A Mascot Maker's Musings

Big Heads & Big Hearts

2011-08-01T16:44:00.002-04:00

Sir CC is a really handsome, buff Cavalier - we created the big, handsome guy last year for the Cleveland Cavaliers and have been watching him flourish - moving about the basketball court and into the community

He's been in a dance-off on the city streets and a middle school's summer basketball camp in Cleveland.

Mascots get out & mix it up with youth and fans.

Sir CC is a sterling example of mascot magnanimity.

Mascot have big heads and big hearts.

Mascot Mapping

2011-07-21T15:30:00.000-04:00

Before we even make a cut into fuzz or fabric, we make patterns. Worktables are covered with kraft paper, rulers, a tailors curve, pattern weights, markers and tape.

We look carefully at the mascot design and decide how big the waist will be - how much padding to put on the shoulders and whether to make a curve in the arm to allow for a big bicep.

The kraft paper patterns is how we are able to map the body curves of the mascot. Once we know how the body is engineered, we also know how big to make mascot shirts, pants, shorts - how to attach tails.

It all starts with kraft paper, tape & rulers.

Signature Mascots

2011-05-04T22:41:00.000-04:00

AvantGarb designs & creates Signature Mascots. Mascots that represent a team, event, product ---even an idea.

We're a tiny company of artists, designers and craft people. Our raison d'etre, our training and our experience is in custom creations. There are companies that make many, many copies of the same mascot, and they do a good, efficient job. That's not us.

We do, however make a few duplicates of the same mascot because...

Mascots have a very busy social calendar.
The same mascot must be on the east & west coast at the same time.
A mascot is making several appearances with multiple performers
Each region needs it's own mascot for all of the appearances and fabulous events that mascots get to go to ----this gets back to the busy social calendar

Sometimes we make 3 more or less duplicate mascots.

Racing beer cans - Portland Beavers Baseball

sometimes to 5 of the same

and occasionally to 10.

J.J. Jumper - the official mascot of the NCAA @ mascot training

Our Mascot Mission is to be the physical marketing component for your marketing strategy. We strive to deliver countless hi-fives, hugs, laughs and “ooohs!” We resolve to be energetic, rambunctious and effervescent!

Mascot DNA

2011-04-26T22:26:00.003-04:00

We have been riffling through patterns labeled:

Rex/1998 nose - CF
Rex/2003 & 2007 side head - cut 2
Rex/2003 front leg - really short
Rex 1998, 2003, 2007, 2011 eyelid

This is mascot DNA.

We have been creating and re-creating and re-imagining Rex, the mascot for the Children's Museum of Indianapolis since the early 1990's. We can trace the evolution of Rex through the patterns.

What has changed on Rex over the years?

The size of the head has changed, the size and curve of the tail, the color of the tongue, the placement of the nostrils, Many of the changes have been for the comfort of the performer. Some have just happened.

The 3 toed foot looks the same from year to year, but the inner mechanism of the shoe have changed considerably.

As in all things - it's not just what you see on the outside. The inner engineering and workings of a mascot are just as important as the outside appearance.

Pattern pieces migrate, and don't always get back to where they belong. So we may have a Dinosaur sleeve from 1998 that looks wrong for a mascot is 2011, yet none of the sleeves after 1998 can be found.

Through all of the changes and manipulations in patterns & engineering, the essence of Rex remains the same. Rex is a big, rainbow bellied & tailed, loving, welcoming Dinosaur with a lovely Dino smile.

H.K. Nugget - Pretzel Man

2011-04-16T20:52:00.001-04:00

H.K.Nugget had a day touring in D.C. He had a full day.

Gotta love the nugget.

He's handsome, athletic & tasty!

National Pretzel day is April 26th.

Celebrate by munching on some H.K. Anderson Pretzel Nuggets w/ peanutbutter or chocolate filling!

Yum! Yum! Yum!

Bud Beer on Ice - Grand Rapids Griffins

2011-04-06T21:38:00.000-04:00

Bud Beer can in process @AvantGarb

Beer races on ice - GENIUS!!!!

We made the beer cans for the Grand Rapids Griffins. The success of something like a wearable beer can is in the details. A beer can has a slight indentation on the top and bottom of the can. Without that indentation, its a soup can.

....and then there is the poptop. That really makes the beer cans lovable.I love the poptops on these cans.

....oh yeah, and get a look at Griff, that handsome, silver-winged mascot w/ a big beak. He makes my heart pitter patter - swoon!

Here's the link to the video:

http://vimeo.com/21990438

Bud on ice - Grand Rapids Griffins

A love song to a mascot

2011-03-28T20:56:00.000-04:00

Defying Gravity in Mascotdom

2011-03-26T23:02:00.004-04:00

Many parents have told me that their children beg to go to the museum so that they can wave a flag on the Rex parade.....and be led out of the museum.

The daily Rex Parade is the gentle way to lead children and adults through the Children's Museum and out the door at closing time.

We are the ones who make the big, rainbow bellied Dinosaur.

Rex is a mascot engineering miracle.

