Have you already decided to open your online store and do you think that a good repertoire of original t-shirts will be the key to success? If you have plenty of initiative, but don’t know how to design those custom t-shirts that your customers will never want to take off, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we are going to teach you how to make t-shirts with original designs for your brand or to make an original gift.
Define your niche
Before you start designing original mens t shirts uk, it is important to define your niche market. Your design has to be very attractive to your audience, so research the tastes and interests of your ideal client! If you can’t think of which niche to target, look around you, are you part of a community? A group that you know from within is always going to be easier to explore than one that you don’t belong to.
For example, let’s say you’re passionate about graphic design and art history and want to sell custom clothing to other visual art lovers. It’s a good start!
Design your t-shirt
If you already have a clear objective for your store, it is time to start designing your personalized funny men’s t shirts. The first step to being successful in selling your designs online is to research the trends in the design world and the interests of your niche.
Social networks are a source of inspiration to find ideas to create and sell your custom t-shirts online.
- What is the most shared or trending topic on Instagram and Pinterest?
- Are there any fonts, colours or designs that are popular right now?
- What original designs for t-shirts are now successful in the market?
After researching, dare to experiment! The best part about selling custom t-shirts online and doing it on demand is that there are hardly any risks. Since production only takes place once the order has been placed, you don’t have to spend a penny printing a bunch of t-shirts in advance.
If a design isn’t selling well, remove it from your store. And if you find a new trend, incorporate it into your products and add it to your personalized clothing catalogue: let’s see how it sells!
Use digital and online design tools
If you are a professional designer, you will already know perfectly well how to create your designs and fonts for t-shirts. It won’t be complicated either if you’re good at photography and want to take advantage of your most creative sessions by printing personalized photo t-shirts. Jump into it with Photoshop, Illustrator, or whatever image design and editing program you’re most familiar with.
If not, you can try to make your designs using these simpler and free alternatives to Photoshop. Some of them are very easy to use, but they are not the only ones. Deffrent Type of Custom Bath Bomb
Print Layout Creator
You may still be wondering how to design custom t-shirts without prior experience. With Printful’s Design Creator, creating your t-shirts online is easier than you think.
If you have the “blank t-shirt syndrome” because you don’t know how to customize it, this tool has many fonts, clipart, illustrations and symbols that you can freely use when placing your design on the garment.
So if your design ideas are simple, chances are you’ll find everything you need here! Don’t miss this tutorial and unleash your creativity!
Another advantage of using our integrated Design Creator is that you will have access to a wide range of mockups, and for free! Thanks to this Mockup Generator, you will be able to display your product photos more realistically in your online store.
Websites with free images or free use
You may not need to create your custom t-shirt designs from scratch. There are tons of resources on the internet like royalty-free photos, fonts, and designs that you can use, modify, and sell however you want.
To print t-shirts with Printful, you need to have full rights to your design. This not only applies if you have a brand but also for the merchandising of companies and sports teams or to personalize t-shirts for clubs, birthdays, groups of friends and bachelor parties.
So we recommend you investigate and make sure that you can use all the images that you put on your garments or, if it is the case, manage the license for commercial use.
Payment image banks
If you are looking for professional online resources where you can find images or designs to personalize your t-shirts, we leave you a few payment options:
- GettyImages . With its more than 400 million pieces of multimedia available, both for editorial, creative and commercial use, it is one of the largest and most varied paid image banks in the world. Whatever idea you want to represent in your products, Getty Images is sure to have something for you. With Printful, you can use images from Getty Images for your products by adding them from our Layout Creator for just $1 per file per print. But if you want unlimited access to this image pool to design your products, then subscribing to Printful Pro might be the most flexible option.
- CreativeMarket. Here you will find a myriad of high-quality graphics, fonts, and themes. It is necessary to pay to download resources from their website. In addition, we recommend you investigate the type of license you need to market this type of photo.
