BELLEFONTE — He may represent the city of Philadelphia as the Flyers’ new mascot, but Gritty was born right here in Centre County in the home studio of State College High and Penn State grad Brian Allen.
The independent illustrator and graphic designer said he was a little surprised about the splash that his creation made on social media, but he said it was exciting to watch Gritty make the rounds there and even on the national news.
“It was unexpected because I knew they were launching on Monday, and I knew there would be a lot of buzz about it,” said Allen. “But I just had no idea. I mean it’s been on stations like Fox News in Cleveland and people were sending me things from Cleveland and California.”
Allen said he is aware of the mixed reaction that Gritty has received, but he knew there might be some hockey fans who weren’t ready for a mascot to begin with. Still, he wasn’t expecting to be following the internet and responding to people who did or didn’t like his creation.
“When we started working with the Flyers, we knew going in that there might be some negative reactions, because they haven’t had a mascot in a long time, so a lot of the fans may not have even wanted one,” said Allen.
The Flyers were looking for a way to appeal to younger fans, so they talked to him about designing a mascot after some work he did with Chick-Fil-A, on a tie-in with their mascot for an Auburn-Georgia football game last year.
Designing the hockey mascot was tricky because it had to embody the rough physical aspect of hockey while also appealing to kids, Allen said.
“To me, the outcome wasn’t surprising because we were kind of going for a Jim Henson ‘Sesame Street’ kind of big goofy monster,” said Allen. “I saw a lot of feedback that people think he is creepy, but then a lot of people say they think he is cute. It is really tricky because if you go too far in one direction and make it too cute and cuddly, it is hockey and hockey is not a cute and cuddly sport. But you are trying to appeal to kids, too, so you’ve got to walk that line.”
Bellefonte resident Brian Allen’s design of the new Philadelphia Flyers’ mascot, Gritty. Image provided
The costume put together based on his drawing is slightly different than his drawing, because of the switch from a two-dimensional picture to a three-dimensional mascot, but Allen thinks it looks great. He said the googly eyes weren’t something that he expected, but he thinks they are a fun addition.
Allen is not a big sports fan, but he has been to a bunch of hockey games and he is excited to go see Gritty live at a Flyers game this season. He feels his lack of interest in sports lead him on his current path as a successful artist.
“I always say the reason I’m good at drawing is because I suck at sports,” said Allen with a laugh. “So I spent all of high school in my room drawing.”
That drawing has paid off. After high school, he studied marketing at Penn State, taking as many art classes as he could. After graduating in 2004, he worked for a few companies such as Jostens locally, but in 2012 he decided to strike out on his own as a freelancer. He said he loves the freedom of working as his own boss.
“I love to be the one who is able to choose which projects I works on, and be the only one responsible for my own thing,” said Allen.
One project he sure is fond of is Gritty.
“I am really proud of it. And it is really neat to see how much the Flyers are putting into launching this guy and presenting it. They have had videos and interviews and promotional events. That is something new to me, because most of my clients are smaller businesses, which can also be a lot of fun to work with, but they don’t have that kind of budget,” said Allen.
Allen said he is unsure of what kind of team gear might feature Gritty in the future, but he is sure there will be something, and it will be pretty cool if he gets to add a Gritty figurine to his studio.
For now, he is trying to stay busy with his work, and let people debate their opinions of it online. He is glad that a least one gritty character has his back, as the mascot has its own account on the internet responding to fans who aren’t liking the new character.
“They have the mascot, Gritty, talking back to the fans and being funny and sarcastic and with an attitude, which I think is great,” said Allen. “He should be tough, as a hockey mascot. He’s not taking this lying down.”