The law of gravity is a law that usually wins. Rex's tail defies gravity. It takes a lot of engineering to defy gravity.

NCAA Mascot Rankings & Mascots are Big Business

2011-03-15T23:52:00.000-04:00

Oh yeah! NCAA March Madness mascot rankings - Check out # 13 the Patriot - Geo Mason U. One of AvantGarb's http://ow.ly/4fd6y

Mascotology - Mascots are big business http://t.co/ueZm9HA

It's been a great news day for mascots!

Boys on top - snaps on mascots

2011-03-07T23:07:00.000-05:00

In costume shops there is a rule with snaps -

Boys on top -

It's easy to remember.

WFNY on Location: Making Mascots

2011-02-25T17:33:00.000-05:00

Sir CC's hat & gloves - Cleveland Cavaliers

Hey! Check it out!

Rick Grayshock of waitingfornextyear.com was here for a day to snoop around and find out how mascots are made. Here's what he found out:

WFNY On Location: Making Mascots

Sir CC, Mascot Making and a Sports Writer

2011-02-17T22:40:00.004-05:00

Rick Grayshock of waitingfornextyear.com spent some time at in MascotLand today. Rick is an ardent Cleveland Cavs fan and writes about them. Recently, he wrote something about Sir CC . That led him to us.

Realizing he could finally satisfy a curiosity about how mascots are made, he made the trek from Columbus, Ohio to Indianapolis.

He checked out the original patterns for Sir CC's cape and tabard, counted all the foam pieces that go into making mascot shoes, saw mascot eyes before they are painted - and after they are painted and began to understand the importance of center front in the creation of mascots.

We even talked about the similar, quirky passions in the world of sport and the world of art.

In mascot making those worlds meet and thrive.

Happy/Sad Mascot Maker

2011-02-02T17:31:00.000-05:00

On Mondays through Fridays, I head happily off to AvantGarb to make mascots.

Today was the 2nd day of an ice storm here in Indianapolis. We are measuring ice on the ground in inches.

Even though there are mascots that need to be made - AvantGarb was closed. We had a snow day - or rather an ice day.

Today I was a sad Mascot Maker. Boo-hoo.

Hipster Blood Drop

2011-01-29T21:48:00.000-05:00

At some point while making a mascot, I fall in love.

Slightly deflated Blood Drop

With this mascot it was when the sunglasses were finished & we could put them on the slightly deflated Blood Drop.

There is a marvelous time in the creation of these characters, when the personality is emerging, but the mascot isn't completed - the image doesn't yet have the integrity stand on its own.

The picture on the left is that moment - the moment when the hipster personality of the mascot is showing itself.

A little later in the day, after we had secured the interior hoops that give the Drop its round, round shape, I donned the mascot - Laura took photos, and behold! A new character in Mascotdom!

Notions

2011-01-11T20:54:00.000-05:00

Greenberg & Hammer is where everybody, who does anything with costumes, goes to get notions.

Notions, in the sewing world are things like; thread, needles, bias tape, elastic, buttons, boning, bust pads, cording, piping, elastic, grommets, hooks & eyes, buckles, pins, pin cushions, rhinestones, ribbon, snaps, velcro and zippers.

When I lived was a young performance & costume artist in NYC, I would wander down to Greenberg & Hammer, from my apartment in Hell's Kitchen, to pick up threads, needles, elastic, buttons & zippers.

As a mascot maven for the past bazillion years I've been ordering grosses of super duper whopper poppers (really, really, really big snaps) in silver or black fro 20 years - also curved needles and milliner needles and head forms.

I just went to Greenberg & Hammers website because I need to order a head form for a mascot head. Theire webpage is now just a Wordpress blog. the greenberg & Hammer, that used to be a few doors away from 57th & 5th in NYC is gone.

I'm in mourning.

Goodwill & Mascots

2010-12-13T17:03:00.000-05:00

Balls - ReGifted - Phoenix Theater

A mascot is a true community goodwill gesture.

Sir CC/ Cleveland Cavaliers

....and during the holiday season, they give a nice big bounce of fun to the street life, events & games that fill up the many moments of celebration & cheer.

Bud Beer - Griffins Hockey

Happy Hols!

Crush

2010-10-21T20:35:00.000-04:00

Might Mouse was my first really big crush.

I must have been destined to make mascots with a love history like that!

Mascots as Community Organizers

2010-09-21T22:25:00.000-04:00

Where does community spontaneously happen? Where do we bump shoulders with strangers? Where do we just get silly!

When we're in the presence of a mascot, that's where!

Where mascots are, a community emerges. People gather.

Roche Diagnostics - Accu-Chek Peforma insulin meter at diabetes camp in Venezuela

It doesn't take great talent, superior intellect or an educated eye to joke, to have fun and to pass the time of day in the presence of a mascot. When a mascot is around we have a reason to connect.

A mascot is the perfect, goofy and generous host.

While we may think a mascot is merely a marketing tool, really, a mascot is a hand extended in community.

Any organization that puts in the long hours of imaginative, strategic planning, design collaboration and dollars into a mascot program is really holding out their hand in joy, trust and community.

