How a YouTube fan turned a class project into an ugly sweater sensation
Dec 15, 2025 [[read-time]] minute read
“YouTube is fundamentally about giving creators a platform to share their stories. We realized this was the perfect opportunity to recognize Carter’s creativity AND stand behind YouTube’s promise to empower and compensate creatives at every level.”
Gina
Director, YouTube Communications
Carter O’Driscoll, a high school student in Michigan has always been creative — he’s made drawings that were once displayed in city hall, painted custom phone cases for friends, created a prize-winning fidget pencil for an invention competition, and at one point was even a budding gaming creator on YouTube.
Most recently, Carter poured his creativity into a marketing class project. The assignment? Create an ugly Christmas sweater for a favorite brand. As an avid YouTube fan, he designed a sweater inspired by the YouTube logo, complete with festive lights, candy canes, hollies, and snowflakes.
Carter wearing his YouTube holiday sweater.
As part of the assignment, Carter and his classmates had to send their ugly sweater ideas to the companies that inspired them. After some research, he found Gina, a director on YouTube’s communications team, and sent her an email with the subject line “Ugly sweater design - YouTube.”
Gina shared Carter's design with teams across YouTube, and the enthusiasm was unanimous—everyone was excited to bring the concept to life. From there, YouTube licensed and compensated Carter for the right to reproduce his work. “I jumped out of my chair in math class when I got the email," Carter says. “I was honestly shocked I got a reply back.”
Not only did he get a reply – as a thank you to Carter, YouTube sent 100 sweaters to his high school for his classmates to don this holiday season.
Carter’s story is a reminder that great ideas can come from anywhere, and sometimes, the best ones start with a simple email. “Anything can happen if you just give it a try,” Carter says.