custom mascot costume

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!

©Jennifer Smith/AvantGarb Inc. 2018

Add a New Mascot to the Mascot Mix

January 11, 2018Leave a Comment

With mascots, the more the merrier

When one mascot shows up, you know you’re going to have fun. When more than one mascot shows up, it’s going to be a blast!

Branded products, schools and teams add mascots, beyond the original mascot to freshen up the mascot perception and add excitement and —well— enhance the ties that bind.

Dish Network had Hopper, a kangaroo for their DVR. Dish added to the home
entertainment experience with Joeys – and added smaller kangaroo mascots. Responding to the interest in mascot variety. DISH added smaller Joey characters to their mascot line-up and got immense media attention at CES

AHL Hockey has been great in promoting mascot hockey games.The whole league of mascot get together once a year for a game. There’s nothing like a team of mascots on skates!

Starting in 2016, the NHL will have a Mascot Playoff, too!

Minor league baseball has been brilliant with short mascot baseball games with local mascots showing up to test their skill on the field.

The mascots bring ticket buying fans with them, as well.

Schools have been adding mascots to their populations, as well. IUPUI, has a jovial, friendly Jaguar named, Jinx. Several years ago, IUPUI asked us to design a “Game Face” mascot, Jawz. Jinx & Jawz have been so important to IUPUI’s brand, they have now added a 3rd mascot, a girl jaguar named, Jazzy Jaguar.

Adding a new mascot to the mascot mix boosts the audience’s enjoyment. Participation rises, and media attention is enhanced.

It means that you will be changing a loyal following to a passionate, enthusiastic following. Mascots bring people into the community. Strangers become friends. The school, brand, team becomes part of the family when the mascot are present.

We strictly adhere to the mascot maker’s formula of elements:

fuzz+foam+fur=fun!

©Jennifer Smith 2016

The Hewlett-Packard Knight Mascot

October 20, 2017Leave a Comment

Way, way before I knew I was in the mascot-making business, I got a call from Hewlett Packard. They needed a mascot to introduce one of their newest product. That was back in 1986.

We Got the Mascot Call

In 2016, we got a call from Adcetera, a brilliant ad agency, in Houston, who had developed
a very intense computer-game-like Knight for
HewlettPackard. They wanted the animation turned into a mascot.

It’s modern-intergalactic-ancient-to-future riff on a knight. Just making the paper patterns was exciting – bringing the Hewlett-Packard Knight mascot to life – thrilling!

©Jennifer Smith 2017

Mascots and Diversity

May 27, 2017Leave a Comment

A moose wandered onto Amherst’s grounds a few years ago and started a mascot movement. One might call it a revolution. Here’s the story.

Schools are in intense conversation about what their school mascot says about diversity on campus.

While reading Sunday’s New York Times, I came across and article about Amherst College’s mascot. Traditionally, the longtime, unofficial mascot for Amherst College has been, Lord Jeffery Amherst. Lord Jeff is a powder-wigged white guy.

The mascot is the public face of the school. Students graduate, school professors and presidents come and go. Even mascots grow old. They may portray an old, out-of-date image of the school.

Way back in the day, Amherst was a mostly white, male college. It is now a wonderfully diverse college of women and men. For many, Lord Jeff seems irrelevant, a symbol of a different time.

So, when the moose wandered onto the Amherst grounds, one day, students had an “Aha” moment. They got ahold of a Moose costume and the Moose made an appearance at Homecoming. Hilarity, drama and a few scuffles ensued. The traditionalist and the moose fanciers had words.

Heated conversation about the message a mascot is portraying has become common. Rutger University was in the news a few months ago about their white, male mascot, the Scarlet Knight. Many in Rutgers very diverse student body wanted a more inclusive mascot – Rutgers used the have the Chanticleer. They may want to return to their roots.

Many schools have dealt brilliantly with diversity and mascot image. George Mason University is one. They are the Patriots. The school colors are green and gold – the mascot’s face is green and gold. He has a classy, well-tailored green tailcoat, gold pants, a big, black tricorn hat and some fabulous, black boots.

Mascots open the conversation about race and image. Ultimately, mascots bring people together. Even the mascots that irritate todays students are doing their job. They are bringing students, faculty and administration together to explore their values and understand the significance of their public image.

It is important work. Sometimes it is the mascot that spurs & embodies change.

Though mascots don’t speak, they have a lot to say.

Let’s connect and discuss big things!

Say Hello

Mascots that make a difference

March 15, 2017Leave a Comment

When a mascot goes everywhere, the company has much more than a mascot. They have a mascot program. Then they have a mascot strategic marketing campaign. They have a mascot that makes a difference.

When you have a mascot you love, one that you are proud of, you will find you also have a mascot that can go anywhere. It is your community, goodwill representative .

I just met with a big, big company. They have a mascot that is showing it’s age. They use the mascot a few times a year. It’s a sweet mascot. They have taken good care of their mascot. In the past, it served them well.

However, right now, they like their mascot, but they don’t love their mascot. The mascot stays in the closet.

The company raises bunches of money for the local children’s hospital. They are involved in many different ways in local and worldwide communities. Schools, backpack programs, food banks are just a tiny sampling of their charitable interests – all places where a mascot’s presence highlights the good works of the do-good organizations. The mascot acts as an inspiring example of corporate responsibility and integrity.

Our goal, at AvantGarb, is to make mascots that companies, teams and schools love. When a mascot is loved, when the group the mascot represents is proud of the mascot, they send the mascot everywhere.

When a mascot goes everywhere, the company has much more than a mascot. They have a mascot program. Then they have a mascot strategic marketing campaign. They have a mascot that makes a difference.

« Previous Page