9/11 & Billy Blazes

2010-09-09T22:13:00.005-04:00

I got a call from a guy at Fisher - Price at the end of July, 2001.

Fisher-Price had some action heroes, The Rescue Heroes. They wanted a mascot of Billy Blazes - the fireman character for the rescue heroes. They were planning a big Rescue Hero event at FAO Schwartz or Toys R Us - I don't quite remember.

We made the mascot and sent it off. It must have been the end of August 2001.

The mascot was very popular ---all of the Rescue Heroes were very popular.

Then the planes flew into the World Trade Center Towers on 9/11.

Billy Blazes became a symbol of faith and hope for young children in 2001.

A popular action figure became a beacon of hope and bravery.

We have never had a mascot experience like the Billy Blazes experience.

It was an honor to make the mascots. It was also a touching moment to work with Fisher-Price.

In working with and creating mascots for companies, organizations and teams, I always get a sense of their true tenderness and goodwill. In working with Fisher-Price in September of 2001, I came to know the soft, beating hearts that are at the core of all great companies.

James Beaver making hats

Gotta love where you work

2010-09-08T22:54:00.000-04:00

Location, location, location!

The cow chairs, Karen, and lotsa pipes & wheels

AvantGarb is in the coolest building in the United States, and Turner Woodard is a pretty cool landlord, as well.

Our building, The Stutz Business Center is an old, car factory. Stutz Bearcats used to be made here---if you look in the upper left corner, you can see fragments of the old factory workings --lotsa pipes and wheels.

It's good for the soul, and really good for business to like the place you work in.....and I like the where I work. The location, and, of course, the work!!!!

The building was designed to be a place where real, tangible objects are made. It was also designed to be a place that holds ideas and innovation.

Mascots, Mascots, Mascots!!!!


Taking photos in out swell studio! Garry & Natasha

When the mascots show up you know you're gonna have fun!!!!!

2010-07-29T22:45:00.000-04:00

Sports are all about the mascots....well, for mascot makers, they are.

Indianapolis Indians games are for seeing Rowdie's, latest schtick.

When Reggy, The Purple Party Dude makes the scene, I'm there

Fluffy, AvantGarb's mascot sometimes mimes advice to the pitcher.

...and if your fluent in mascotese, you know the advice is

Loosen Up
Have Fun and
Focus

Good advice for pretty much all occasions!

Mascot Gurus! Mascots Rock!

When the mascots show up you know you're gonna have fun!!!!!

Sequins on the Braces!

2010-07-14T22:16:00.000-04:00

Getting the braces off is a BIG DEAL

Sing the Debond song with the Glamorous Orthodontist.

...and check out Dr. Jill Bruno Orthodontics

www.brunosmiles.com

Braces with Bling

2010-06-09T23:40:00.002-04:00

The Glamorous Orthodontist has lots of bling on her teeth.

She just arrived at her home in Chevy Chase, MD.

She will be working for Dr. Jill Bruno Orthodontics - www/brunosmiles.com.

Her braces are silver sequins with holographic, sliver fabric on really big teeth.
She has a big, fabulous necklace
Big, red fingernails, of course!
A big lab coat with big pockets & big buttons
....and ohmygoodness what a hairdo - Big Hair!

The BrunoSmiles mascot will entertain current patients and usher in new patients. She will be present at do-good events and clinics. She will promote good orthodontic health and habits.

The Glamorous Orthodontist will be a true, community liaison for Bruno Orthodontics.

This mascot doesn't have a name yet. Any ideas?

Mascot Jimmy Choos

2010-06-01T17:56:00.002-04:00

Mascot shoes are gems. The shoes above are a pair of baseball shoes for a mascot.

They are our Jimmy Choos.

There is only one person at AvantGarb who really understands the physics & engineering of a mascot shoe. That person is Amanda Baily. She is the Choo Champion!!!

Biz, Blessings & a Martini

2010-05-28T11:05:00.003-04:00

AvantGarb has been a growing, productive business for a really long time.

I started AvantGarb in my Berkeley, California garage when my youngest daughter was about 3 months old.

From the start, AvantGarb has been profitable and the dollars have increased through the years.

AvantGarb is a real, ongoing operation.

Even though we have been making money, and AvantGarb has been paying mortgages & rent for me and my employees for years. We have been buying shoes, clothing children, sending them to college getting our hair done and eyebrows tamed, I still sometimes think, it could be over tomorrow.

This is crazy thinking.

When I am sitting with a curved needle, stitching yellow muppet fleece to green muppet fleece, I have taken to counting my blessing.

