5 Types of T-shirt Design

By gaining design inspiration from others you’ll be able to understand what makes a particular t-shirt design work more than another, and you’ll be able to gauge which of the 5 t-shirt styles you prefer and find the most effective. Overall, sourcing design inspiration is a great way to save time, gauge your preferences and know which mistakes to avoid.

Let’s jump into the 5 main types of t-shirt designs.

1.TYPOGRAPHY DESIGNS

This design focuses almost exclusively on messages, phrases or slogans, with little-to-no images or photos on the t-shirt. The creativity for this type of t-shirt design is in the development of the phrase, message or slogan on the t-shirt, as well as deciding which font, or pairings of fonts, to use.

Pros:

• Simple to create, usually little-to-no artistic skill is required
• Very effective t-shirt, depending on the message, phrase or slogan.

Cons:

• This type of t-shirt design can be easy for others to replicate & copy.
• Be careful that your phrases/messages don’t infringe on any trademarked/copyrighted phrases.

2.PHOTOGRAPHY DESIGNS

This t-shirt design is characterized by hyper-realistic images. T-shirts that focus on photography designs focus on an image itself, and any text is complementary. Since your image is the main factor of this t-shirt design type, the printing method is especially important so the image looks exactly as it should.

Pros:

• T-shirts with photographic images on them can be very captivating and eye-catching when printed properly.
• This type of t-shirt design can be as simple or complex to create as you’d like.

Cons:

• You’ll have to have a high-quality image that your customers will want to wear on their t-shirt.
• You’ll have to have the right file size & requirements to be able to print a good quality version of the image onto a t-shirt.

3.GRAPHIC DESIGNS

This type of t-shirt design has elements of both typography and illustration. The major design parameters include images that are usually paired with typography to create a stylized, illustrative t-shirt design that’s interesting and eye-catching.

Pros:

• This t-shirt design type can be very captivating when the image & typography work well together.
• Depending on how colorful your design is, your t-shirt will likely be able to be printed via any method.

Cons:

• You’ll probably have to create your own graphic design or get an artist or designer to do it for you.
• You’ll have to pay for any licenses or artwork you use in your design so you don’t infringe on any copyright.

4.BRANDED DESIGNS

This type of design is created with the sole purpose of promoting a product, brand, or a company. To create an effective branded design, you need to be well versed with your own brand and know exactly how you want it to be “branded”.

Pros:

• This can be as simple or complex as you want it to be, after all, it is your own brand.
• Customers wearing your t-shirt will basically be walking advocates of your brand.

Cons:

• Depending on your level of skill and how you want the design to look, you may have to hire someone to create the design for you or purchase licenses for pre-made images or graphics.

5.ABSTRACT DESIGNS

Abstract designs spark people’s interest in being repeated or nonsensical arrangements of images or text that don’t have a particular narrative, representation or meaning behind them.

Pros:

• Depending on your design and level of skill, you can create this t-shirt design yourself.
• This design can be as simple or complex as you want it to be.
• This design will likely be able to be printed via any printing method.

Cons:

• You’ll have to pay for any licenses or artwork you used to create your design.
• If you purchase any pre-made graphic design elements like images, illustrations or fonts you’ll run the risk of not selling a completely unique design.