When students Christopher Fann and John Norman started making customized greek paddles four or five years ago, their friends responded with overwhelming support.

"All our friends would say, 'You should make a company and start trying to sell your stuff for real instead of just staying small time,' " Fann said.

So last December, with the addition of football player Aaron Maybin (sophomore-communications), Fann (senior-philosophy) and Norman (senior-African American studies) decided to establish Tru Royalty, a company specializing in custom decoration for greek paraphernalia.

Roommates since 2006, Fann and Norman became friends after joining different greek organizations. Fann is a member of Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship Incorporated, and Norman is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc.

"From there, we became the best of friends," Fann said. "Me and John, we're like brothers. We both had artistic abilities, and we saw that in each other. And then we met Aaron, and he was doing paintings, and we just got to know him."

After a sit-down meeting, the trio formed Tru Royalty to further develop the service Fann and Norman were already providing.

"Originally, we just started doing [paddles] for each other, and then we started doing them for friends. It was like, 'OK, our friend just became a member of such and such an organization,' and we'd make a paddle for him in congratulations. It just took off from there," Fann said, adding that custom paddles are not the extent of Tru Royalty's products.

Multicultural Greek Council member Anna Rungfarsangaroon, president of Sigma Omicron Pi sorority, said that though it's considered tradition in many fraternities and sororities for members to make paddles for each other, there aren't strict rules preventing members from using a company like Tru Royalty.

"It kind of depends," Rungfarsangaroon (senior-crime, law and justice) said. "We don't have a rule against it, but it would probably be looked down upon."

However, Chris Thomas, chapter adviser for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., disagreed with the idea that paddle-making should be the exclusive responsibility of fraternity or sorority members.

"There's no rule," he said. "If you want to give another brother something well-decorated, it only speaks more highly of you. A lot of people get outside help with design. It's definitely not a problem."

Christopher Hubert (senior-energy, business and finance) agreed, saying that using a company like Tru Royalty was acceptable in his fraternity Sigma Lambda Beta.

"If someone can do a better job than you can, then there's definitely no problem with getting it made. And [Fann] can do a better job than anyone on campus," he said.

Despite whatever traditions currently exist in greek organizations, Tru Royalty's customized paddles are still in demand. Fann said between himself and Norman, they sell about 10 paddles per month.

Chi Upsilon Sigma sorority member Raquel Fernandez (senior-life science) said she was satisfied after working with Tru Royalty to make a paddle for a fellow sorority member.

"I went up to Chris because I had always seen their artwork, and it was just like you had to have one because they put so much detail and personalization into it," she said. "She was floored when she saw it. It was her first paddle, and she was so excited to get something so beautiful."

Norman said Tru Royalty's paddles fulfill a need he saw in the greek community.

"I started seeing that [fraternities] make paddles, but they didn't have the artistic design to do it or the artistic talent to produce them," he said. "So where me, Chris and Aaron come in is we take our artistic view, we sit down with the person and we discuss what they feel about the fraternity or sorority. We make that come to life on a paddle, and it represents them."

Fann also stated that though the company's artistic process is collaborative, each artist has his own style.

"We have a secret to our process," he said. "John, he's more of your abstract-type artist, and Aaron, he's a more technical artist, whereas I'm more of a cartoonist drawer. I'll do anime and stuff like that."

Norman said each member also specializes in different media, with Maybin focusing on oil-based paint design and artwork and Fann concentrating on Photoshop.

"Me, I stay strictly with paddles because that's where my passion lies," Norman said. "But we get ideas, and we just mesh them together."

Even though the company has blank paddles for customers, Fann said they prefer the paddles to be brought to them, and customers whose orders are larger than three paddles must supply their own materials.

Despite the fact that Tru Royalty has technically been established for only a few months, Fann said the company's success reaches outside of its State College origins.

"We get people from all over," he said. "I'm dealing with a lot of people in Georgia. I know John is dealing from Ohio to North Carolina. Aaron's new so he's just learning the trade, but he's not limited to State College, either."

Regarding the paddles' cost, Norman said they are "very cost-effective."

"It's one-of-a-kind art that's specifically designed for you and the [organization] that you were inducted into," he said. "And because we don't rush too many things, we give you a two-week period to look at artwork and see what you're getting."

Norman said Tru Royalty charges roughly $100 to $200 depending on the size of the paddle and the artistic design the consumer desires.

However, Fann said he is currently working on a 6-foot paddle that is priced at $1,000.

Hubert said he thought the paddle he bought from Tru Royalty was reasonably priced compared to prices at greeknation.com and other greek paraphernalia sites.

"It's definitely worth the price," he said. "I told [Fann] that I wanted something ... and in the next five days, they had something drawn out, written up, color scheme done. The service they have is really great."

Though they are both seniors, Fann and Norman are passionate about continuing to expand the business, which can be contacted through e-mail at TruRoyaltyEnterprises@gmail.com or via their Facebook.com group.

"This is something that is definitely long-term," Norman said. "Right now, Tru Royalty is standing as a paddle-based company, but we have dreams of branching out into clothing, automobiles, hotels -- making it like a figurehead. We definitely plan on branching out and becoming larger than we are right now."