All t-shirt suppliers use this code when describing their different garment options, and you might have been wondering, what is GSM? We thought we might go through that for you to help clarify this term.

GSM stands for Grams per Square Metre – so it’s referring to the weight of the fabric. However, a lot of people often form the opinion that lightweight fabric equals poor quality and heavyweight fabric equals good quality…..this is not always the case!

In fact, a lot of t-shirt suppliers who have lightweight t-shirts available actually charge more for this option.

So what does equal quality?

There are a few different types of fabric finishes available, and these are usually the things that determine the quality of a fabric. Here’s a brief description of a few different terms you might come across when you’re looking for your next run of tees:

• 40s or 40 singles / 30s or 30 singles / 20s or 20 singles etc – This refers to the fineness of each strand of cotton thread used to weave your t-shirts. A higher number means a finer thread, so in turn a softer, finer fabric is created with better drape/hang – it basically flows better and sits nicer on your body.




• Brushed Cotton means exactly that! The cotton is brushed to remove any excess lint and fibers from the fabric, resulting in a soft, smooth feel.




• Combed Cotton uses a combing method to remove short fibers and to straighten or arrange longer fibers into parallel order to create a smooth, fine yarn. Combed cotton is usually used to produce finer (lightweight) t-shirts and is softer than Brushed Cotton. – American Apparel, AS Colour, Gildan (64000 style only)




• Ring Spun Cotton is made by twisting and spinning a rope of cotton fibers. This results in a really soft feel yet very strong fabric. – All American Apparel, AS Colour, Gildan (64000 style only)




• Enzyme Washed Cotton has gone through a special process using enzymes to produce a really soft finish and smooth look to the fabric. – American Apparel Power Wash tee

So next time you’re looking at your t-shirt options, take the GSM into account but be aware that there are other factors for consideration!

Besides providing highly amusing free entertainment, people-watching can be a great source of inspiration for all creatives and business people.  For example, let’s take a look at some tactics T-shirt designers might use to get creative inspiration from people-watching.

• Notice the T-shirts people are already wearing.  Figure out what works and what doesn’t.  Maybe the design that old guy is sporting would look much cooler if it was larger, stylized, done in discharge ink, and centred on a purple tee, rather than plastered in orange on a pocket of a white polo shirt.
• Watch people’s gestures and habits, the way they walk, the facial expressions they use while talking.  Can you capture an expression or an interaction between people in a simple caricature?
• Try dreaming up some what-if scenarios, based on the scene around you.  What’s that stressed-out looking guy over there talking to himself about?
• Listen for snatches of conversation.  Kids in particular, with their innocent view of the world, can come up with some truly hilarious questions and one-liners which can be used to good effect in a T-shirt design.
• See if you can figure out what’s hot and what’s not.  Perhaps you can guess what future trends are going to be, and create your next release of designs accordingly.  What colours are popular?   What sort of clothes are the people in your target market wearing?  Perhaps someone has put colours together in a way that you haven’t seen before … and it works …

You can people-watch anywhere – outside one of the stores you sell your T-shirts to, in cafes, on park benches, in a local shopping mall, or at the arrivals terminal at the airport.  Take advantage of times when you have to wait.  The important thing to remember is that inspiration comes from observing and thinking, from finding a fresh perspective.  By standing back to observe humans you don’t know, from an objective distance, rather than during the course of your everyday interactions, you might just find it easier to let your imagination fly.

Image courtesy of Milori Blue

At the age of 69, Toby is a fit and energetic man who’s still heavily involved in the daily operations of his industrial plumbing business.  He calls himself a realist, and he has a self-professed distrust of advertising.  He won’t watch commercial television or listen to commercial radio, and if he spends time on the internet, his wife closes the door on him to muffle the sound of his non-stop grumbling about marketers being brainwashers.

Toby’s not unusual.  People want information, but they want it at their own convenience – more often than not, they’ll hang up on telemarketers, delete spam emails, mute the TV when commercials are on, and pointedly ignore billboards while driving.  It can be really hard for a business to make potential customers aware that it even exists, when so many of those people are determined to close their eyes, block their ears and sing “blah-de-blah-de-blah-blah, I can’t hear you!”  The money you pour into advertising can easily disappear straight down the drain, resulting in very little, if any, return to you at all.

