The Shirt Project at Notre Dame has its roots in 1990 when a group of students decided to raise funds for charity by designing and selling t-shirts. Over the years, the project has raised over $12 million for various organizations, including children's hospitals, student organizations, and hunger relief efforts. The Shirt has become a symbol of unity and pride for the Notre Dame community, with thousands of students, alumni, and fans. Traditionally, The Shirt is worn to the first home football game of the season by fans.
This year, I had the honor of designing it as the lead designer while working with two other designers and a team of thirteen other students. We took our design to Los Angeles, and then the Colosseum Graphic Design Team worked with us to edit and prepare the design for printing.
Below is The Shirt 34 story and graphics.
The Shirt 2023 design is a tribute to the long lasting tradition of Notre Dame Football. The illustration encapsulates the evolution of the history of Notre Dame Football, and honors those who have come before us and have paved the foundation for the current generation of Notre Dame Football.
The color epitomizes the vibrant history of Notre Dame Football as a reflection of the traditional Notre Dame green and represents the pride of Notre Dame Football fans. The color will stand out and showcase this tradition in and outside the stadium.
The front design of The Shirt 34 exudes simplicity and a nod to the past, as it includes the Notre Dame monogram logo used from the 1960s-80s and inspiration from 1920s art deco programs. It reads “March on to Victory” which is the last lyric of the new version of the Notre Dame Fight Song which includes daughters alongside sons in the preceding line. The front stands strong, while also being wearable for everyday life.
The back of the design is where The Shirt comes to life. Through different players, the design tells the story of Notre Dame Football’s iconic eras, with an explicit call-out to, “Rally for Old Notre Dame!” The players sport leather and gold helmets, different jerseys, and varying levels of padding to represent their respective glory days on the team. Additionally, there is meaning behind the numbers portrayed on their jerseys as an homage to the most notable achievements in Notre Dame Football history: 87 stands for 1887, the year the team was founded; 11 stands for the 11 national championships; 7 stands for the 7 Heisman winners; and finally, the middle number 1 wraps all of the players together to represent the one team history has created. Lastly, the image is framed with a classic shamrock and vintage game scarf.
The design expresses the unique nature of Notre Dame Football. The goal was to illustrate the history of football on campus in a vintage style alluding to the longstanding nature of Notre Dame Football. The Shirt 34 also references stylistic choices from its past, including similar framing on the front to The Shirt 2016 and inspiration from 2004. The shamrock design itself draws direct inspiration from a program from 1959 and serves as the foundation for the overall design of this year’s shirt. The Shirt seeks to stand for honoring the illustrious history of Notre Dame Football and serves as a rallying cry for fans, players, alumni, and students alike to “Rally for Old Notre Dame!”
