How to Make a Baby Gown From a T Shirt
It's stained, it'south ripped, it'south full of holes… But y'all but can't seem to throw it out. For a lot of the states, our favorite t-shirts are a way to limited who nosotros are. (And for others, they're free advertising!) But how to design a t-shirt that ticks all the boxes? Y'all'll find out below.
Practice you have an killer t-shirt idea and suspect others will experience the same way? Are you looking for an alternative means of promoting your business, or making some side income with merch? Do you want to commemorate a special upshot, similar a family unit reunion or bachelorette political party?
We've but sent y'all your free t-shirt design ebook.
Whatsoever your reasons, the fundamentals of t-shirt design remain the same; it'due south what you practise with them that counts.
In this Ultimate Guide to T-Shirt Design, we'll run through the each pace of the design process, from the inception of an idea to getting your shirt mass-produced. No matter how much (or how little) experience you have, these t-shirt design tips will requite you everything you lot demand to know.
How to design a t-shirt in 7 steps
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- Figure out why y'all need a shirt
- Define your budget at quantity
- Know your printing options
- Screen printing
- Vinyl graphics
- Direct-to-garment
- Brainstorm your design concept
- T-shirt types
- Manner and imagery
- Typography
- Color
- Specialty printing
- Find a designer
- Evaluate your pattern
- Become the right files
- Notice a boot-ass printer
ane. Figure out why you need a shirt
No matter your reason for designing a t-shirt, information technology'll e'er involve a piffling bit of branding. If yous're using t-shirts for promotional purposes, branding is your primary goal. Even if information technology'south strictly fashion, you'll withal need to weave consequent brand themes into all your products. For personal use—like commemorating an issue, for example—you want to make sure your t-shirt design communicates clearly.
If you haven't already, write out a listing of the central themes, styles, and personality traits you want your brand and shirts to convey. Is your brand playful or serious? Edgy or conservative? Luxurious or affordable? A focused t-shirt blueprint tin can reply all of these questions at a glance.
Take a quick peek at the example above. What does it tell you about the Brewmasters company? For starters, they don't take themselves too seriously, and the wooden instruments advise a more traditional brewing fashion that hints at a archetype taste. That's a lot of information from a cartoon.
To become the most constructive blueprint, move abroad from your personal preference and rely more than on real, quantifiable information. Who are your target clients/customers? What brand traits practise they want to do business organisation with?
Here are iv goals to help guide your t-shirt design procedure past helping you sympathize why you need a shirt and what you want it to do.
Promotional gifts
Your t-shirts are something you give away for complimentary to go along your brand in the minds of prospective clients/customers.
This could be something given abroad at conventions, conferences, other promotional events or even a go out-behind at a business coming together.
Internal company usage
Employees get shirts for solidarity, appreciation or perhaps even a company uniform.
The goals are similar to promotional gifts because in that location'south a strong need for branding.
Merchandise
Your t-shirts are a product y'all plan on selling, so make sure to factor in style, marketability and business strategy.
You'll need to understand your shirt's place in the marketplace, so consider conducting research to detect the tastes of your customers. Your own personal tastes are a practiced start, just when it comes down to selling to the masses, quantifiable information ever beats guesswork.
Event souvenirs
Special events need special souvenirs, and t-shirts are always a peachy option.
These share many of the same goals as shirts for internal visitor usage (solidarity, appreciation) but for a more casual, less restrictive audience.
Regardless of their use, most t-shirts are promotional in some way. Even if you're designing t-shirts as merchandise, include your make logo so observers know who made the shirt if they want something similar. Information technology should accept a stiff, even dominant, presence on the shirt.
Apply the aforementioned design quality and cleverness as you would a billboard advertising. More than than just apparel, t-shirts provide exposure every time a person wears them in public, especially if the owner likes the shirt and wears it often.
Once you lot've determined your goals, you tin can then prioritize the dissimilar aspects of your t-shirt design. For example, fashion might be a loftier priority for trade tees, but not for employee gifts. You want to tailor your design in a way that best suits your needs.
ii. Define your upkeep and quantity
You lot're anxious to get to the bodily t-shirt designing. We get it. But let'due south settle some details kickoff and then yous can focus your design ameliorate: namely, your budget and quantity. How much you can spend and how many t-shirts you need will bear on your blueprint.
For example, budget and quantity will help determine how many colors you can utilise. Depending on your printing method, additional colors may cost more than money. If your budget is tight, a good way to relieve is conserving colors.
The number of shirts you need volition also influence your printing method. Some methods are ideal for printing in majority. Others take a higher cost per shirt and are improve for modest orders.
