The final design will be printed on a Brother GT-541 DTG (Direct To Garment) printer. Our artwork was created in Adobe Illustrator and sized to the largest dimensions possible for the DTG printer (350mm x 400mm). We used a Gildan Ultra Cotton Ice Grey t-shirt for this print as the muted colour helps to create an authentic vintage look.

Open artwork in Adobe Photoshop and ensure it is sized correctly. The DTG printer is capable of reproducing photographic quality work onto a garment, so ensure your artwork is created at 300dpi or higher for the best possible print.

Create a new layer and fill this white, Edit > Fill > White. Drop this below your artwork layer.

Make your own or get your hands on a few quality free grunge textures. For this tutorial I used 11 Free Hi-Res Light Grunge Textures from Fudgegraphics.com.

Open your grunge textures in Adobe Photoshop.

Image > Adjustments > Desaturate will turn each image b/w. Use Image > Adjustments > Curves to set a strong contrast in each texture.

Go to Select > Colour Range. Using the eyedropper cursor, click on an area of white in your texture. Play around with the Fuzziness slider until you are happy with your selection. Click OK.

Invert the selection you have just made. Select > Inverse.

Create a new layer above your artwork. Fill the selection with white, Edit > Fill > White.

Repeat the process with all of your grunge textures.

Play with the positioning of each grunge layer until you are happy with the distress. Layer > Flatten Image and save your graphic as a high quality jpeg.

With the artwork ready to print, we can move through to production. The printer I am using is calibrated for use with Adobe Illustrator and I already have a number of Illustrator templates set-up for various print locations and garment sizes.

Open the artwork and chosen template file in Adobe Illustrator. Copy the artwork into the template and position accordingly.

Send your design to print. We configured the DTG printer to use a low ink consumption to ensure we get the desired level of distress.

Pre-dry the garment on a heat press. Press for 10 seconds, allow to cool and check for moisture. Press for another 10 seconds if required.

Stretch your garment over the printing platen ensuring the garment is aligned correctly and all creases have been flattened out.

Hit the big green print button!

A t-shirt template is great way to show off your latest designs. Use your template to experiment with different coloured garments and styles before going to print.

Photograph your chosen white t-shirt against a dark background. It is important that the garment is white so that we can make the image transparent later on.

Open your image in Adobe Photoshop. Desaturate your image to ensure it is black and white, Image > Adjustments > Desaturate.

Ensure that you have a good contrast between the dark and light areas, Image > Adjustments > Curves. Create a ‘S’ shaped curve. Play with these settings until you are happy.

Duplicate your photograph and delete the ‘Background’ copy. Name the new layer ‘T-Shirt Creases’.

Select the Pen Tool and ensure you have ‘Paths’ selected. Begin tracing along the edge of your t-shirt. Take your time, the more accurate you are, the better the final result. It is possible to use the Lasso Tool to make your selection, but this comes down to personal preference.

When you are done, right click and choose Make Selection…

Create a new layer above your photo and Edit > Fill your selection with a colour of your choice. Name this layer T-Shirt Colour.

Next we need to remove your t-shirt from its background. With the selection you made still visible choose Select > Inverse.

Then Select > Modify > Expand. Depending on the quality of your photograph choose between 1-5 pixels. For this image I expanded 2 pixels. Click Ok.

Then Select > Modify > Feather. Again, depending on your photograph feather between 1-5 pixels. For this image I feathered 1 pixel. Click Ok. With your photograph layer selected choose Edit > Cut.

Create a new layer below your t-shirt and Edit > Fill White. Name this layer Background.

Arrange your layers as above so that the T-Shirt Creases layer sits on top. With this layer selected, choose Multiply from the layers drop-down menu.

Double click your T-Shirt Colour layer and check the Colour Overlay box. Select the coloured box and choose your garment colour. Click Ok.

Open your latest t-shirt design, and drop this into your template. Place your design beneath the T-Shirt Creases layer and re-size accordingly. Go to File > Save As and name your template accordingly.

Group all layers and duplicate the group a number of times. You can now play around with various coloured garments on one art board.  The same process works for pretty much any garment!

You can buy this Die Monster Die t-shirt at our sister site Indigo2Go!

Das Right

Remember this post about Australian t-shirt designers Das Monk? Ok, I’ll let you off the hook, it was a long time ago. Well, this group are back on the horizon, and this time they’re on the lookout for raw, unadulterated talent. According to their website, Das Monk are hunting for the next visual genius to join their artistic group, and have launched a competition to aid their quest. Anyone, even you Grandma, is invited to join in, and the idea is that you create an artwork based on “DIS” (the prefix) disorder, discovery, distortion, dis…otherthingstoo. All open to your creative imagination. With fame, fortune, artwork on a tee, many people wearing said tee, joining the Das Monk group of artists and US$400 cash cash money prize on the cards, who’s not going to give it a bash? The competition closes March 15th 2011 though, so get your sketch on.