Here are some of them:

I have a really grand family. They keep me involved and interested in their lives. My husband is funny, handsome and sexy. My daughters are gorgeous and glorious.
I love my biz - making fuzzy critters that add a great dollop of fun to the landscape.
I've traveled everywhere--okay, not everywhere, but a lot of places - Kenya, India, China, Mexico, Mexico, Mexico, Taiwan, Egypt, and oh yeah, Europe. I feel fluent in the world. I like to be places where I can't speak the language.
... however, I can speak Spanish, stutter through French and be polite in Swahili
I love going to church on Sundays, singing hymns w/ the congregation, listening to the sermon and being blessed for the coming week with the benediction.
I love reading the New York Times and napping on couch on Sunday afternoons.
I have gotten bit of fame for doing what I do.
...and right now I'm listening to the general chatter in the studio as Angie drafts patterns for a very round Chipmunk, Tasha finishes some braces for the teeth of an orthodontist's mascot (sequins w/ holographic silver) and Amanda finishes 3 pairs of baseball shoes for the round Chipmunk!
Every Monday I look forward to the week ahead.
Every Friday I come home to a really good martini.

I am truly blessed. I have imagined my life, and it became real.

I suspect the story of other small biz people is similar.

Introducing the GarbGang

2010-05-18T23:44:00.002-04:00

Welcome to Mascotland!

Garry Chilluffo, who has photographed AvantGarb's mascots for a million years, came by, the other day, and clicked away.

Above, center front is most of the GarbGang.

Next, that's me w/ Carlos Sosa we've been riffing on graphics, webpage design and general stuff & schtick for AvantGarb since the beginning.

Natasha Heines is placing one of her hand-painted eyes on the inner structure of a mascot. She's a costume shop craft-person wizard.

Tonie Smith knows mascots and how they go together. She was a costumer for Phantom of the Opera - now she's with AvantGarb.

Angie Malone is a total theater nerd and a costume savant. She's worked in NYC, Colorado and, of course, Indiana! She designs for theater absolutely all of the time and is part of the Garb Gang.

David Orr got his degree in philosophy. Now he has a theater company - the Sapphire Theater and a business. He also makes interior structures (skeletons) for our mascots.

Amanda Baily makes the mascot Jimmy Choos. She's also great a really good mascotland tweeter. The 140 characters sing for her.

Missing is the fabulous James Beaver - a true mascot making star. He's wandered off to NY and LA for years at a time, but always finds his way back to AvantGarb.

Also missing is Karen Witting, who is the Mascotland EMS, the Bionic Cat and our Apple IT guy, the Bionic Cat, Stephen Cranfill - who keeps us technically in tune, and Duncan Alney whose company, Firebelly who keeps this baby boomer virtually social.

Efficiency is Overrated

2010-04-06T22:31:00.000-04:00

We live in a world of fuzz, fluff, foam and googlie eyes at AvantGarb. Efficiency doesn't rule. The ease of collaboration rules.

When designing and producing a new mascot, we dedicate loads of time to ponder a seam, contemplate a collar, engineer and re-imagine the interior structure.

The mascoteers at AvantGarb work together on all aspects of the mascot. The head needs to work with the body, the legs need to meet the shoes the shoes the clothes need to be mascot-scaled....and don't even get me started on the hats! We're big on millinery!

Yet, after all of the conversation, contemplation and creative collaboration, the mascots always ship on time

We are, after all, great character builders.

One Handsome, Trustworty Mascot

2010-03-19T22:27:00.002-04:00

Billy Blazes was a big toy for Fisher-Price in 2001. Fisher-Price ordered one, and then about 2 weeks later ordered 6 more.

Billy Blazes was a well put together mascot - great hat, great body, jacket - and oh my goodness, look at the shoes!!!...and the face, kind, trustworthy and handsome. No wonder the toy was such a hit!

He was one of the Rescue Heroes. A marvelous team of toys.

It was exciting to be making Billy Blazes. He is a fireman. We were actually in production making him on 9/11. What a great toy to give comfort to children.

Shoot the Breeze - March Madness

2010-02-16T23:25:00.003-05:00

Hey mascot performers and athletic marketing people! Come by and visit AvantGarb when you're in town for the Big Ten and the Final Four. Come see where mascots are made!

Does your mascot needs a quick repair? Are you are thinking about getting a new mascot? Do you want something changed in your current mascot?

..or just come to shoot the breeze and tell tales of mascot adventures and mishaps!

AvantGarb's studio is just a few blocks away from all of the action. We'll keep the fridge stocked w/ beer & diet coke. The coffee is always fresh and there will be something delicious to nibble.

We're in the Stutz Building. We make mascots where the Stutz Car Company used to make cars. We have industrial sewing machines where there used to be drill presses.We have rolls of fuzz & fluff and feather boas. I'm not sure there were any feather boas around in the 30s, when Henry Stutz was building cars.

Our mascot, Fluffy, will greet you. She's big, she's pink and she has an enormous tutu!

The Stutz Building is huge. It takes up a whole city block. Its on Capital between 10th & 11th Sts. We face Capitol in Building B.

Here's the address:

212 W. 10th St

Studio B-295

Indianapolis, IN 46202

Phone: 800/636-9562

email: jennifer@avantgarb.com

We're always rooting for the mascots!

The Red Carpet

2010-01-17T21:07:00.007-05:00

The Golden Globes are on tonight!

The gowns are grand. I always look at the seams, check out the structure, the colors, the ruffles, the frills and the dazzle.

I dream of a mascot awards show, complete with red carpet.

