Designing custom tees can be fun and maybe even a bit of a challenge. Custom tee shirts are effective and sought after promotional products, so using tees as marketing tools can be very beneficial. In order for a promotional tee shirt to be effective the design needs to appeal to your customers. The more appealing the design the more your supporters will sport the tee and the more exposure they give your brand. Put these tips to use to design a custom tee your Nashville customers will want to wear.
Identify the Purpose
Figure out what you want to achieve with your custom tee shirt. Determine if you are generally promoting your business or zeroing in on a specific product or service. A custom tee can be used to commemorate an event, like an anniversary, milestone or even an annual sale. Narrow down the scope to make the design itself easier to create, but also to make your message clear and concise for Nashville consumers.
Know Your Audience
To create a great design you need to understand your brand and know what appeals to your customers. The theme or concept needs to be true to your brand, and the purpose of the tee. Decide if the tone is serious or funny or something else altogether and built out the design around that initial tone.
Include Your Logo
Your logo identifies your brand and when people see your logo they will recognize your brand. Feature your logo in a prominent way in the design of your tee, so the shirt is an extension of your marketing. Failure to include the logo may cause confusion about whether the tee is a serious branding piece that promotes your Nashville company or something else.
Pick the Colors
If you have corporate colors, or colors you typically use in your marketing pieces feature those when you design custom tees. This will create consistency and ensure your custom designed tee shirt fits in with your larger branding efforts.
Coordinate Ink and Shirt Colors
Remember that when designing a tee shirt you can select the ink colors, as well as the shirt colors. Get creative and choose a shirt color that is one of your business’ colors and showcase the other colors using ink. This is a thoughtful design decision that will help ensure the tee represents your brand and image.
Be Mindful of Colors
The ink and shirt colors may play off one another in a way that may differ from how the design looks on a computer screen. Sometimes in order to make the ink appear on a dark shirt it may be necessary to run the ink multiple times or to run a light color first followed by the darker final color. Light colored inks may be difficult to see on a light colored shirt. Also keep in mind that the color of the shirt may impact how the inks display. Light inks may appear deeper over a dark fabric and light inks may look washed out over a light fabric.
Look for Balance
The design should be cohesive and the entire design should work together. If your eye is drawn to one spot in particular the design is unbalanced. For instance, if the design features a lot of heavy coverage and block text, but one area of the design features delicate, curved lines that area of the artwork may stand out and not fit into the overall aesthetic
Pick the Placement
Decide where the artwork should be placed on the tee shirt. Artwork can be placed on the front and the back, or just one of those locations. Artwork can be centered or placed closer to the neckline or hem. Depending on the artwork different placement options may make more sense.
Design Tips Concerning Cost
Be aware of any budget limitations when creating your artwork. For instance, the more colors in your artwork the more expensive the design will be to print. Create a design that features one color or just two colors to keep costs within your budget. The shirt itself is a significant decision. Less expensive shirts may be more budget-friendly, but more expensive shirts are constructed to last and will likely promote your brand for a longer period of time.
We Can Lend a Hand
Put these tips to work if you have an idea and access to design software, so you can create your own artwork for your unique tee shirt. Our team is ready to help out if you have an idea, but you lack the design skills or software to make your concept into reality. We are also available to help if you have questions about the process.
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