent. That’s Annie at the top of the page. She’s sitting on her favorite high-heeled shoe chair to attach a wheel to a truck mascot. She’s one of the Magnificent Mascot Mavens.

Queen of Fuzz

I head the crew of mascot experts. On my biz cards I’m the Queen of Fuzz. I started Avant Garb in my Berkeley, CA garage in 1986.

Mascots were just inching their way into the culture when Avant Garb started making them. They were so new, I had to invent ways to make them. We’re still inventing.

Master of Mascotology

Annie is the studio manager, and she’s in charge of shoes and accessories. In Mascotland, tails are accessories. She’s also my daughter. She has been hanging around mascots since she was a toddler.

We awarded her a special, Mascot of Mascotology degree

Puppets, Video & the Over-head Projector

Mike’s background is puppets, video & the over-head projector – yes, really! In his hands, the over-head projector is an art form & it’s hilarious! Turns out those are great skills to have in the mascot studio

Fuzz Whiz

Tonie was on the Phantom of the Opera Costume Road Crew for a year. She also grew up in costume shops. Her mother was a designer. She knows how to put all the foam, fuzz & fabric together.

Lucky us! Tonie also works backstage on many of the big shows that come through town so we sometimes get great stories of stars backstage.

Robotics, Sound and Lights

David is our lights, robotics & sound guy. If the mascot needs some sort of battery & sequential lights or some moving part that needs to be manipulated remotely, David knows how to do it. He is, indeed, a wizard!

Let’s connect and discuss big things!

Say Hello

©Jennifer Smith 2018

Mascot Fabulousness – Bucky the Buccaneer

October 1, 2018Leave a Comment

There is a moment, when sculpting a big mascot head, or designing hugely, fabulous mascot clothes when I feel the mascot coming to life. For Bucky the Buccaneer, a mascot we made for Barry University, it was when we were making his fabulous, Buccaneer coat.

Bringing a mascot to life is magic. Bucky’s coat has a kind of magic woven into the fabric. For me, the coat gave Bucky his swagger. The coat was the magic moment.

Bucky had a well planned start. All mascots start with a rendering, a drawing of the mascot. Turkel Brands, an agency in Miami, Florida, provided a brilliant mascot design. We knew a lot about Bucky before we made the first paper patterns, before we started sculpting his head and before we engineered his tail structure.

Mascot Fabulousness

Bucky is a mascot that is filled with Mascot Fabulousness. When we sent him off for his grand debut, we knew we were sending off a great mascot.

Bucky has a big, expressive beak, a big, bird tail and a pirate coat with swagger! He has belts and buckles, a sword and a periscope and…oh yeah… a grand, flamboyant hat with a big, red feather.

Here’s a video of Bucky’s debut at Barry University

©JenniferSmith 2015

A Grocery Bag Mascot for Kroger

September 12, 2018Leave a Comment

A Grocery Bag Mascot

The Kroger Grocery Bag Mascot was a delicious project! The Bag is named, “Big K”. He’s a bounitiful Bag w/ a nice bowtie & a bevy of glorious groceries.

We designed the Kroger products to have an animated look with simple graphics and the Kroger logo.

All of the Kroger logos are placed at the top of the grocery boxes, cans, bags, bottles and jars. It to appear as a kind of “crown” of Kroger products.

Produce!

Figuring out the patterns for celery and bananas was a challenge and we were up to it.

The celery and bananas are an added visual delight to an already awesome mascot!

Big K – The Mascot Diplomat

Big K, the Kroger grocery bag mascot, is a diplomat, Kroger’s representative at events that matter in the community like parades, charitable runs, festival. there are dozens of event where Big K, the Grocery Bag presence enhances the brand.

Thinking about getting a mascot for your brand? Get in touch

A Guide to Getting a Custom Mascot – Mascots 101

August 14, 20182 Comments

It’s far from a common purchase. It’s so uncommon, people don’t have the language for ordering a custom mascot costume. If you’re thinking about a mascot, but don’t know where to start, AvantGarb’s Mascots 101 is for you. Think of it as your mascot guide.

It has answers to many questions like:

Getting a mascot design. We will make a dynamic, compelling design.Our mascot designs are made to fit a performer. The designs also have graphic integrity for print, signage, clothing, on the web, etc.
Understanding mascot costs for a custom mascot.
How to order a custom mascot.

There is also a quick explanation of something we call, mascotology, mascot marketing strategy and the importance of craftsmanship.
You may have ordered custom mascots before, but feel like you could use a little refresher course because:

You got a mascot several years ago but can’t quite remember how you did it.
You want a new mascot that looks like the old mascot – only better looking!
You want to add to your current mascot population.

Check out Mascots 101.

A Thoroughly Modern Library Mascot

August 9, 2018Leave a Comment

A New Book Mascot for the Indianapolis Library

The Indy Library wanted to update the mascot. They wanted the big book to be a bit smaller so it could be more easily transported —and they wanted a few other changes.

The Library had a book mascot, named Booker, for about 20 years – it had been remade and duplicated a few times over those 20 years. Booker was always a popular mascot.

We designed a thoroughly modern book.

New Colors for Booker the Book

The original Booker was made from the primary colors, red, yellow and blue. The Library wanted this one to use some of the other colors now used in the Library’s logo.

They opted for spring green, aqua and orange.

Booker is a very jazzy book!

Booker has some pretty swell shoes and a nice hairdo, as well!

What do you think of the new library mascot?

Playing “runway” w/ the book cover

Getting Selfies with Mascots

June 1, 2018Leave a Comment

We all take selfies

We take selfie w/ friends and selfies with family. We take selfies with iconic places like the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower.

…and we take selfies with branded, custom mascots.

We take selfies with people, places & things that we like. Our selfies become part of the family & friends memory. They get momentum in the the social media universe.

When we take selfies with mascots, that’s a pretty compelling form of marketing. The mascot becomes part of the the lore people share with family and friends.

Taking selfie with mascots is, indeed, a thing. It’s one of the many reasons mascots are such fabulous marketing ambassadors.

Selfies with mascots is a unique coming together of customer & brand. The mascots have become part of the family. One of the friends.

Send us your selfies w/ a mascot!