Yup, Mascots on the Red Carpet! I want to make a gowns for a mascots to wear on the red carpet! Imagine a big, happy, bundle of fuzz in a chartreuse organza gown!

Gotta love the mascots!

Presents, Trees and a Feather Boa - The Hols @ AvantGarb

2009-12-08T21:04:00.002-05:00

Biz, blessings & a martini

2009-11-23T11:56:00.000-05:00

AvantGarb has been a growing, productive business for a really long time.

I started AvantGarb in my Berkeley, California garage when my youngest daughter was about 3 months old.

Month after month AvantGarb has made a profit and those dollars have increased through the years.

AvantGarb is a real, ongoing operation.

Even though we get grow each and every year, get more marvelous clients, are able to hire extraordinary people, and have moved to jazzy new digs. Even though I've been paying my mortgage, clothing my children, going on vacations, buying shoes, getting my hair done and my eyebrows tamed, I still think, it could be over tomorrow.

This is crazy thinking.

When I am sitting with a curved needle, stitching yellow muppet fleece to green fur, I have taken to counting my blessing.

Here are some of them:

I have a really grand family. They keep me involved and interested in their lives. My husband is funny, handsome and sexy. My daughters are gorgeous and glorious
I love my biz - making fuzzy critters that add a great dollop of fun to the landscape.
I've traveled everywhere--okay, not everywhere, but a lot of places - Kenya, India, China, Mexico, Mexico, Mexico, Taiwan, Egypt, and oh yeah, Europe. I feel fluent in the world. I like to be places where I can't speak the language.
... however, I can speak Spanish, stutter through French and be polite in Swahili
Every Monday I look forward to the week ahead.
I interact with a wide and varied creative community of mascot people, art people, writers and imagineers.
Every Friday I come home to a really good martini.
I love going to church on Sundays, singing hymns w/ the congregation, listening to the sermon and being blessed for the coming week with the benediction.
I love reading the New York Times and napping on couch on Sunday afternoons.
I have gotten bit of fame for doing what I do.
...and I have magnificent friends. Some I've had for most of my life, some I've only just met

I am truly blessed. I have imagined my life, and it became real.

I suspect the story of other small biz people is similar.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Big, Big, Cigarette

2009-11-19T16:37:00.000-05:00

See the cigarette, check out the Great American Smoke out video. This Cigarette is one of ours.

When we got the job to make the really, really big, wearable cigarette, I had to go out and buy a pack of cigarettes. We needed to custom-dye the filter fabric, and needed a color sample.

Then, we had to light cigarettes so that we could understand how the ash bent when it burned.

This was a wonderful project. Making ash on a giant cigarette from fabric, sequins and open cell, charcoal, filter foam is a pretty swell project.

Girl Tools

2009-11-16T23:12:00.002-05:00

In my tool rack, we have bunches of hammers---ok, 2 or 3 and a mallet, but in the swirl of mascot-making hammers, screwdrivers, scissors, rulers get lost, hide under fur, get involved w/ the velcro, sidle up to the sequins.

Several years ago we made some Glamor Hammers for special, hard-working clients. They were hammers, with spray painted gold heads, bunches of sequins and feather boas. One of the hammers found its way to the tool rack. For a few months, the Glamor Hammer was the only poundy thing we had. Its pretty, but not tough---but it still pounds, I think.

The World Serious

2009-11-04T20:40:00.000-05:00

Phanatic in NYC

I'm torn. Who to root for in this Wold Series (or as my father calls it, the World Serious), the Yanks or the Phillies?

I grew up in NYC, got married in NYC, my first daughter was born in NYC and I went to my first game, a Yankees game, in the Bronx!

Before going to my first Yankees game, I had been to bunches of plays on Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. I had spent hours hanging out with friends at the Museum of Modern Art and I had gone to see art & performance pieces in galleries in SoHo (way back in the day, when there were galleries in SoHo).

In NYC, there is a sense that keeping track of the Art Scene is like watching a contact sport. There is an ever-changing roster of players, there are minor leagues and major leagues.

When I started watching the Yankees, I saw them as characters in a play, or an art performance. I have maintained that Sport-as-Art-Performance sensibility.

Oh gosh, I can sense you sports guys cringing!

...and I make mascots.

Who do I root for?

The Phillies have a mascot. The Yankees don't.

Both teams have great characters and great costumes. Both teams have a sense of drama.

Hmmm...hard to say.

It's a great World Serious.

The Patterns are Co-mingling

2009-10-27T22:23:00.000-04:00

Patterns have been piling up and co-mingling.
We're completely out of open-cell foam.
We have a the smallest smidgeon of muppet fleece.
There is only 1 curved needle in the whole place
and Max is flirting with Fluffy!

How did things get to this state? Well, it's been a busy season. We have designed a herd of mascots. We've patterned big bodies, cobbled big shoes, cut, stitched, sculpted and stuffed.

24 cube boxes have been packed and sent. Even the loading dock guys are impressed.
The swirl of activity is completely thrilling.

Either way, we both have great taste

2009-10-17T22:29:00.000-04:00

I was watching Joan Baez - the great folk singer, political activist and tenderhearted woman - on TV the other night.

