1. Understand your niche
Before you get to designing, think of who you’ll sell to and identify your niche. Your designs should appeal to your audience.
If you’re having trouble finding a niche, think of what you’re involved in. Are you part of any unique communities? It’s easier to sell to a niche that you already know about than one that’s completely new to you.
Anything can become your niche market – hobbies, groups, events, and more:
- Sports
- Businesses
- Family
- Couples
- Pets
- Food
- Social movements
You want to hit the sweet spot. If your niche is too broad, you won’t be able to target it effectively. Too small, and you won’t have enough buyers. Always ask yourself whether you can earn a profit with a specific niche.
Bottom line: you need to know who you sell to.
Let’s say you’re passionate about plants and want to target other plant fans. That’s a good start, so here are some questions you should start answering:
- What’s trending on Instagram and Pinterest?
- Is there a specific type of plant that’s popular now?
- Is there a quote or saying that your audience would appreciate?
- What kind of plant-themed t-shirts are already on the market?
Get an understanding of what’s happening in your community and what would resonate with them. If you’re part of the community yourself, then if you like something, there’s a good chance others will like it, too.
2. Look for t-shirt design inspiration
With a direction and ideas in mind, it’s time to create your designs. This is easier said than done, so first, ask yourself what’s trending in the design world right now? You want your store to be fresh and current.
80s and 90s patterns
Millennials are riding the nostalgia wave—aesthetics from our youth are making a comeback. Think big contrasts, intricate shapes, and pastel colors.
Typography
You can never go wrong with typography. Adapt it to any niche by playing around with the style of typography and the text.
Although there are many ways to create typographic designs, two styles are very in right now: isometric and hand-drawn typography.
Isometric typography has a geometric feel with bold, stylized 3D lettering.
Then there’s hand-drawn typography, which is a little more rustic and whimsical compared to isometric.
Going with stylized typography generally works better than using a basic font as it looks unique and professional.
Always consider what your audience likes. Are they more about bold, geometric styles, or a rustic aesthetic? Or maybe they’re drawn to your message, in which case, a simple font could work just fine
Collage design
We’re seeing a surge in collage design—that is, two (or more) images juxtaposed together.
The key to this style is the contrast. Pick images that are the opposite, but work well together. Think of the emotion you want to evoke and the images that’ll take your customer there. Photographs combined with some kind of graphic design elements work well.
This design style looks great on t-shirts—it’s easy to see all the contrasts and detail.
Hand-drawn illustration
We covered this in our 2018 design trends video and it’s still current today!
Continuing with the plant fan example, let’s say I want to create a simple design with a hand-drawn illustration from the Mockup Generator. I would simply pick an illustration of a plant, and add witty text under it.
Browse websites that offer royalty-free images and fonts
You don’t have to create a design from scratch. You can find royalty-free designs, photographs, and fonts that you can sell as they are, or edit to make your own. Remember the collage style design? You can find a royalty-free photo and add your own design element to it.
Some image sources may be paid, and if you’ll probably need a commercial license to sell designs on t-shirts. If you print through Printful, you need to hold the rights to your design, so do your research.
We recommend that you stick to designs you create yourself. But if you want to explore paid options, here are a few resources to check out:
- Creative Market – your go-to resource for thousands of ready-to-use assets, like graphics, fonts, and themes. You need to pay to download assets and make sure you look at what kind of license you need to sell for commercial use.
- Flaticon – 1,720,000 vector icons in all sorts of categories. Download as they are, or edit to your liking. If you use their free version, you need to properly attribute the artist. If you opt for their paid subscription, then you don’t need to attribute the design author (even if it’s for commercial use).
- Shutterstock – here you’ll find thousands of high-quality royalty-free photos and vector images. To sell them commercially, you’ll need their Enhanced License.
- Vexels – search for vector graphics that are merch ready! They offer tons of vector graphics made specifically for t-shirts, but to sell commercially you’ll need a license.
Hire a freelance designer
It’s easy as ever to connect with a freelance designer. Here are a few websites where you can find one:
- UpWork – a freelance platform where you can hire the right person for your job. Read this Upwork review to get a better idea of what to expect.
- Fiverr – a beginner space where artists list their skills for $5.
- 99designs – describe what you need and how much you’re offering to pay for it. Then designers submit their ideas and you pick the one you like the best.
Keep print file guidelines in mind
Pay close attention to Printful’s print file guidelines before creating your designs. They’re a little different for each product, but these are basic rules to follow:
- Submit your design files to Printful in PNG or JPG.
- Your designs should be at least 150 DPI (dots per inch). Anything smaller and your design will look pixelated when printed.
- Make sure all of your elements are opaque. DTG printing doesn’t work well with designs that are see-through, so your colors should be solid.
Use our Mockup Generator to get an idea of how your product will look, but remember that what you see on screen won’t always look exactly the same when printed in real life. Order samples at 20% off to test your designs before selling them to customers.
Time to create your t-shirt designs
It’s easy to start selling t-shirts online. All you need is an idea, a niche that’ll love it, and the readily available tools to get you going: an ecommerce platform and print-on-demand provider. With this blog post, you have the tools to find your niche and create a design.
We’ll even help you take it one step further by giving you free t-shirt designs. Use them as they are, or add some unique elements with our mockup generator!
What designs are you selling on your store?