Designing a t-shirt for business purposes is not just about knowing what you want to say, but also how to say it. You also need to consider things like shirt types, sizes, styles and even whether it is a good time to use company shirt embroidery. The more time you spend brainstorming the concept the better it will be.
Sizes
Size is not just about fitting an adult versus fitting a child. The proportions of a person that is size XXXL are different from someone who wears a small. That means the image and design placed on the shirt will fall differently and it is possible at certain sizes the design might become distorted. Decide whether it is worth printing onto extreme sizes or not.
Type of t-shirt
There are a lot of types of tees, V-necks, long-sleeved, crop tops, crew neck, polo, short-sleeved and more. The type you choose needs to be one your audience is happy to wear while still falling within your budget. Also, consider what the opportunities are with the different options. A t-shirt with a pocket is a chance to use shirt embroidery to place a logo. Long sleeves give you another place to put the brand name.
Style and design
When you are deciding on style and images you need to ensure everything communicates what you want to be said. Your colors should match to your other branding, logos and company shirt embroidery should be the same, think about who you are designing a shirt for. You want them to wear it so do not design something everyone finds too bold, or uncomfortable or poor quality. Things that are too complex do not work as well on fabric. Remember people walking past only have a few seconds to see what it is you want them to see.
Typography
The text you use is not just important in terms of what it says. The font and style are something that needs to be carefully thought about. Letters that have no tags ie sans-serif fonts, are more modern and contemporary in style. Those that have letters with tags on the end ie serif fonts are more traditional, conservative and even formal. Think too about how readable it is from a distance and only when a glimpse might be seen.
More options in printing techniques than you think
There are more options out there than just deciding between the basic printing methods like screen or DTG. There are different mediums like shirt embroidery, different inks, different techniques and so on. Some examples of just a few other choices you have are fuzz, where there is a texture that feels like a peach, foil, which create a reflective and shiny look, gel which pops off from the shirt, glitter which adds some extra sparkle and hologram.
Summary
Having company t-shirts can be an advantage you might want to explore. You can design more than one, with more than one purpose in mind even. Think about the t-shirt, the design and the text carefully and try to appeal to the people who will wear it as well as those who will see it and receive the message you want them to get.