If someone is hosting an event, raising funds for charity, or showcasing their work and thinking of a way to promote it, you should consider creating a custom t-shirt. Because it is an effective way of promoting or marketing your cause.
Designing a custom t-shirt that people will want to wear over and over again can be a challenge of epic proportions. But with the right strategic design, it can be a valuable marketing tool and also a way of earning some money.
To be successful in the custom T-shirt printing business, you need to do some things right and avoid the most common mistakes to achieve that greatness.
So with this article, I'm going to outline the top ten tips that you should be thinking before you design your printed masterpiece.
- Take your time & figure out your needs
Even the best designers in the world take their time to bring their mind creations to their designs. So take your time to think what are your needs & for why, for what purpose you need to design this. Define the objectives. Identify your target audience. Think ahead.
For that you can write all those above points and do some sketch work. You can do a quick sketch and that will give you new ideas. Then, you can pick one of the sketches among them and continue.
-
Keep it simple
Every design expert advises others to keep the design as simple as you can. If your design mixes together with many elements, that may be complicated for viewers. A simple design will lead you to the success in your t-shirt business and also bring your t-shirt printing cost down to your budget.
-
Define your target budget & quantity
Once you are clear with your objective and audience, then you need to settle some details about your budget, quantity & the time frame.
- Budget
Every product needs to have a budget list before starting working on the product. The budget will impact the outcome. You should think about dollars in the initial stage so that you can find a perfect balance between the creative options and number of quantities you can produce or print.
- Quantity
The choice of your printing method depends on the quantity you want to print. Think about the audition before choosing the quantity.
-
Color matters the most
From the moment you start designing, you should be considerate about colors. Pick colors that can help highlight other design elements and make it a rule of thumb to pick not more than two colors.
Apart from choosing the right color for your t-shirt, it is also very important to take care of how they will look with the color of your t-shirt. Sometimes printing colors on t-shirts can be a little tricky due to the ways ink works on t-shirts.
-
Choose right typography & font
The way of how visual component shows off a written word is called ‘Typography’.
When it comes to design, typography is the art of typesetting or arranging type in a way that makes sense, along with choosing typefaces (fonts), you should make sure the letter spacing & line spacing is correct, and the way that interacts with the graphic elements is aesthetically pleasing.
You need to think of the audience who is going to read it before choosing the typography pattern.
-
Know the scale and size
Most people tend to go with standard sizing most of the time. So In T-shirt design, scale & size matters a lot. The size is decided based on the nature of the design, and the properties of the garment to be printed.
So what you can do is, print the desired design and hold it up to a shirt for a representation of scale. If you feel balanced then you are good to continue.
-
Choose the right Fabric
There are several things that we should know before choosing the right fabric for your t-shirt. Bad fabric can destroy a beautiful painting as well.
- A thin fabric will feel uncomfortable to your skin.
- Your fabric should be a quality one, unless it will shrink or pill after washing it.
- Think about your target audience.
-
Learn & gain knowledge from tutorials
Use an online tutorial to learn the art of designing. A successful outcome always depends on your knowledge. So upgrade your design skills before you design your final design.
-
Find a suitable printer
Find the best printing method which is perfect for your design. Following are some of the unique printing techniques. You need to choose what actually suits your product.
- Screen Printing
- Dye Sublimation
- Heat Press Printing
- Direct to Garment(DTG)
-
Correct your mistakes & stay on top
As a designer, it's very important to make sure that you’re up to date with the latest trends and use these to inspire your designs. Be updated & go with the trend.
You may not become successful at first. But keep trying. Learn things from your mistakes. Then you can be on top one day.