Before you brainstorm to think near designing or press, program your budget and quantity appropriately.
iii. Know your printing options
There are a lot of things to consider when you lot're looking for the best t-shirt printing method for y'all. Toll, appearance, production time, materials—they're all important. The more than y'all know about each method, the easier it will be to decide which one is best for you.
Screen press
This is the gilt standard for t-shirt printing. Your printer makes original screens of your design (one for each color) then you tin impress in bulk.
Pros : Reliable standard for printing. Affordable and high quality. Ideal for large orders over 20.
Cons: New screen required for every new color or design revision (which gets costly). Colorful designs end upward being expensive.
Vinyl graphics
Another method of heated transfer, vinyl press uses more durable vinyl instead of just ink.
Pros: Extremely durable and high quality. Ideal for when you desire your pattern to stand out (literally).
Cons: Additional colors price more, and then complicated designs get expensive. Not swell for large orders.
Direct-to-garment (or impress-on-need)
A newer option, DTG press uses the freedom of inkjet printing, merely prints directly on fabric.
Pros : Highly customizable designs with maximum detail and extensive colour choices.
Cons : Use for small batches or possibly a single sample. The more you're printing, the less viable it becomes. Doesn't work well on night-colored garments.
Take a wait at our guide to t-shirt press for more information.
4. Brainstorm your pattern concept
Hither comes the fun stuff… Now you get to start figuring out what's really going on your t-shirt! Make sure you don't jump to this footstep commencement. The more time and effort yous put into preparing for this, the meliorate.
Your design could go in a million different directions. As you're brainstorming, here are some tips to help focus your inventiveness.
T-shirt types
All this talk almost t-shirts, and it's easy to forget that in that location are lots of unlike types of shirts. Simply to proper noun a few…
Recall near your audience and intended goals before deciding the correct type of t-shirt. A revealing ingather top might not be the all-time promotion for a law firm.
As you commencement sketching out t-shirt design ideas, brand sure it will translate to the actual size. Pattern using an eighteen"x18" canvas and physically place your designs on a shirt. That doesn't mean you have to fill up the whole space (similar if you're keeping it minimal with a small-scale logo), but a realistically sized canvas volition help you become the proportions correct.
One time you have your blueprint, consider how it will look on larger and smaller shirt sizes. If y'all cull a screen press process, unlike sizes may crave dissimilar screens, which means additional costs.
Fashion and imagery
At this stage, you have to rely on your creative and artistic instincts to communicate the messages you lot want to say. Don't forget these questions nosotros talked nigh before:
- What is your make?
- Who is your market?
- Why are you designing a shirt in the showtime place?
Put all of that together, and you're ready to start designing a t-shirt that's perfect for you lot.
For example, take a wait at Prim's dinosaur t-shirt design. This is a kid's merchandise make, and so the style is beautiful and cartoony, appealing to its market.
Compare that to the winning entry for the Pumpkin t-shirt pattern 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 sugariness.
Alex Lalove shows usa how to blueprint a professional person, risk-free t-shirt without existence boring. His winning entry promotes the Datafinity brand with its logo front end and heart, but spices upward the look and feel and then it seems more stylish than a standard business tee.
Also, retrieve that your pattern is being displayed on bodies. Lumpy, bumpy bodies that aren't e'er every bit symmetrical as nosotros'd like. Recall about flat, uncomplicated designs since there's no telling where the nooks and crannies will state on your prototype.
For similar reasons, you also desire to avert detailed imagery, such as subtle color gradients and intricate linework. Always err on the side of uncomplicated.
T-shirt typography
The fonts you cull say a lot nigh your brand. Serif fonts (the ones with little arms) or script fonts look more archetype. Sans-serif fonts arrive more than mod. T-shirts offer more than of an opportunity than other areas of graphic design to play with fun, crazy display fonts, but do continue readability in mind. If the words on your shirt are important to communicating your message, make certain they don't get overshadowed by swirly, grungy, loopy typography.
Colour in t-shirt design
The element of pattern 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 textile colour(south) and the print color(s).To make certain that these 2 complement each other, always use your fabric colour as the background of your pattern ideas. (And also note that a colored sheet can take an impact on what inks look like, then make sure you talk to your printer about that!)
Because of the way t-shirt inks work, printing colors can get a trivial catchy. 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 most whatever color by combining Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (black) inks. Check with your printer to determine what'due south bachelor.
Specialty printing techniques
We've just sent you your complimentary t-shirt design ebook.
Similar any other printing medium, t-shirts have their own set unique ink options.
