Impressions - March 2024 - 45

were likely spent creating other designs that
took longer. Even if your best-seller is a
simple one, it is unlikely it will be repeated
in multiple categories. Putting in the time to
research, analyze and develop good sourcing
and designing habits will pay off with a higher
percentage of great selling compositions
over the long-term.
The steps for your business to design
best-selling shirts may need to be modified
from the suggested ones, especially if your
audience and the trends that they gravitate
toward are unusual in nature. Nonetheless, the
main steps still relate, and it is a good idea that
whatever process you follow, it should have
similar elements to the one suggested here.
Know your audience
It can be surprising for many companies and
artists when they take a deeper look at who
they are designing for. At first glance, they
may think they already have a clear picture
of who their audience is and what they like
as graphics. With research, however, there
often comes a better understanding, with
better outcomes from the resulting clarity.
The idea is to create a symbolic representation
of a typical customer who would eagerly
buy what you are creating.
Start out by building a profile using demographic information
from your customer list, including age, gender (or genders), interests
and lifestyle. Marketing types like to call this your " ideal customer
profile, " or ICP. You can also think of this as your customer " avatar. "
Depending how deep you want to go you may want to create an
image of the " person " and even give them a name. Consider the
time spent on this process as being reflective of the investment you
are spending on the potential product line you are building.
What is trending with your audience
It is a challenge to stay on top of what may be trending these days.
Fortunately, for the majority of this process what you focus on
doesn't have to be the most current or cutting edge. The goal of
collecting visual selections of popular images, fonts, designs and
media trending with the profile you have created is to create a feel
for the essential looks and styles you may want to create. It is about
getting ideas and creating a backdrop in your mind as you create.
Create a " trend board, " or digital file, to serve as a kind of association
mirror and creative well you can draw from.
The things to collect as trends for references will vary depending
on the profile of each audience and its interests. If you were assessing
trends for say, a sports team logo, it would look a lot different than
references for a fashion shirt line.
What is the design's function
One of the most common reasons T-shirt designs don't become
best-sellers is they lose track of what the design is supposed to
accomplish. The trick is to tease this out from your customers' responses
and preferences, profiling your customer trends and typical
popular choices. Asking the wrong questions at this point or not
focusing on the end user can lead down the road to vanilla designs
or worse, having the customer go elsewhere.
The designs above represent a number of different
takes on an attempt to combine an identity function
with fashion. Image by Thomas Trimingham
The key is to listen and watch. Somewhat ironically, a major
challenge is the fact many customers don't know what they want,
but do know what they don't. Guiding a customer from their initial
idea to an idea that sells is an art in and of itself. In practice, a T-shirt
design can accomplish a dizzying array of functions. Among these are:
1. Identity and unity - a category that can include everything
from sports teams to school spirit wear, church groups, companies
large and small, or pretty much any other organization
2. Fashion and style - designs that will resonate with a group's
particular style or look
3. Humor and messaging - some demographics like to use humor
to create unique responses from viewers seeing their garments
4. Political or social messages - designs that show an affiliation
with or support for specific political groups or ideas
5. Educational messages - some groups enjoy quotes or other
meaningful messages relating to learning and education
6. Souvenir and memorabilia - a popular function for those on
vacation or visiting a favorite landmark
7. Artistic expression - artists may choose T-shirts as their canvas
to express artistic visions and creative ideas.
When considering a particular design function, it may become
clear the function the customer claims is most important is not
what they are actually looking for. A design may also need to serve
multiple functions, like a sports logo that identifies a team, but also
makes a fashion statement. If you find yourself in a situation where
you have to design for multiple functions it is vital you understand
which is most important to ensure the design will be properly
balanced and reflect both needs.
Initial roughs
Once you have your initial trend and audience research done, it's time
to get designing! Every designer has their own process, but if you
can sketch at all, I highly recommend it as a first step. Just put some
quick gesture ideas down on paper to see where your mind goes.
March 2024
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Impressions - March 2024

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