In late 2021, I approached the head of Saint James School's school store and asked if I could create designs to be printed on future merchandise.
After some sketching and back and forth communication, I came up with the "Marching Charlie" icon, inspired by classic, sailor-hat-wearing college mascots and based on our headmaster's pet cairn terrier, who had recently become an unofficial mascot of sorts for a high school with no mascots in the past.
Shortly after, the head of the school store got me in contact with the manufacturer who produces most of the school's clothing. We then met with the manufacturer in person and discussed possible colorways, designs, and fabrics. Eventually we settled on the mockups featured below, and production began.
The sweatpants and sweatshirt were very popular with the students in early 2022 and were featured on both our school store's page (@sjsschoolstore on Instagram) and the high school's main page (@onlyatsjs on Instagram).
A custom mug featuring both the full body and "head shot" design were later gifted to the headmaster, who now displays the mug in his office. More mugs were later produced and are being sold as of late 2023, along with new batches of the sweatshirts and sweatpants mentioned before.
The logo design, in full body and head only form, have been shared on the school’s Instagram and Facebook pages many times since my graduation in the spring of 2022 and are loved by both current students and alumni unfamiliar with the inspiration behind the mascot.
Designs illustrated in Autodesk Sketchbook and Adobe Photoshop.
