DesignFix Design Studio
T-shirt design
A t-shirt graphic has to work at about twelve inches across, on fabric, from a few feet away — and usually in the shop window of a phone screen too. Most of the decisions that matter are made before anything is printed, and most of them are about what to leave out.
What this covers
What we work on in t-shirt design
New graphics from an idea
A phrase, a rough sketch, or a description of the feeling you're after. We work out what it becomes.
Typography-led designs
Text-based graphics where the lettering is the artwork — set, spaced and, where it helps, drawn rather than typed.
Illustrated and vintage-inspired work
Drawn graphics, distressed or worn treatments, and the kind of layered look that has to be built rather than filtered.
Improving artwork you already have
A design that nearly works, or one a printer sent back — rebuilt, cleaned up or redrawn so it can actually be used.
Projects that fit here
Examples of the kind of thing people send us. If yours isn’t on the list, describe it anyway.
- A slogan tee where the lettering needs to be drawn, not just typed in a font
- A design that reads well on a phone but disappears at print size
- Artwork rebuilt as vector so it can go on a tee, a sticker and a sign
- A vintage-style graphic that needs real texture rather than a filter
- A customer's own sketch turned into artwork a press can use
- One design prepared differently for two print methods
Who this tends to be for
People starting a shirt line
Where the idea exists and the artwork does not, and the first print run is real money.
Print shops taking customer files
When what arrived cannot be printed and redrawing it in-house would cost the job.
Anyone printing tees once
Events, teams, staff, giveaways — it only has to be right once, but it does have to be right.
What you can send, and what we do with it
Anything is a reasonable starting point: a sentence, a photo of something scribbled on paper, a screenshot of a design you like the feel of, a logo file, or a print specification from your supplier. More context usually means fewer rounds, but a single sentence is enough to begin.
References are useful and they are references. We can work in a described style, match a mood, or keep to a brand's existing look — what we will not do is reproduce somebody else's artwork, and we will say so rather than quietly approximating it. If a reference is doing work we cannot legitimately copy, we will suggest what we can do instead.
The other thing worth sending is the destination. A design bound for screen printing wants flat, separable colour; one going to DTF or DTG can carry gradients and photographic detail. Knowing which before we start usually changes the artwork rather than just the export, and it is the difference between a file that prints and one that comes back.
Once we have enough to scope the job, you get a written offer covering exactly what is included. Nothing is charged before you accept it.
How it works
From a sentence to a finished design
- Step 1
Tell us what you need
One or two sentences is enough to start. You don't have to know what the work is called or which category it belongs in.
- Step 2
We discuss the project
We ask what we need to know — where it will be used, what size, what it has to work on — and tell you honestly what is and isn't possible.
- Step 3
Share files or references
Send the artwork you already have, a photo, a sketch, or examples of the look you're after. Files go straight into private storage.
- Step 4
You get a custom offer
A written scope and a fixed price for your project specifically. Nothing is charged and nothing is started until you accept it.
- Step 5
Approve and pay
Accepting the offer creates the order and takes you to payment. Decline it or ignore it and nothing happens.
- Step 6
We complete the design
The work runs through the same production and delivery process as every other DesignFix order, with revisions included in the scope.
What to send us
You don't need to know what to ask for
None of this is required, and a single sentence is enough to start. It's simply what tends to be useful, so a first message doesn't turn into three.
Whatever artwork you have
The file itself, however rough — an export, a screenshot, a photo of something printed, or the version a supplier rejected.
A reference or a sketch
Something you like the look of, a rough drawing, or an existing design you want the new work to sit alongside.
Where it's going
The product, the size, and the process if you know it. Print, garment, screen or sign changes what the artwork has to be.
Any specification you were given
A printer's requirements, a supplier's template, or the rejection message you received — that usually says exactly what needs fixing.
Colours and brand material
Existing brand colours, fonts or guidelines, so new work matches what you already have.
What you want changed
A sentence is enough. "Make this printable", "this needs to work on a dark shirt", "I want something like this but ours".
Questions
Common questions
Tell us what you need
Describe the project in a sentence or two. We’ll ask what we need to know, then send a written scope and a fixed price before anything is charged.