{"id":5934,"date":"2018-12-12T10:15:59","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T16:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/5bd4f92546.nxcli.net\/?p=5934"},"modified":"2025-04-17T12:38:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T17:38:32","slug":"why-custom-t-shirts-dont-have-to-be-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/design-tips\/why-custom-t-shirts-dont-have-to-be-square\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Custom T-Shirts Don&#8217;t Have to Be Square"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where custom shirts are concerned, there\u2019s no shortage of cringe. There are plenty of folks out there who &#8211; bless their hearts &#8211; have no idea what goes into a good t-shirt design. As a result, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/shop\/custom-t-shirts\">custom t-shirts<\/a> have gotten a bit of a bad rap.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s not surprising. As with any other industry, there\u2019s no shortage of chaff to be found on the web. Thing is, you shouldn\u2019t look at those shirts and assume they\u2019re the norm, nor should you follow the belief that custom-printed clothing is only for brands and out-of-touch grandparents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fact is if you\u2019ve got a good idea in your head and a decent notion of the person you\u2019re designing a shirt for, it can end up looking downright incredible. That said, there are a few things you should know first. A few basic design principles you should bear in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/5bd4f92546.nxcli.net\/design-tips\/design-a-shirt-your-step-by-step-guide-to-killer-printed-clothing-design\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can check out this comprehensive piece <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for a better overview of what you need to know, but in the meantime, we\u2019ll offer you a TL;DR: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep your core ideas close to your chest, and don\u2019t rush. The best things take time. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure out color coordination. Understand what colors go together, and what colors don\u2019t. Make use of a color wheel if you need a bit of help in that regard. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understand the basic elements of visual design and the \u201cbig four\u201d design principles. These include contrast (putting distinct elements next to one another to emphasize their differences), repetition (drawing attention to visual similarities), \u00a0proximity (if distinct elements are close enough together, they\u2019re seen as a single item), and alignment (no visual element of a design should be arbitrary). <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Know how to make use of positive and negative space.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make sure you choose a decent texture and material for your shirt.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t go overboard. Sometimes less is more, especially where visual design is concerned.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure out your design\u2019s visual hierarchy &#8211; where do you want people to direct their eyes first?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider invoking visual design rules like the Rule of Thirds, the Rule of odds, and the Rule of Space to add a bit of extra spice to your shirt.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mind you, this is just a brief overview &#8211; and by now, you\u2019ve probably worked out what we\u2019re trying to convey here. The reason there are so many bad custom shirts online, and the reason that custom t-shirts have such a bad rap is that designing a good one is hard. It takes a lot of work, dedication, and expertise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But in the long run, the effort is more than worth it, whether you\u2019re making branded clothing or simply putting together a gift for a friend. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Where custom shirts are concerned, there\u2019s no shortage of cringe. There are plenty of folks out there who &#8211; bless their hearts &#8211; have no idea what goes into a good t-shirt design. As a result, custom t-shirts have gotten a bit of a bad rap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":5935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[831,804,830,818,829,810],"class_list":["post-5934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design-tips","tag-cool-t-shirt","tag-custom","tag-custom-t-shirts","tag-t-shirt-design","tag-t-shirt-ideas","tag-t-shirt"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Custom T-Shirts Don&#039;t Have to Be Square | BlueCotton<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Custom T-Shirts have a bit of a bad rap online. Lots of people seem to think they\u2019re horribly lame, punny, or boring. That they\u2019re the sort of gift you get someone if you don\u2019t really know them very well, or the kind of thing you give someone that they wear once and then promptly forget in their closet. None of that\u2019s true, though - here\u2019s why.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/design-tips\/why-custom-t-shirts-dont-have-to-be-square\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Custom T-Shirts Don&#039;t Have to Be Square | BlueCotton\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Custom T-Shirts have a bit of a bad rap online. Lots of people seem to think they\u2019re horribly lame, punny, or boring. That they\u2019re the sort of gift you get someone if you don\u2019t really know them very well, or the kind of thing you give someone that they wear once and then promptly forget in their closet. None of that\u2019s true, though - here\u2019s why.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/design-tips\/why-custom-t-shirts-dont-have-to-be-square\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The BlueCotton Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-12T16:15:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-17T17:38:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/man-1150058_640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MCC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MCC\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/design-tips\/why-custom-t-shirts-dont-have-to-be-square\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/design-tips\/why-custom-t-shirts-dont-have-to-be-square\/\",\"name\":\"Why Custom T-Shirts Don't Have to Be Square | BlueCotton\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/design-tips\/why-custom-t-shirts-dont-have-to-be-square\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/design-tips\/why-custom-t-shirts-dont-have-to-be-square\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/man-1150058_640.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-12T16:15:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-17T17:38:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/301f8faacf982b1b3e85a4944c282f71\"},\"description\":\"Custom T-Shirts have a bit of a bad rap online. 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