She was asked, "How do you choose your songs?" Baez answered, "The songs find me or I find the songs. Either way, we both have great taste"

I love the sense that ideas, songs, dreams find us.

The mascots found me. I imagine a gang of brightly colored mascots with big, big mascot bellies walking down the street, knocking on my door and making it clear that they have chosen me to bring them to life.

...so, the mascots found me, or I found the mascots. Either way, its been a great ride.

My Tender Heart for Mascots

2009-09-27T17:34:00.000-04:00

Sometimes creation just buzzes along at AvantGarb. We have enough of the right foam to build the body, we have plenty of the right kind of helmets to put inside the heads, we have the fur, the right shapes for the eyes and the right color soles for the mascot shoes. We have plenty of time to get the mascot done, everybody is in top mental and physical shape, and the tunes on the CD player are just the right tunes.

Sometimes the music is wrong, we have 3, but not 4 helmets for the 4 mascot we're making, the right-sized eyes for 3 and a half mascots and enough fur for everything but the paws. Someone has a pulled nerve and can only sew standing up and someone else sound like one big germ on the phone, and I beg her not to come in.

There always a time in both the projects that go smoothly, and the projects that have a few ohmygoodness, panic moments when I fall completely in love with the character we are creating. It always happens. I will look at the nose I have just finished and my heart will melt, because it is a beautiful, big, fuzzy nose and it just warms my soul, and I know it will warm the souls of all who see it---it could be the ears, a tuft of hair---the shoes. Something will click in my heart, and I know we are about to send a great, big, bundle of fun out into the wider world.

A Mascot's Summer Adventures

2009-09-18T14:11:00.000-04:00

Mascot don't talk but lots of them are manic twitterers, and one of them, Little Jake, likes to send emails w/ pics to his creators!

Here's Little Jake's, What I Did on My Summer Vacation, note home:

Dear Jennifer (or should I technically call you "Mom" since you created me?):

I thought you told me that during the first few months of any newborn's life, the people around you do all the work and the baby just lays around looking cute and being doted upon.

Well apparently E&B Paving didn't get that memo.

Have I ever been busy this summer...and I'm only a few months old! What happened to that grace period you promised me??? My summer "vacation" started when those guys from E&B trotted me out to Carmel's Rock the District festival where you can see that I was quite the hit with the ladies (OK, so that part of being a mascot is pretty cool) and I even appeared on stage to warm up the crowd before the headliner music act (Little Jake rocks! Eat your heart out Mike Jagger...). Check me out on the E&B asphalt paving equipment (rollin', rollin', rollin', keep that asphalt rollin'...).

Then, they pulled me from the comfortable confines of my customized duffle bags where I was snoozing peacefully and took me up to Peru, Indiana for that town's annual circus parade. I walked the parade route and was definitely more popular than the circus tiger (could it have been because I handed out E&B lollipops to the kids while the tiger just laid in his cage looking bored by the whole event?).

And if that weren't enough to exhaust a newborn mascot, I became the centerpiece of an advertisement that E&B created to demonstrate their support of Scecina High School's athletic teams. Uh huh, that's right, notice who's standing next to the cheerleaders (Little Jake can be one suave fellow).

OK, so I've been a rock star, a parade attraction, and a magazine model...not bad for a youngster. I may need a new pair of those size 14 shoes before long at the rate E&B is going -- my feet are getting tired from all of these appearances.

Hope you have had as much fun this summer as I have had hanging out with all of my new friends and spreading goodwill about E&B Paving.

Your pal,

Little Jake

2 Trucks, 6 Strong Men - The Move

2009-09-09T22:06:00.000-04:00

Like all moves, this one was took time, haphazard planning, luck and hard labor.

We packed rolls of: sequins, fuzz, feathers, 7 sewing machines, the bandsaw, 4 worktables (taken apart & put together again on the same day ), tools, scissors, rotary blades, and, or course, googlie eyes. Foam boing-ed out of the boxes, pins were swept off the floor and the mascot "wall of fame" was disassembled.

It took: 2 movingtrucks, 6 strong men, the phone guy, the sewing machine guy, the GarbGang, husband & bro-in-law to move into our new studio. We went into a gorgeous, empty space, filled it up and transformed it into a mascot studio.

Tonie, our feng shui visionary, knows how to create order from chaos. I put objects---sewing machines and bunches of this and that wherever they fit. Tonie takes the whole space in and knows what goes where, how the make the space navigable and right.

Some of the GarbGang w/ Peter,

our swimsuit mannequin. That's me, protecting his modesty, Tonie w/ the pink hard hat, and Cat looking grand.

...and it is right. While I dithered, and worked with a visiting mascot performer, it all fell into place. The wall of fame is re-stored and re-vitalized. Mascots are getting made.

I look at this remarkable business that I started a couple of decades ago, in my Berkeley, CA garage, and I'm filled with a kind of awe and wonder. At the time I really didn't know what I had started. Now it's a great little biz in a wonderful spot in the world.

