Charlotte graphic design firm partners with Hornets for fan shirt giveaway

To the first 10,000 fans at their Nov. 26 home game against the New York Knicks, the Charlotte Hornets will give away T-shirts designed by a local graphic design firm that also worked with Cam Newton on a custom shirt earlier this year.

The firm, Tykes, is known for its cartoon-style customized avatars made famous by athletes like Steph Curry and Von Miller. It has designed shirts for the Hornets with images of all 15 players on the roster wearing black Buzz City uniforms, which they’ll be wearing for the game the night the shirts are distributed, the Hornets said.

Several of the players Tykes depicts on the shirt are in poses fans might recognize from games: Spencer Hawes and Marvin Williams are celebrating three-point field goals, for example, and Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are reacting to big plays.

Earlier this year, Tykes designed a shirt for Newton featuring the Carolina Panthers quarterback with his son, Chosen, doing Cam’s signature celebratory dance from the 2015 season, the dab.

Tykes has made customized avatars for hundreds of professional and college athletes including Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer, Washington cornerback Josh Norman and Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams.

Tykes has long considered itself an “underground” company, but the exposure from the athletes has boosted demand for its designs.

The Hornets play the Knicks at 7 p.m. Nov. 26 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Charlotte graphic design firm partners with Hornets for fan shirt giveaway."