As we’re having a trip down memory lane…remember this post about clogs from the summer? Yeah! Thought you would. Well if your into both the clog and the jog, these Nike clogs might be your new best friends. They were actually intended for the Nike78 Exhibition, but I’m sure they’d be great for the gym too.

360° Color: A Peek Inside Pantone from Base on Vimeo.

But you know what we should do? Instead of complaining we should roll around in the snow, go sledging, look up at the sky and stick out our tongues to catch cold drops. We should take a leaf out of this t-shirt company’s book and ‘Cheer Up!’ because summer has got to be on its way. Right?

Cheer Up! Clothing started back in 2006 through a collaboration of besties Matt and Ed. They loved to design clothes so they decided to embark on an adventure in the business world. With a brand called ‘Cheer Up!’ who wasn’t going to love them? From t-shirts which remind you of your Momma telling you to ‘Enjoy yourself’ to scribble shirts which brightly tell everyone who sees you to ‘Cheer Up!’ this company’s ethic is clear. It’s even depicted in their company logo which is an old-school milkshake silhouette. What could make you happier than milkshake? Who knows? I can’t think of anything that’s made me happier than milkshake.

Guess what you should do...

Their milkshake logo is displayed with pride of place in this simple fitted polo shirt, which is my favourite item from their range. It’s polo-tastic. Back to milkshakes now; this reddish colour reminds me of the cherry on top of milkshakes, though interestingly enough I’ve never had one of these in real life. Where can you get a good milkshake with a cherry on a stalk on the top? Hmm, only in the films I think.

Spot the milkshake

But in the fantastical world of caverns: [definition: a cave, or a chamber in a cave, typically a large one], the treasures it can hold all depend on individual taste. For my Father, I am sure the cavern would hold gadgets, for my friend it would definitely hold Snickers bars, and for myself? Well obviously: books….or shoes……too much choice, can I have a combination of both?

For a brand that affiliates itself with chambers of treasure, Cavern Collection has high standards to live up to. This ‘collaboration of ideas’ was born in 2005 by L.A. based artists Adam Tullie and Angeline Rivas. Their designs are focused on a core base of original, hand-drawn offerings. I can hazard a guess that their imaginary cavern would therefore, be filled with pencils and paper.

The designs on their t-shirts really do evoke an impression of graphic originality, native american/egyptian inspirations, and a printed evocation of texture which is fascinating to the eye.

Feathery

Accessories can be found in this Cavern too

Aladdin?

I think you’ll agree, it’s all beautifully Pocahontas.

And if you felt like decorating your home in the same style as your clothes, you sure can with Cavern Collection. My home would have this driftwood, manilla rope chandelier because it would make me feel like life in a tent, a simple life.

So Sahara

The key thing is, for quality screen printing, we need vector artwork (as opposed to raster artwork made in programmes like Photoshop). We have more detailed help on our artwork guidelines page.

However, web apps improve and there is now a new-kid-on-the-block which may save you from having to splash out on Adobe software. Part of the Aviary suite of online drawing tools, Raven is a free to use vector software which as the video below shows, is a very powerful piece of kit:

Aviary vector icons from mpeutz on Vimeo.

Funkuncle dubs itself a ‘multinational corporation with diverse interests throughout the world, extending into the atmosphere and even right down into the soft underbelly’, something which every uncle with a desire to be a funcle should strive to achieve. The corporation was established in 1955 by Edward J. Funkuncle as a manufacturer of spandex, but has grown and expanded ever since to become what it is today. So perhaps it isn’t really anything to do with becoming a funky uncle.

With its newest expansion being fashion, Funkuncle now offer a delightful range of graphic tees. Funkuncle write that their textile division seeks to create high art at the same time as completely mechanizing the artistic process, this is mostly achieved as their production line is 100% robot.

Some of their most iconic tees are “Time Box” and “Game Face”, which fuse modernity and colour with a distinctly retro overtone.

Time Box

Game Face

And remember, to be a funky uncle…everything must be taken with a pinch of salt.

I’ve heard of some pretty crazy Halloween costume suggestions flying about this year. Moving away from the regular zombie, monster traits, people are planning on evoking the past as 1920s flappers, literary heros such as Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s classic tale ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, and pregnant men. What does Halloween mean today? I have no idea.

If you want to make a nod to the holiday, but would prefer to avoid a fancy dress faux pas, Threadless have some very creative tees inspired by all things scary. There’s ‘Zombies only want you for your Brain’, which will go down well if you’re famous for your wit and intellectual mind. ‘Bone Idle’, is white like snow, with a ghoulish skull: perfect if you want to evoke subtle fear. But my all time favourite has to be ‘Brains’. The colours and all over print, I think you’ll have to agree, are frightfully nice. Have a happy Halloween, and don’t be too scary ok.

If you've got a Brain, the Zombies want you.

Looks creepy, doesn't it? Bone Idle.

Definitely the scariest. Eeeek.