- Plastisol— The standard ink used in screen-printing
- Foil — Shiny and reflective
- Novelty — Glitter, hologram or even a fuzzy feel
- High-density — For a dimensional appearance that pops out from the shirt
- Gel — Similar high-density, but with a "wetter" look
- Water-based — No feeling at all; ingrained in the material
5. Find a designer
Got design skills? Get crackin'! If you don't, d on't worry. In that location are tons of pros out there set up to turn your blueprint concept into a reality.
The DIY road
The main advantage of designing a t-shirt yourself is the price. If your budget is tight, the decision is already made for you lot. Pattern freedom is a huge advantage, but don't forget that professionals know the technical concerns of t-shirt pattern (plus a whole lot more than). If y'all broke out into a common cold sweat when nosotros mentioned acronyms like CMYK, you might sleep ameliorate handing this off to a pro.
Hiring a pro
Rather than didactics yourself marketing, branding and graphic pattern, why not pay someone who knows all them already?
Collaborating with a freelancer tin can exist tricky, just too a lot of fun. Do your all-time to discover a designer that thinks similar you and understands what you lot're looking for. Consider the designer'south personality, design fashion and expertise. You lot can also try working with multiple designers at once by launching a T-Shirt Design Contest on 99designs.
Once you've found your designer(due south), y'all have to clearly communicate your vision. Tell them what nigh your pattern ideas, messaging, and intended audience. Include details about colors, logos, visual style, t-shirt blazon and press specifications. Send them images of designs that match the mode you lot're looking for. Requite them everything they need to know and then you can get the perfect t-shirt blueprint.
vi. Evaluate your pattern
Every bit your blueprint options kickoff rolling in, scan through every version and select your favorites. Don't forget your marketing and technical requirements. Volition your pattern fit on a tank top? Is the corporeality of color within your budget? Is the messaging right? This isn't just an art competition, only a business decision. Communicate your feedback clearly to your designer to make sure your next set of options look fifty-fifty meliorate.
Then, brand sure to run it by both key stakeholders and people who don't accept whatever connectedness to what you're doing. Fifty-fifty if it's just your neighbor across the street, people not closely associated with your t-shirt design will notice things you never did.
Consider asking them:
- What is the one primal message you get when you wait at this shirt?
- Who is this shirt for?
Their answers to these questions will aid y'all determine if the t-shirt is communicating what you want it to. If it's not, get back to your designer and effigy out what yous tin can change.
7. Get the right files from your designer
Y'all've got the perfect t-shirt pattern. Hell yes! At present become back to that data you got from your printer and check to make certain y'all have the right files.
You probably need:
- Your t-shirt design in vector format. This will probable be an Adobe Illustrator (AI), PDF, or EPS file. Yous'll demand one for each different t-shirt blueprint you lot're creating.
- Color codes. If your printer does custom colors, brand sure yous have the Pantone or CMYK color codes so that everything turns out looking like you want.
eight. Find a boot-ass printer
Once your design's ready, it'due south press time! Find i that offers the method you demand at a cost you lot tin can afford. Of course, extra features and discounts to sweeten the deal are great, too. Sifting through press options to detect the all-time one for your particular project usually requires experience and time… simply nosotros're going to fast-rail information technology for you!
- Find out if the printer has an in-house art section. Not but does this mean the printer does in-firm prints, but it ordinarily means these folks do good work. Only successful printers tin sustain an in-house art section.
- Request samples of finished shirts, not design images. Nigh printing companies love visitors! Cease by their shop to see and impact their shirts. Recall: a printer's job is to interpret design to an actual impress, and only a finished product reveals that.
- Start building a working relationship with a printer y'all tin grow with. Notice a printer who prints six or more than colors. Even if you don't need that many for your kickoff project, you might need them later.
- If you're doing a larger order, make sure your printer offers pre-printing proofs. You won't know for certain how the design fits on the shirts until you see a sample.
- Beware hidden charges, particularly with screens, films or Pantone color matching. But like whatsoever other industry, there are a few rotten eggs. Become over all the charges before payment to make sure they're being up front.
Time to blueprint an amazing t-shirt!
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Every year t-shirt design and printing are becoming more and more than attainable. They're something every business tin can take advantage of… as long as they know what they're doing. Nosotros hope this guide on how to design a t-shirt gave you everything you lot need to break into the world of making t-shirts. Got questions? Inquire them in the comments beneath.
Looking for the perfect custom t-shirt design?
Piece of work with our talented designers to make it happen.
Source: https://99designs.com/blog/design-other/how-to-design-t-shirts/
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