10 Things To Keep in Mind When Designing Your Own T-Shirts
The T-shirt is my favorite piece of
clothing, hands down. It is versatile, and can evoke feelings and emotions
through its designs. It's a platform for expressing yourself. My dad used to
run a silkscreen printing business and as a kid, the process of turning designs
(some guy with a handmade "Punks Not Dead" artwork was his most
memorable customer for me) into wearable pieces of art was uber-cool in my
books.
If you're a T-shirt aficionado, you might
get a kick designing your own wearable art. But before you begin, here are some
things to keep in mind when creating your first batch of customized T-shirts.
#1 Ask yourself why you want to design a
T-shirt
I know this sounds obvious, but here's the
logic behind this question: Are you making this out of pure passion and
inspiration? Do you want to make it for a friend? Do you have the skills to
come up with your own design? Knowing the answers to this question is crucial,
because you don't want to end up with a half-baked project that only looked
great at the start.
#2 Determine your budget
Hey, designing a T-shirt might be cheap,
heck even completely free if you already have some drawing/art
materials/tablet-plus-stylus combo lying around. But if you're starting from
scratch, set aside a few bucks to get you started.
#3 Take quantity into consideration
I mentioned in number 2 that budget is
crucial, why? Because if this is just a one-off project meant to satisfy your
artful expression, then you're probably better off going all the way with the
design and having it printed by pros. However, if you're actually planning on
producing it yourself from design to finish, and churning out multiple prints
(read: 20 shirts or more) then having a complicated design might not be the
most feasible idea economy-wise. Especially if you want to print it using
silkscreen.
#4 Know your printing options
There are 3 main ways of printing ink on a
shirt:
- Silk screen printing
- Vinyl Graphics
- Direct-to-Garment
Knowing about these can help you come up
with the best possible design for your customised
T-shirts.
#5 Write it down
It's a good idea to write down your ideas
in paper. Why? Because doing so will allow you to link ideas together and come
up with a very unique piece of inspiration.
#6 Know your T-shirt material
Knowing which "canvas" your print
will rest on is important. You might want to adjust your design accordingly
depending on the method of printing, how complicated the design is, and the
material the paint/ink will be applied to.
#7 Be yourself
Be honest, be bold. Designs are more catchy
and memorable if they are not restrained because of opinion. I'm not saying be
offensive---absolutely not. Just make sure you design what you really are
passionate about. Don't be afraid to express yourself.
#8 Look for inspiration
Coming up with your own design is hard.
Sure, funny and sarcastic one-liner texts might be easy but colorful graphics
and detailed artwork are a different beast. Look for inspiration all around
you, pretty soon something will catch your eye.
#9 Color
Believe it or not, some colors look good
with each other and no matter how hard you might want something to work
together for the sake of originality, sometimes it just doesn't work. Know your
basics, know the best color combinations for the best effect.
#10 Keep ideas fresh
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