5 Quick Tips On Creating Artwork For T-shirts

Designing T-shirts is fast becoming one of the most popular outlets for creatives. But there are plenty of technicalities involved. You need to prepare yourself for the entire process from start to finish and be open to some trials and errors along the way.

Ever wondered what it would be like to create your very own T-shirt design but unsure of where to begin? The process can be quite daunting, but these few quick tips will help you create a great t-shirt design that you can be proud of.

Choose a Theme

If you’ve been an aspiring T-shirt designer for quite some time, then you’ve probably worked on a million designs that just didn’t seem right; designs that bored you or a theme that simply didn’t tickle your fancy. This takes the fun out of the work. But when you do something that stimulates you, it doesn’t feel like work at all.

So choose a theme that ignites the passion in you. It could be anything – sports, fantasy, rock music or abstract. Choosing what you are interested in will make your work come to life naturally.

Know Your Target Audience

Once you are done picking a theme, determine what type of audience you will be working for. Be as specific as you can with gender, age and demographic so that you can zero in on what font style, colour and imagery to use in your designs. Knowing your target audience is key in achieving a great design.

Look for that Inspiration

The next step is to look for that dose of inspiration. Inspiration can come from anywhere. For example, take a trip to the coffee shop where your potential customers might gather. Go to the men’s sporting section if your brand is purely targeted for males. Do this and get started with your designs. Think of visuals that will turn heads, boost your morale as a rookie in design and get people talking.

Layout on Photoshop

Consider the size of your design. Will it be huge or small? How about the details? Would they be simple and minimal or exciting and elaborate? Simpler is better when starting out. Do a little editing in your computer and work on your photoshop skills. This is the trickiest part, as you need to be very particular with the size, colour and patterns and make sure that everything blends well with the colour of your chosen T-shirt.

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image courtesy of kysbydabeach

The Right Colours for Final Output

Shirts as well as textile inks come in a full range of colours nowadays; there are even eco-friendly inks that come in a myriad of colours to let you experiment with colours and designs whilst saving the environment. If you want to use lighter shirts, be careful with pastel coloured inks such as yellow, light pink or blue. They are visible on the shirt but you can’t see them at a distance. To overcome this, you can add an outline of a darker colour to make light-colours really pop.

Dark-coloured shirts look great with light colours. However, be extra careful when you opt for darker colours like maroon or forest green for they can distort the ink and make them dull after print. When all is set, it is best to choose arange of water-based inks that offer optimum performance and are good for the environment.

Here’s hoping that these tips will give you a better picture on how to easily do your first T-shirt design.

Happy Printing!