...so, AvantGarb started in a California garage to a studio at the Stutz- We're building mascots where Stutz Bearcat cars used to be manufactured! Where there was steel, we have foam, where there was chrome we use fluff! Bearcat Alley runs through the middle of the building. The building wan built on dreams and hard work.

AvantGarb Inc
212 W. 10th St.

Studio B-295

Indianapolis, IN 46202

jennifer@avantgarb.com
800/636-9562

The Griff waits for the season to begin!

2009-09-01T10:41:00.000-04:00

...okay, we love the Griff---the mascot for the Grand Rapids Griffins Hockey.

Here's a link to the Griff's newest video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdUSsnR5Emk

Isn't he the handsomest mascot on skates?

Stutz Bearcats & Mascots

2009-08-17T10:41:00.000-04:00

This is AvantGarb's new studio before all the fuzz, fluff, foam & mascots move in!!

We will be making mascots where Stutz used to build cars. We're moving the the old Stutz Bearcat building in September. The new studio is big, light and downtown.

We will be surrounded by a huge creative community, artists, ad agencies, urban planners, photographers.

This is familiar territory for me. Way back in the 80's, I had a studio @ PS 1 in Long Island City. I was at PS 1 when artists were awarded studios for a year. I had an old classroom as my studio. It was a grand year. Now PS1 is part of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA),

The Stutz fills a role similar to the old PS1. However, the creative community is larger and more diverse. There are artists, and creative businesses---a great mix from scruffy to elegant.

... and the building is huge---the freight elevators are enormous they will hold
herds, flocks, multitudes of mascots!!

Winging It!

2009-08-06T16:41:00.000-04:00

Winging it at AvantGarb!

A Really Good Looking Tomato

2009-08-04T22:04:00.000-04:00

Its the Year of the Tomato at the Indiana State Fair.

...and the Indiana State Fair is the quintessential State Fair for this urban girl.

I always have a pork burger from the pork producers and some vanilla ice cream from the dairy people. I check out what the 4-H-ers are up to.

I have learned that poultry are exotic birds and that horses are really big!

This year is going to be especially grand because AvantGarb made Stewie the Tomato mascot for RedGold. RedGold is in the Farm Bureau Building.

The State Fair starts on August 7th!

Yum!

Fuzz & Foam: Marketing with mascots

2009-07-16T14:39:00.000-04:00

The large, plasma screen with a video of Rex the Dinosaur dancing and miming has to be cleaned several times a day because so many children touch and kiss the screen.

Rex is the mascot for the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Rex is tall and round with a rainbow belly and a really big tail. Rex gets lotsa love!

Rex is "woven into every thread" of the museum's marketing says, Lisa Townsend, VP of Marketing. He is a vibrant, everyday part of the museum's interaction with its guests.

Rex welcomes children and families to the museum. When it's time to close the museum, Rex has the "Rex Parade". Starting at the top floor of the museum, Rex leads the Rex parade down the ramp and out the door. Children wave flags and skip out of the museum, feeling quite happy and important because they were in the Parade!

What kind of Return on Investment does a mascot really bring?

There are some ways to measure this. You can tally how many mascot plushes/shirts/caps are sold at the store and online. But mascots really bring more than simply dollars out and dollars in return on investment. They bring brand loyalty.

When a mascot is around everyone in the mascots range becomes part of each other's community. Mascot mean fun. When your brand is connected with fun and community, your mascot is making friends, and the mascots friends become friends of the brand, and friends of the brand become, well, loyal customers

Your target audience is forever expanding when a mascot enters the picture.

Pharaoh Rex at the opening of the Tut Exhibit
@ the Chidren's Museum of Indianapolis

Warm Fuzzies & Cold Beer

2009-07-06T15:44:00.000-04:00

They may seem funny and well, goofy, but Aha! A mascot is a true, heartfelt marketing tool. This is the organization's representative. The piece of the marketing puzzle that really touches the customer and fan.

They're goofy and yet, they represent brands of integrity and strength. Brands that truly want bring people together in community and goodwill.

When people have a rollicking, good time in the presence of a mascot, they look at the brand the mascot represents with kind eyes and an open heart.Mascot are the warm fuzzies of marketing! They reach out to target audiences with enthusiasm. Mascots invite all to be part of the family in an open, non-ironic way.

I have a cabinet full of RedGold products. I only use Dawn to wash dishes at home and at the AvantGarb. This summer, when we drink beer, it will be Miller and fans at Portland Beaver games will be inclined to buy Miller this summer after seeing the Miller Racing Beer Cans race.

I'm completely loyal to TiVo, Who wouldn't want a Tivo after seeing the TiVo character's antics at marathons and the ball park?...and I cheers all teams and schools with mascots.

I cheer on the Davita KAT Walks, I love driving on E&B Paving's newly paved roads---well, you get the picture.

Mascots are the beating heart of marketing.

It's summertime! Batter up!

2009-06-18T22:01:00.000-04:00

Batter up!

Baseball Season!
Yippee!
It must be Summertime!
Lucky Beaver for the Portland Beavers

Rowdie - AvantGarb's Home Team - the Indianapolis Indians

...oh yeah, and Fluffy, AvantGarb's mascot--playin' with the boyz!

