T-Shirts Make Their Statement in Major Way : Marketing: A Newport Beach entrepreneur hopes to reach those who want more than just the name of an alma mater emblazoned across their chests.

With the first day of school approaching, some college students already are wrestling with deep questions, such as “What major should I declare?” or “Should I change my major from philosophy to finance?”

Newport Beach entrepreneur Dana Sparks wants students to proclaim their major to the world. Sparks is founder of Sparx Enterprises, a fledgling company that markets T-shirts emblazoned with icons and 2-inch-high letters describing several different college majors.

Sparks said he is targeting the black-and-white T-shirts, which he calls Major-T’s, at college bookstores and parents’ groups who buy the shirts for fund-raising activities.

Sparks founded the company more than a year ago after quitting his on-again, off-again studies at Cal State Fullerton. He had decided to work full time on his business because the “whole idea of hanging out and getting the degree was not that appealing to me,” he said.

Enlisting the help of a graphic arts student, he designed icons to represent 35 different academic majors. The symbol for marine biology, for example, is a school of fish. On the T-shirt for finance majors is, naturally, a dollar bill. The best-selling T-shirt so far, for the undecided major, shows icons for a variety of different majors with a big question mark in the center.

Printed locally with a special type of ink that has a soft texture, the T-shirts are distinct from the more established brands of casual collegiate sportswear that bear a school’s name, Sparks said.

“Kids still want to have their school name on their shirt,” he said, adding that he is trying to fill a niche for students who want to be identified with their major.

Sparx Enterprises’ customers include many local colleges, including Cal State Fullerton, Pasadena City College and Glendale College. Sparks said he also is shipping orders to colleges in Florida, Illinois and Georgia.

Purchasing managers at some local college bookstores said they were impressed with Sparks’ product.

“It was appealing and it was new,” said Jose Cortez, the purchasing agent for Pasadena City College, one of eight local college bookstores that placed orders with Sparks. The shirts, priced at $11.95, have “sold real well so far,” he said.

Sparks, 30, puts his textbook knowledge of marketing and communications to use as he works from his Newport Beach duplex. He said the business is still struggling, noting that he and some close friends who invested money in the venture have yet to break even.

He is hoping for a lot of orders this fall as college bookstores stock up for the start of the new school year.

The company had only $6,000 in sales last year, selling his T-shirts at wholesale for $6.50 a piece.

To stay afloat financially, Sparks said he has held down two jobs in addition to hawking his T-shirts. But the venture is rewarding, he said. “It’s been an education I couldn’t have gotten in college.”