10 tips on how to become a successful T-shirt Designer

So, you want to sell your t-shirt design but had no success so far? Have you thought that maybe there is a problem with the design or the concept? If you are looking for some answers, we have some tips on how to improve as a t-shirt designer.

Let’s have a look at  10 general tips that you must consider.

1. The Concept

You may say it’s not a big deal, but the concept is THE deal. Nowadays, you must say something through your artwork. People love freedom, so they want to express themselves as much as they can. A design without a message is nothing. A design who doesn’t intrigue the viewer is nothing.

Still, you are a designer, and you love to create. Imagine your t-shirts as an artwork .  As a tip, explore the social media, it is a great source for inspiration.

 2. The Concept on a T-shirt

Another big important thing is to imagine your concept on a t-shirt. You might think it is stupid, but you will be surprised. Often there is a big difference between the design on a computer and on a t-shirt. The internet will help you with plenty of t-shirt images that simulate the design on a t-shirt.

 3. Style

Just one thing: Keep it simple ! Too many details exhaust the viewer.

 4. The Market

Choose the market you want to sell your product. Is it male, female, unisex, young, old ? When and where  can someone wear the t-shirt with your design? You must decide because people search t-shirts by these categories.

 5. Depth

Here, we are talking about abstract designs, which often say more than meets the eye. If you are looking to do such a design, in my opinion you should consider norrowing it down to about 3 colours. The more colours you use, the more you lose the “depth”, distracting the viewer.

 6. Colors

This is a subject that I can’t conquer because I know that colors are the blood of art. But still, nowadays you may want to use flat colors and not to make a rainbow design, unless you actually do a rainbow. And as an extra tip, use colors and shadows (very important) that make the design look real. Simple or real.

7. The funny part

This is again your choice, but most of the time people search for funny t-shirts because, as I said, people want to express themselves and often they use a t-shirt to become part of the social world. Sarcasm, ironic but funny designs are the winners.

 8. Prepare the design

Check the image sizes, the format – vector or not, because if you want to print the design, you need it to be clean, not pixelated. The design quality disappears if printing destroys it.

 9. Search a good printer

A good printer has the last word on your design. It is very important how realistic the colours are and especially the quality of the print. In the end, people might forget the awesome design if the t-shirt is printed in poor quality.

 10. Social Media

One of the greatest weapons of all times is here to help you not make you lose track of time. Social media brings you success and a lot of clients, but not without good designs. Also, if you are a freelance t-shirt designer and want to sell the t-shirts with your designs, you can do it by joining online communities like threadless or designbyhumans.

Did we miss any of the usefull tips? Let us know in the comments what worked best for you.

Good luck!