That’s where promotional t-shirts come.  It has any number of advantages, but here are four of the most important ones – it’s useful, it engenders goodwill, it reminds your prospective customers that you exist, and it helps you appeal to more qualified leads.

1. Too useful to trash

For all Toby’s dislike of advertising, you’ll hardly ever see him wearing an unbranded T-shirt or cap.  If you’re thinking that the brands he wears are advertising his own business, or fashionable designer labels, think again.  This pragmatic, advertising-despising man nearly always wears the loot he’s been gifted by suppliers to his business.  Why not?  It’s a perfectly good shirt/cap/sweater/jacket, and it didn’t cost him anything.

Promotional merchandise largely overcomes the don’t-bombard-me-with-annoying-advertising pitfall by attaching the advertisement to an article which is intrinsically useful to the prospective client.

2. Warm and fuzzy

“Warm and fuzzy” is not a reference to the texture of Toby’s T-shirts … well, not most of them, anyway.  Toby would grumble if you called HIM warm and fuzzy, too, but like most people, he appreciates generosity.  Scratch Toby’s back and he’ll scratch yours.  If you give him something he likes, he may like you better and be more inclined to do business with you.  If he’s already doing business with you, giving him a useful gift will remind him that he’s valuable to you, and will encourage his loyalty.

3. Memory hooks

Toby’s mind is still as sharp as it ever was, but as is true for most people, he finds it much easier to remember things he’s seen or heard multiple times.  Many promotional items meet this criteria by being reusable, but there is an added advantage to a wearable promotional item, be it shirt, cap or sweater – in addition to providing a strong memory hook for the wearer, it exposes your company to everyone the wearer comes in contact with.

4. Right on target

Cleverly distributed gifts can attract highly qualified leads to your business in a way that most other advertising techniques can’t hope to match.  Toby’s shirts, caps and pens are usually gifted to him by his potential or current equipment and materials suppliers – at trade shows, during work site visits, along with product deliveries, and via direct mail on special occasions (e.g. Christmas).  An advertising dollar stretches a lot further when it’s spent on an audience which is already comparatively interested in purchasing what you have to offer, and even further when your existing clients like you enough to gratuitously recommend you to others.

If you see the benefits in giving away promotional t-shirts in your business please get in touch with us for any help you may need with it. We’re here to make it happen as easily as possible for you so your business can reap the benefits!

Imagine the number of T-shirt designs a screen printer sees in the course of a year – hundreds, if not thousands.  And with all that experience of the t-shirt design industry, just imagine the wealth of knowledge and advice we would be able to offer a new designer!

In ‘Designers’ Guide to the Apparel Printing Industry’, Adam Wagner of GoMediaZine shares some wonderful insights and tips from his interviews with representatives from five major US apparel printers, covering topics such as design trends, file preparation, printing techniques and complex designs.

Multiple links, quotes, and some thoughtful commentary from readers make this already interesting and informative article even more entertaining and useful.  Check it out here – http://www.gomediazine.com/design-articles/interviews/designers-guide-apparel-production/

Let me know your thoughts below.

We regularly have people asking us how they get their hand drawn designs into a format that can be used for t-shirt printing. Here is a quick video showing you the basics.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Like they did in the video start with a pencil sketch of what the t-shirt design will look like. Then trace over with a black marker. The key is to use solid black lines so that the scanned the image has a lot of contrast which aids in the vectorising process within Adobe Illustrator. Once vectorised you can add your colour fills.

So get stuck in and get some custom designs done and we’ll get your t-shirts printed for you.

By now you should know your market and have developed a suitable image and label for your T shirt printing business. Now it’s time to move on to sourcing your t-shirts and choosing a printing method which does your designs justice.

Material Sourcing:

Whatever quality of t-shirt you are looking for, you’ll find them being manufactured in china. Bear in mind that these manufacturers will charge base rates for shipping and manufacture, so the larger quantities you can buy, the better deal you will get. If you’ve got a particular cut or fabric you’d like use then send them out a sample and they will probably be able to match it quite closely.