Our Attitude is Cutitude!

2009-05-22T12:01:00.000-04:00

A Beary, Beary Cute Bear!

Does he need a Blackbeary?

This is a bear for a children's hospital. The goal was to make him look understanding, trustworthy, upstanding, sympathetic, soulful and well---sweet.

Oh yeah, and he has a giant, soft sculpture stethoscope.

Mascots don't talk but they sure know how to write!

2009-05-12T21:05:00.001-04:00

Every one knows that mascots don't talk. Mascots are the American Kabuki. However, we just sent a mascot out into the world who is turning into a voracious writer.
Today I got an email from Little Jake, the mascot for E&B Paving.

Enjoy Jake's first epistle:

Dear Jennifer and Amy:

I made lots of new friends today when I visited E&B's corporate headquarters in Anderson. The CEO and VPs really thought I looked kind of sexy even if my coveralls made my butt look big, the staff enjoyed it when I visited their offices and swapped high-fives, Chuck read a speech about how I'm now part of E&B's branding (I didn't understand what he was talking about because I have no brain...just foam), and Jason made sure that all of my whopper snaps were securely fastened and that my hard hat didn't mess up my hair. It really was a lot of fun, especially having a valet at my disposal to help me get dressed and walk through the hallways.

So now that I've come out of the closet (or perhaps more appropriately "out of the duffel bags"), the guys from E&B think I'm going to turn some heads at upcoming events. They already have me scheduled to attend a golf outing on Thursday, a 4th of July parade and some other events. Geez! What's a mascot to do for a little rest and relaxation! I mean, c'mon, I know I'm one foam-filled fun machine, but even a guy like me needs to kick back and enjoy a refreshing beverage every now and then...oops, maybe not...on second thought, refreshing beverages make you want to pee and I have no zipper and then there'd be a mess and Jennifer would need to make me a new set of coveralls and...OK, I'll stop now cuz you get the picture.

Anyway, thanks for all of your help in bringing me to life.

Your Pal,

Little Jake

Fruit Salad!

2009-05-06T10:22:00.001-04:00

Yippee! Summer!

Muscles & mascots

2009-05-05T14:26:00.000-04:00

For a long time we had the cover from a muscle magazine on our wall. The big story was "6 Ways to Bulk Up".

The AvantGarb 6 ways to Bulk Up:

Foam
Foam
Foam
Foam
Foam
Foam

We call our muscled mascots: WonderBoys, Pec Boy, Fabio Chest, Miracle Man, Super Man and Ohmygoodnesslookatthosemuscles Guy!

Here's one of our muscled mascots, JAWZ. IUPUI's* mascot. He's pretty popular!*Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis---quite a name!

Fat Mascots Dance!

2009-05-04T10:30:00.000-04:00

Ya gotta love the mascots!

I'm grateful that I'm surrounded by this fuzzy silliness every day.

We were thinking about what fun it would be to have a buncha fat mascots dancing to Beyonce's "Single Ladies"

OHMYGOODNESS!!!!

2009-04-23T21:20:00.000-04:00

It's
AvantGarb TV

In an interview @ AvantGarb's studio, I talk about the how, where and why of mascots and a bit of how the heck i got into the mascot biz!
Enjoy!

Which mascot has the Nikes?

2009-04-21T21:25:00.000-04:00

AvantGarb's studio is filled with mascots in various stages of completion. There's lotsa fuzz, fur, bling, sequins, foam, people, mannequins, sewing machines, drills, a band saw, glue guns, spools and spools of thread, photos, ribbon and stuff stuff stuff. What I'm trying to say is that there's plenty to look at, touch and ponder . The place is really visually over-the-top.

In the midst of all the stuff of AvantGarb was a mascot-sized pair of Nikes. They were a visual magnet for everyone who came into AvantGarb. Everyone said, "Who's the mascot who gets the Nikes?" It was like there was nothing else in the room but the mascot-sized Nikes---well they are really big shoes!

LUCKY, the Portland Beaver's mascot is the lucky mascot who gets Nikes. Nike is a Beaver sponsor, and Lucky the Beaver has some great kicks!

How'd you get into the mascot biz? Part 1!

2009-04-19T21:47:00.000-04:00

The mascots found me. Here's a bit of AvantGarb prehistory :

I lived in Seattle in the mid 70's and was part of a group named Friends of the Rag.

We designed and created costumes---we called them "wearable art" and put on performances at, the Seattle Art Museum, the Aquarium, parks, fairs, piers, more museums, country fairs, snazzy society gigs and funky, arty bars.

My first costume was the Sexy Salmon for the opening of the Seattle Aquarium---Seattle is known for salmon, and salmon are known for their sex lives---they spawn!

The second costume was the Formal Clarinet for the Seattle Symphony. I met Joan Mondale, Vice President Walter Mondale's wife, wearing the Clarinet. I met her for the 2nd time in DC during the opening night performance of our show at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian---this time not wearing the Clarinet. I mentioned that I had met her a few years before as a Clarinet. She remembered---who wouldn't?