You’re dead set on setting up a T-shirt business with the beautiful illustrations… that are in your head. Now, it’s just a matter of churning out these incredible concepts and designs. Perhaps you were once a novice illustrator in school, and always had the passion for art but never actively pursued it as a business. Or maybe you’re a master artist and can whip up stunning graphics on the fly. However experienced you may be at coming up with T-shirt designs, here are a few tips you should take into consideration when designing a custom T-shirt for printing.
1. Take the time to explore your concepts
A good design isn’t typically done up in a day. When conceptualising your idea, let it dwell in your head for a while. Think about your design as you go through your day – what colours to use, the curve of the lines. An artist usually takes time off to do other things in order to generate better and greater art. It also helps if you doodle or sketch out the design concept before proceeding to do them up digitally, as drafts can help you spot flaws in the idea. While design is an important aspect of your customized piece, the fonts plays an significant role as well. Explore different fontsto assure your design are heavenly match with the right fonts!
2. Keep it simple!
The best designs have one main selling point, and all other elements are placed to support that main element. It’s great to have just a simple, focused design, like a witty quote or a small illustration that plays with the empty space around it. This also helps to save on printing costs as smaller prints cost less than larger ones. Try to position your print in the middle of the T-shirt as that is where it’s most attention-grabbing.
3. Think about your buyers
Are your target audience male or female? How old are they? What sort of prints would they like to wear? What sort of prints would they be ashamed to wear? What is the ideal sizing for your targeted audience? All these are important considerations whenever you are starting any kind of T-shirt business. Doing market research will only help you better gauge how well your designs will sell, and, in turn, how much money you can make from designing and printing T-shirts.
4. Select complementary colours
One basic design principle is to choose colours that complement each other. It might be beneficial for you to study a bit of colour theory before you jump into the design. White on black or black on white are great options for more affordable T-shirts though, while ones that require more colour would be slightly more expensive to print. Try not to go beyond 2 complementary colours for your prints, as that might make the shirt order even more expensive. Different material will also affect the color of your choice, such as polyester tees will allow the color to appear more vibrant and shine better.
5. Find the right T-shirt printing company
Getting a trustworthy yet cheap T-shirt printing service will help make your business bloom. The more you can produce for your audience in every batch, the more you can sell, assuming you put in the effort into selling them. Good T-shirt printing services often have all their information upfront on their website, and a plethora of reputable previous clients. Check our pricing guide for customization
