14 May 2014, writed by Yar

category: tshirt

FarmTeam Apparel

Buffalo, NY, USA -- FarmTeam Apparel is a t-shirt company with a cause and an offbeat sense of humor. They take 25% of what they charge for a t-shirt and donate it to underfunded kids sports teams, as uniforms and equipment. What that means is if you buy a t-shirt, you're buying a uniform for a little athlete in need. FarmTeam's concept sprung from the minds of coaches as they saw the transformative effect uniforms had on disadvantaged kids' pride and excitement to play team sports. By collaborating with graphic designers, FarmTeam figured out a winning formula for helping disadvantaged teams: support real kids' teams by selling t-shirts featuring the mascots and logos of imaginary amateur sports teams.

Currently, there are 10 team designs offered on FarmTeam's website, in 14 colors. The shirts are printed on a variety of American Apparel t-shirts-- the triblend, the 50/50 blend and the all-cotton shirt. These make for some extremely comfortable shirts with some very entertaining designs on them.

FarmTeam invents logos, mascots, and teams and it can be as absurd or straightforward as an idea calls for. The designs enjoy a stylistic freedom that comes from adopting any genre, era, and sport to create something funny, intriguing and visually appealing. A team's logo is as much shaped by its backstory (which FarmTeam's website provides) as it is by the designer. FarmTeam partners Dan Greene, Pat Lewis, and Ashley Lewis, come up with troves of intriguing cities and down-and-out team stories, before seeing them brought to life as logos and mascots. Other times, designers with particular ideas of what a team should play or which city a mascot belongs to steer the FarmTeam ship. It's a cooperative and fun effort-- all aimed at eventually making shirts that appeal to a wide audience with an appreciation for odd "vintage" t-shirts. And from that appeal comes the sales that fuel FarmTeam's mission to help kids play sports.

FarmTeam and a band of generous designers have been able to help school teams, after-school programs, community centers, tutoring programs, mentoring leagues, and more. Given designers' different affinities for different sports, styles, and hometowns, FarmTeam is always welcomes the chance to partner with new designers to see new fake teams with new aesthetics brought to life. Hoodies, hats, and new teams are soon to follow.