- flaticon. On this website, you will have access to more than 5.2 million vector images and illustrations for t-shirts, your website or any other project. If you use its free version you will have to attribute the resource you choose to its author, but if you opt for the paid version, you won’t have to do it, even in case of commercial use.
- Shutterstock. In this bank of paid images, you will find countless photos and vectors of high quality and free of copyright! Please note that to use them for commercial purposes, you will need to use their Enhanced License.
- Vexels. Vectors ready to sell! This website has thousands of vectors designed specifically for clothing and other items. It’s ideal if you’re looking for t-shirt graphics – just keep in mind that you’ll need a license to use them commercially. Just like with Getty Images, with Printful you can integrate Vexels designs into your products for $1 per image per print you make. And if you’re a Printful Pro subscriber, you’ve got a free Vexels bar too!
Do you need to hire an online designer?
A professional designer will come in handy if you are thinking of selling t-shirts with original and exclusive designs that no one else can get.
Now it’s easier than ever to find a freelance graphic designer to help you with your t-shirt designs. These websites will help you connect with professional designers.
- Workana. The largest freelance work platform in Spanish.
- Freelancer. An online platform where you can find professional designers to shape your ideas.
- 99designs. Describe what you need and how much you offer for it. The designers will start passing you their ideas and you choose the one you like the most.
- Print Graphic Design Services. Our design team can also help you bring your ideas to life!
- Bonus: follow these extra tips for your designs
T-shirts are something universal: practically everyone has at least one, so it is the ideal product with which to start your business. Follow these foolproof tips if you want to make sure your DTG (direct-to-garment) t-shirt prints and designs look perfect.
Choose the garment (or garments) well according to your niche
Does your audience expect an inexpensive short-sleeved t-shirt? Our Gildan may be your best option. Are you more concerned about your style and being up to date? Go for a 100% cotton crew neck t-shirt like the Bella+Canvas.
Here are other factors you’ll want to consider:
- What type of fit and other attributes of the garment will most appeal to your customers?
- Regarding fabrics, is there any interest in organic materials, cotton and eco-friendly t-shirts among your target audience?
- Are you thinking of selling clothes for men and women or will you opt for unisex designs? And are you considering versions for children or is the children’s audience not part of your niche?
- Do you want your brand to be recognized for its long or short sleeve t-shirts or will you include several models in your catalogue?
- Will your customers be willing to pay a higher price for a premium garment or will they prefer cheap custom t-shirts?
- Do you think your audience might like your t-shirt designs on other clothes? For example, in sweatshirts, pants, bags, backpacks or even swimsuits, thus giving rise to collections within your brand.
Always keep in mind our file guides
Pay close attention to Printful’s file guides before creating your designs. They may vary slightly from product to product (we will guide you on our website when uploading your file), but these are the basic rules to follow:
- Upload your files in PNG or JPG.
- Your designs should be at least 150 DPI (dots per inch). A smaller design will make your design look pixelated after printing on your t-shirts or sweatshirts.
- Make sure all your elements are opaque. DTG printing doesn’t work well with transparent or semi-transparent designs, so it’s important that your colours are solid and your embroidery also has very precise technical specifications.
In this video, we explain what are the 7 most common mistakes that could make your designs not sell well or that could even prevent us from managing them.
Then use our Mockup Generator to get an idea of what your product will look like.
Then use our Layout Creator Mockup Generator to get an idea of what your product will look like. Although remember that the image you see on the screen will not always coincide 100% with the final product.
The best option is always to order a sample to ensure that your products look exactly as you intended. In addition, this type of test order comes with a 20% discount for customers with an online store.
Conclusion
As you can see, starting to sell personalized t-shirts online is not complicated. You just need an idea, a niche that you know perfectly and tools ready to use. Of course, you also can’t miss an eCommerce platform that suits your needs and, if you want to simplify your life, a print-on-demand partner that takes care of all the logistics.
