This is probably a cliche answer but an innovative design that stands out is good. Simple or complex doesn’t matter as long as it is a unique design that shows what is important to your team and your team branding. I honestly don’t really care about discreetly, as I still see FRC as a niche thing so I don’t expect everyone to recognize what I’m wearing off the bat. Swag factor comes first because everyone wants to get the most well known teams but I like getting lesser known teams. Favorite merch is currently my team sweatshirt as it is my first piece of FRC merch and I’m made a lot of memories with it.
I think the best kind of FRCFIRST Robotics Competition merch are the ones that have a story behind it. Quality of the design comes after the storytelling in my opinion.
My personal favorite shirt of all time is the 148 China, and the favorite piece that I currently own is my 2910 wireframe shirt, most because of the memories made when we won district champs with them
A good merch design that is both discreet enough to wear out in public but still features a cool design
I personally prefer something simpler on the front such as a small logo or something and a more complex design on the back such as a small team logo with a wireframe on the back.
For sure, having something that is discreet makes it definitely more likely for me to wear it
Personal connection is my number one factor but definitely well known teams are easier to trade to someone else
Anything that you can wear both casually and at competition. I’m personally not a fan of super loud merch that doesn’t really go with anything, so it being fashionable and able to go with outfits is a must.
This ^^^. In my opinion, 118 have the best merch for this very reason. I love their windbreakers and polos because they are unique but I can still wear them anywhere.
This is a small-ish thing but very important to some people and that is springing for the soft touch shirt vs. standard T-shirts. My wife keeps stealing my swerve drive Specialties t-shirt and my few other shirts that are the premium soft shirts
FRc 3231’s clip on Koloa Bears. I used to collect them for my volunteers who were not on their field at the championships for years but nowadays I don’t have the time to do that anymore. They go really fast!
+1 to 7461, the cherry blossom shirt especially has been a staple of my wardrobe. I’ll add anything that 4414 has put out - simple design, good looking logo, sticks to 2 colors. I’m a sucker for teal so I might be a bit biased there but they really do create great merch all around.
I sadly forgot the team number, but at Vegas one team had a really nice shirt with their previous year’s robots on them. I think it was a dark blue shirt with white print, and it was just really nice to look at, as well as a neat tribute to the team’s history.
Agreed; it was $4 more for Bella + Canvas soft style shirts this year and it was a huge improvement. For shirts that we expect to wear many times it’s so nice to have something comfortable.
No one beats Sushi Squad for graphic design, everything they’ve made is awesome. That said I ended up trading away my dragon hoodie because I’m too messy for a white hoodie.
Same here, the white hoodie just picks up grime too easily especially since we are on a robotics team, funnily enough I traded my hoodie away to a Comets member.
The High Tide T Shirt is also really nice. The material is soft, the teal color is really cool, and the minimalist design makes it easy to wear in public.
Favorite Piece of FRC merch- Team 7461 Cherry Blossom Shirt
What makes a good merch design?- Keep it simple because large sections of screen printing are uncomfortable.
What to I look for- District or other softer shirt bases, designs that aren’t super loud (most of the time)
Discreet merch is pretty cool, but not a requirement, things like the trans flag on the back of the sushi squad dragon hoodie
Well known teams VS swag factor- I get shirts because either I like the people behind the shrit eg my 6443 shirt, or that look cool, eg my 3636 shirt (at least on the front.