Tshirt Manufacturing
Creating a great T-shirt design does not have to be very complicated. Yet it is not that easy either, which is why many designs go down the drain rather quickly. Some of the most adored T-shirt designs are simple, but replicating even that requires following some strict rules. Below are some of the things that you should consider during the T-shirt designing to get an appealing outcome.
Size
Sizing matters a lot in T-shirt design. Even though most people go with standard sizes, the key to success here is to base the size on the nature of the design. You should also consider the properties of the fabric on which the design is to be printed. A good approach is to print the design on a paper and place it on the T-shirt to see how it will turn out to be.
Placement
Design placement refers to the measurement of the area on which it will be printed on the specific location of the garment. For instance, a cool T-shirt design looks great on the front when it is in the chest area, but it can be dreadful if you place it lower to the belly area. Moving above the chest does not work either. So you need to choose the placement appropriately as per the design.
Typography
Typography in T-shirt designing involves arranging the texts and typesetting in such a way that it makes sense. You should choose the fonts wisely and keep an eye on the line and letter spacing as well. This way, the graphic elements in the overall design will be aesthetically pleasing. You should also choose fonts and typesetting styles based on the intended purpose of the garment. For instance, choosing funky or gothic fonts will not suit your design if the T-shirt is meant for corporate use.
Composition
You should plan all the graphic elements in your design carefully to get an elegant print. The composition and balance of the T-shirt design should be right; neither too compacted nor too spaced. You may need to follow some composition rules to get the perfect mix so that it draws the eye to the right place. You can also use a few reference prints to compare your ideas and design.
Image Quality
The image resolution plays a great role in deciding how the outcome will be. Your design should have images with a minimum of 200 dpi resolution so that the details are printed accurately. Low-resolution images available on the internet do not have the pixel information required to produce good print quality. This is because most of them will be compressed to suit the needs of the website. Therefore, make sure to include high-resolution images in the design for the best results.
Colors
Choosing the color is one of the most important aspects of designing. You can follow the standard colors for T-shirt designs or choose a specific color based on the color of the garment on which it will be printed. Just make sure that you do not include too many colors in the design hoping to make it more vivid. It may look great on the computer screen, but will not appear good when printed. Instead, get a proper balance of colors that match your garment and its purpose in the best way.
Contrast
You should also keep an eye on the contrast when choosing the colors. This is to ensure that the dark and light elements of your design correspond to each other in the best way. The strongest contrast is black-on-white or the other way around. You can go with saturated colors to increase the contrast on a neutral background. However, you do not necessarily have to achieve the highest contrast for the best results. Some designs look amazing with low-contrast prints as well.
Inversion
Inversion is usually done when printing white designs on black garments. This should be done very carefully so that the design does not appear as if it is an X-ray image. Check the design elements carefully to decide which of the parts should be inverted and which ones should remain as they are. You can print a few test images on paper to see how the inverted design appears before printing it on the T-shirt.
Complexity
Keeping it simple works most of the time for T-shirt designs. This makes sure that the design can be processed easily by the human mind. So be certain that you do not make it too complex with stacked images or using bizarre angles and composition. That will end up making the design more chaotic. Adding too many colors or excessive design elements will also make it more complex.
Borders
If you are printing an image on the T-shirt without any texts or other design elements, you can add a border to it to make the print more elegant. A simple black or white border can instantly enhance the appeal of the image, while adding a frame can give more details to the design. In any case, you should select the border depending upon the purpose of the garment, so that the focus remains on the image.