“Salut”

“Paper Planes”

“Cubesville”

and my personal favourite…..”Tv’s”

But these kind t-shirters are also willing to print on request, so if there’s a particular style/colour combination you’ve got your heart set on then your wishes might just be accommodated. As ‘We Make T-Shirts’ begin to burst into stores in London (Lik & Neon Brick Lane), Sheffield, Nottingham and Birmingham (“Cow” Stores), their talent is getting some well deserved recognition and I think it’s time to jump on their bandwagon.

I understand that there’s a point in life when you really shouldn’t be reading children’s literature, but Dallas Clayton’s ‘An Awesome Book’ is so….erm….awesome, that I’d be happy to see sharp business men and brain surgeons alike carrying a copy proudly under their arm, and reading it whilst they commute to work/stop for a coffee/wait for a meeting. Maybe this is because there’s more to this colourful children’s book than meets the eye. In fact it’s popularity inspired the creation of the ‘Awesome World Foundation‘ established in 2009 by author Dallas Clayton. For every copy of ‘An Awesome Book’ sold, the charity diligently donate a copy to schools, hospitals, libraries, camps and shelters in both the States and the rest of the world. Aiming to promote children’s literacy one book at a time, these guys seem to be doing a pretty good job.

But what does this have to do with t-shirt design? Well, believe it or not, you can snap up some fantastical kids clothing to go along with the book itself…a very awesome Christmas present in the making I’m thinking. There are two prints to choose from: either ‘rocket-powered unicorns’ or a hand drawn alphabet if your little ones are more into typography than fantasy. And with all these tees each sublimation print is slightly different, so there’s a healthy splash of uniqueness in every garment. Now it really would be awesome if they’d make make them a bit bigger or if I was temporarily shrinkable, but at least the book isn’t age specific…remember that while you’re on your morning commute.

Alphabet tee

Watch this video for a bit of light entertainment/more information.

Spot anyone you know?

If you’re prone to bouts of vertigo, then perhaps it would be safer all round if you opted for the ‘Organ’ tee. Another classic photographic tee in greyscale. If you’re an aspiring organist then this design will offer endless practicing opportunities on the move. It’s your very own portable, mute, 2-D instrument. And if you happen to bump into someone who is already a talented organ player (you might find one at church), then you can strike up a beautiful friendship by inviting them to play Bach’s Toccata on your stomach. Just make sure you’re not ticklish first.

One man. Four hands.

I am Five. We’ll in truth I have aged a bit since then, though the frequency with which I have to whip out the old proof of age would beg to differ, as would the checkout people who have in the past checked that I’m old enough to buy Baileys ice-cream. I can say with pleasure that afterwards they were slightly embarrassed at checking. Looking young is clearly something to treasure, though I worry that one of these days I’ll wake up and all my ageing will have happened overnight and I’ll all of a sudden be hobbling around with a stick and booking myself in for a face lift.

I am Five isn’t quite a statement of age, it’s a t-shirt design label based in London town. I doubt that they’re grappling with the same age-appearance incompatibility related issues as me because they’re so busy making fantastical t-shirts. The first line from their brand spanking new online store is all about London fun. With a clean website, and equally clean design techniques they present a series of nods to London past, present, regal and fictional. You might like to wear Sherlock Holmes‘ profile, a t-shirt interpretation of the British Post-Box or three letters than mean so much: ‘LDN’. I like it.

"ER" Royal Majesty

Spookily Symmetrical

Monsieur T. are here with their spring summer 2009 collection of crazy new designs which you will probably want to spend all the money you saved up for that holiday on. Well, you’ve got to look the part right? The ‘History’ shirt might be one of their most memorable designs by Emil Kozak. Displaying an oversized fountain-pen nib and a drop of red ink, the tagline to this t-shirt is: ‘History was often written in blood’. Chilling isn’t it. I don’t know about you but I like the shapes on this shirt, and even if the tagline does but more sensitive souls off this shirt, you can always ignore it and just pretend that it’s novelty ink/tomato ketchup.

Another of Monsieur T’s summer line designs is named ‘Low Self Esteem’ created by Andy Rementer. The story behind this shirt is more of a question: ‘Do you ever want to kick yourself in the head?’ The answer to that question might have already flashed through your mind once or twice, but hopefully you haven’t taken it quite as literally the chubby little guy on this t-shirt who is about to stamp on his own decapitated head. His facial expression is quite something, and his green beanie hat really does bring out the colour (or is that fear?) in his eyes.

Don't try this at home

See two tee?

Others include the slightly more adventurous ‘Damn – Girl’ shirt, on which a Jane Austen-style legacy hero casts a flirtatious look at the bee-hind of one of his female companions, and by his comment seems, well what can I say? Rear-ly impressed. Not sure what Austen would have to say about that, but if this indie design soars in popularity perhaps it will be added to the script of the next Pride & Prejudice adaptation, completely changing the characterization of Mr. Darcy for generations to come. I predict outrage. Like it or loath it, you can’t accuse Laurits of failing in his vision to associate his t-shirt line with art, culture and humour.

Damn-Girl