Recently, production and purchase of university goods have gone viral on social networking service (SNS) and online communities such as Everytime. The main characteristic of these products is that they are produced by students who post ideas of school merchandise on online platforms, freely communicate on the design, and gather colleagues for group purchases. The rising popularity of the student-led production raises an important question: What are the key characteristics of student-made goods, and what differences do they have with the official Korea University (KU) merchandise that make them so special?

School merchandise, also known as campus goods, are usually sold in official brand stores of universities. In KU, various school products are sold at the Crimson Store. According to KU, campus goods are mainly created based on the ideas of students and faculty members, while some are produced in collaboration with certain enterprises. The school actively uses its symbols and images, producing goods designed with the major KU logos and colors of crimson and white. The profits earned at the Crimson Store are used as school development funds and scholarships.

However, despite the school’s official merchandise, the popularity and interest in student-made goods are increasing. The reasons why students buy these products may include a sense of belonging, simple designs, and practicality. Student-made goods carry distinct characteristics that follow the trend, satisfying the taste and demands of their main consumers: the students.

Introducing the Student-Made KU Products

In some cases, individual students volunteer in designing products that suit students’ preferences. During the summer break, a group purchase of hoodies was led by Choo Minjoon (’21, History Education) on Everytime. Hoodies are the most frequently produced school merchandise, especially popular among students who prefer casual clothes for their practicality and comfortableness. KU’s official merchandise shop did sell hoodies, but they were not in the design Choo had in mind. “I remembered seeing posts of group purchases on Everytime, and since I was in the middle of summer break, I decided to give it a try and design a hoodie that suits my taste.”

According to Choo, the most important part of his production was confirming the design and size. He says, “Since I started this work mainly because of the design, I stuck to the style that best satisfied my preferences. Also, I could not ignore the importance of size since hoodies are casual wear after all.” Choo’s design of the hoodies contains a simple phrase saying “Korea Univ.” and the year KU was founded. Also, unlike the color choices of official school goods—gray and crimson—Choo decided to go with gray and black. By excluding unnecessary details and using achromatic colors, he maximized the simplicity of the product.

A Project for KU Students, by KU Students

Besides individual producers like Choo, a group of students have gathered to create products representing the KU identity. KLUB, a project team organized by six KU students—Hanna Jang (‘18, Philosophy), Na Yeon Lee (‘18, Interdisciplinary Studies), Gyu Won Rah (‘18, Public Administration, Subin Seo (‘19 Business Administration), Ji Woo Choi (‘20, English Language and Literature), and Hyojin Jung (‘21, Classical Chinese)—hopes to move along with the students in designing, producing, and selling goods, a process in which the voices of students are most valued.

“We produce items that show the KU identity and deliver new experiences for colleagues who have not yet enjoyed university life because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). We hope to induce college spirit by inspiring more students to sympathize, share, and inherit the positive motives of KU through our products,” says KLUB.

Before jumping into the production process, KLUB conducted a survey collecting student ideas on school goods and charities for donating its sales profit. Based on the accumulated data, the members have successfully proceeded their first online presales of overfit t-shirts, laptop stickers, and eco-tumblers in collaboration with the school’s Unistore. KLUB’s merchandise directly and indirectly incorporate symbols of KU such as tiger, Korean pine, and crimson color. They are designed to express the identity of KU without excessiveness, so that a wider range of customers can continuously use the products. Hence, the KLUB project has realized the goal of KU students to produce goods that reflect student ideas in the most reasonable and practical way.

The popularity of student-made goods highlights the importance of taking students’ voices into account. As seen in recent purchases, the rising generation of universities seems to prefer products that are simple, comfortable, and symbolic in a trendy way. However, the increase in student-led production of campus goods also raises concerns, such as students making profit out of their products for commercial use, or falsely accusing honest students of such ill purposes. To increase transparency of transactions and decrease student conflicts, it would be preferable for the producers to partially reveal personal information or thoroughly announce the process of group purchases by providing screenshots of transactional information. Moreover, as KLUB is doing, students may collaborate with the school for receiving operational support.

Overall, products that reflect the current trend and the needs of the rising generation are gaining popularity. As students are the ones who recognize such demands and transitions of the youth, KU merchandise made by KU students have succeeded in meeting student preferences. Choo mentions, “It is worthwhile to see people send pictures of their hoodies, and it makes me feel fulfilled to know that someone can be happy because of me.” In addition, the KLUB members say, “From the time we opened our website, there were multiple rewarding moments. We still remember the name of our first purchaser. There was also one customer who posted an Instagram story of our goods, with a comment that said, ‘wise consumption.’ It was meaningful to see our customers recognize the purpose of our project.”

Likewise, student-made goods benefit the overall student community, including both the consumers and the producers. Whether it is an individual or a team that makes such products, the young producers’ efforts to realize the demands of their peers are worth praising.