How to design a t-shirt: illustration of direct-to-garment printing

 Pros: Highly customizable designs with maximum detail and extensive color choices.

 Cons: Use for small batches or perhaps a single sample. The more you’re printing, the less viable it becomes. Doesn’t work well on dark-colored garments.

 Take a look at our guide to t-shirt printing for more information.

 Here comes the fun stuff… Now you get to start figuring out what’s actually going on your t-shirt! Make sure you don’t jump to this step first. The more time and effort you put into preparing for this, the better.

 Your design could go in a million different directions. As you’re brainstorming, here are some tips to help focus your creativity.

 All this talk about t-shirts, and it’s easy to forget that there are lots of different types of shirts. Just to name a few…

 How to design a t-shirt step: choosing t-shirt type

 Think about your audience and intended goals before deciding the right type of t-shirt. A revealing crop top might not be the best promotion for a law firm.

 As you start sketching out t-shirt design ideas, make sure it will translate to the actual size. Design using an 18”x18” canvas and physically place your designs on a shirt. That doesn’t mean you have to fill the whole space (like if you’re keeping it minimal with a small logo), but a realistically sized canvas will help you get the proportions right.

 Once you have your design, consider how it will look on larger and smaller shirt sizes. If you choose a screen printing process, different sizes may require different screens, which means additional costs.

 At this stage, you have to rely on your creative and artistic instincts to communicate the messages you want to say. Don’t forget these questions we talked about before:

 Why are you designing a shirt in the first place?

 Put all of that together, and you’re ready to start designing a t-shirt that’s perfect for you.

 For example, take a look at Prim’s dinosaur t-shirt design. This is a kid’s merchandise brand, so the style is cute and cartoony, appealing to its market.

 Compare that to the winning entry for the Pumpkin t-shirt design contest, by 99designs creator DiditRed.

 This German hardcore music festival is definitely not marketed to kids. That opens up their designs to edgier material, which suits their prospective clients better.

 Of course, there are more options than being terrifying or sugary sweet.

 Alex Lalove shows us how to design a professional, risk-free t-shirt without being boring. His winning entry promotes the Datafinity brand with its logo front and center, but spices up the look and feel so it seems more fashionable than a standard business tee.

Artisticimage.net

 Also, remember that your design is being displayed on bodies. Lumpy, bumpy bodies that aren’t always as symmetrical as we’d like. Think about flat, uncomplicated designs since there’s no telling where the nooks and crannies will land on your image.

 For similar reasons, you also want to avoid detailed imagery, such as subtle color gradients and intricate linework. Always err on the side of simple.

 Designer Monkeii uses a 2D image and two colors that match the background well—all without sacrificing the artistic quality.

 The fonts you choose say a lot about your brand. Serif fonts (the ones with little arms) or script fonts look more classic. Sans-serif fonts make it more modern. T-shirts offer more of an opportunity than other areas of graphic design to play with fun, crazy display fonts, but do keep readability in mind. If the words on your shirt are important to communicating your message, make sure they don’t get overshadowed by swirly, grungy, loopy typography.

 The element of design that is best at instantly communicating personality is color. Each shade, hue and tint evokes an emotion, acting as a shortcut for you to portray something about your brand at just a glance.

 T-shirt designs have two sets of colors to keep in mind: the fabric color(s) and the print color(s). To make sure that these two complement each other, always use your fabric color as the background of your design ideas. (And also note that a colored canvas can have an impact on what inks look like, so make sure you talk to your printer about that!)

 Because of the way t-shirt inks work, printing colors can get a little tricky. The least expensive way to print your design will be to approximate the colors. Just know that your “teal” might not match your printer’s “teal.”

 Because of the way t-shirt inks work, printing colors can get a little tricky. The least expensive way to print your design will be to approximate the colors. Just know that your “teal” might not match your printer’s “teal.”

 Exact color matches are possible with Pantone (PMS) or custom blended CMYK inks—but they’re more expensive. PMS uses predefined, exact ink tones that your printers can purchase. CMYK printing creates virtually any color by combining Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (black) inks. Check with your printer to determine what’s available.

 Like any other printing medium, t-shirts have their own set unique ink options.

 Plastisol — The standard ink used in screen-printing

 Novelty — Glitter, hologram or even a fuzzy feel

 High-density — For a dimensional appearance that pops out from the shirt

 Gel — Like high-density, but with a “wetter” look

 Water-based — No feeling at all; ingrained in the fabric

 Got design skills? Get crackin’! If you don’t, don’t worry. There are tons of pros out there ready to turn your design concept into a reality.

 The main advantage of designing a t-shirt yourself is the price. If your budget is tight, the decision is already made for you. Design freedom is a huge advantage, but don’t forget that professionals know the technical concerns of t-shirt design (plus a whole lot more). If you broke out into a cold sweat when we mentioned acronyms like CMYK, you might sleep better handing this off to a pro.