Tshirt Design | All About That Thumbnail

Thumbnails | Size Really Does Matter

If your like me and not a great designer, but have a little knowledge in the subject, this can be a point of brain freeze.

Too big, too small crap.

There are some that say size matters, personally, I think its like art, in the eye of the beholder.

That being said there are a number of reasons and arguments out there for both.
Let's get into a few things on design size.

Text Designs | Big 

This is sort of the theory I stick with, though I do mix stuff up a bit. 

In a sea of online shirts, you want yours to be seen, and you have just that one thumbnail to show it.

I don't personally like that big huge text, but I admit it goes with a fun design. If you take a saying or meme, you want it to look fun, meaning a big clunky text or big block letters, like that, 

In my Opinion anyway. If it's funny it should look funny so BIG is good.

Thumbnails

You only get so much territory to show that masterpiece off, so you want to maximize exposure.

• Can you read most of it ( meaning the Idea) the and`s and if`s etc are not as important to see
• Does the font(letters) and kerning(space between letters) look good: T h i  s  is B a   D kerning.
• Does the layout look good ( the way the font or lettering are arranged)
• Can this all be seen from the thumbnail view

Why its important, same reason that you stop to look at anything, it catches your eye, and you are already looking in at similar products to what you want, so the chance at an impulse buy from the customer are greatly increased!

Does Size Always Matter Text

Again NO. I have seen stuff so small or regular or... I just think it really is what the subject matter is. If its goofy make it goofy, if it's between or light or make it as it sounds I think. 

I do a rather serious one, It's a learning thing, that I have enormous experience with, I do the font and the layout to what I know works, or to what the folks with the ability, see and react to. 

That niche is about 70% of my sales. And some of the designs, well unless you have that ability, would just not understand and probably react badly to.

The lettering is not all big, but, the layouts do take the area up in MBA (Merch By Amazon) that's for a t-shirt 15x18 inches or 4500x5400 px.

Graphics

If your designs focus on the graphics end its a similar thing, though if you're doing those killer designs, you already know.

I would at this point suggest for people with less experience look at these crazy awesome designs and try to see what makes them work. I do constantly.

Like text designs, they have to catch the eye and it is done from that little thumbnail, just cruise Amazon shirts or, and you will soon see what I mean. That also took me time to grasp.

Color Combos

Look up color combos or color wheels on Google or whatever you search on, Youtube also has a ton of great tutorials and vids so use it a lot. 

Also, use Amazon or other POD`s that you may be on to see what works.

Color wheels are cool because they tell you what colors go together, like Burnt Orange and Black or as a font combo Yellow and Black for instance, which you can combine with panels or ribbons, mostly because the best selling shirt colors are dark.

Niches Also Call For Colors

There are a lot of niches where color combos will call for and do great. 

Both with font and with graphic. Admittedly the overall most popular combo is White lettering on Black Shirt.

But, if you are in a water niche, light blue/turquoise is a good add for a combo, Firemen red, etc.

A lot of fonts use two-tone or gradients as a color this can also work well with a few niches.

Experiment with this one, I do a lot, some do well while others do nothing.



All in all, there is a lot of hit and miss in this industry.

 Look at what sells not only online, but next time you're at Walmart or something take a look at what designs they are selling, both for Adults and Kids.

They as any big retailer does, put a lot into research so you can be sure most of what is there is a seller to some point.

Look at what people are wearing around you, in the malls, shops or wherever you are.

Just be sure to use that little slice of territory called the thumbnail well, that's what you have as a showcase, and probably like a split second of a shoppers attention, so make it count.

If you have any comments or suggestions, questions leave them below, if I can I will answer when I can ;)

Wishing you all the Very best and the most success at your new or continuing ventures
EJ