Inks and tools for screen printing are best purchased from local suppliers who can offer after sales support and equipment. If you are providing a custom t shirt printing service then the same applies but you can get ink cartridges more cheaply from budget suppliers on the internet.

Printing:

When it comes to printing you’ve got one final choice to make: Screen printing, or digital direct to garment printing? If you are looking to design your own t shirt range then the choice will primarily depend upon the bulk and quality of the printed T shirts you require. If you want to produce t shirts from other people’s designs on demand, then the screen printing cost will be prohibitive, but Direct to Garment Digital Printing will suit your business model very nicely.

If you are screen printing, then it will be important to ensure your designs translate well to the medium; screen printing is not easy, particularly for newcomers so be prepared to experiment and have some failed prints before you get the hang of the process. If you are short of time and capital, consider getting shirts printed by an expert screen printing company to ensure your products look and feel as good as they can.

By following this guide, and researching in more detail the action points it raises, you’ll ensure a successful launch and a relatively trouble free t-shirt label. Best of luck!

Found on – Teebiz.com

See – Barking Irons

Let us know what you think in the comments section!!

So you want to start a T shirt fashion label? This could be part of an endeavour to sell your own t-shirt designs or to provide a custom T shirt printing service for customers. Whatever your business plans, the first step to success is market research.

Research:
As any business advisor worth his salt will tell you: Know your market! Identify what age range, gender and class you want to market your t-shirt label too and study the fashion trends of this group, if you want to provide a custom t-shirt printing business then study the marketing, websites and styles of established T shirt printers.

Design:
This should be guided by the results of your market research. T shirt printing technique, cut, and the fabric for your t-shirts should be based upon the prevailing trends of your rivals; there’s plenty of room for innovation in your actual printed t shirt designs once you’ve met the expectations of your target buyer.

Label:
The all important t-shirt label; this is your brand and a promise to the consumer that any t shirt bearing this label will meet with your t shirt printing, style and fabric quality promise. Try out lots of different names, but focus on adjectives and nouns which resonate with your target market. So if, for example, your t shirt designs are for young academics, try something like “Geek Pie”.

Read on in the next part of this guide to find out how to source your t shirts for printing and to find advice on the all important process of choosing between screen printing and digital direct to garment printing which will complete your journey to becoming a fully fledged fashion label.

Step 1) Choose a T-Shirt Friendly Design

Your design, be it a photograph, a drawing and/or text, can be as complicated or as simple as you want, but please note that just as humans can only fly with the help of surfboards, hang gliders and airplanes, screenprinted t shirts are created with screen printers, ink, and by humans, not magic. Thus, if you want your design to look great it must be compatible with the technology and materials that PSI Screenprinting use as well as fundamental elements of design and color.

Some points to remember when choosing colors, fonts, and t-shirts:

-A dark t shirt printed with light ink can sometimes cause a screenprint to look translucent. This does not mean it shouldn’t be done, but choose your ink and colors wisely. When printing colours onto dark t-shirts a white base of ink is laid down first to print the colours on to. If this isn’t done your colours won’t show up on the dark t shirt. For example, with a water-based ink, yellow over black can look off-green. With Plastisol, ink it will be very washed out and not vibrant.

-Detailed t shirt designs screen printed on a low contrast background, such as maroon ink on black t-shirt, will not show up as well as, say, black ink on white t shirt…but any colour will go well on white…except white of course.

-PSI Screenprinting use Adobe Illustrator to turn your bitmap designs into vector graphics, which means they will have clean lines and can be resized without losing their resolution. Another thing to keep in mind when designing your tshirt is that the font you choose must be a font that we have installed on our computers. The best way to get around that is to convert your fonts to outlines or curves, depending on which software you are using, yourself before sending it to us. If you are not sure, contact us beforehand and we can easily step you through this.

Step 2) Choose Your T Shirt Sizes
There is nothing more frustrating than that t-shirt of your favorite band…that you can’t even squeeze over your head; or, all 16 members of the girls’ netball team wearing XL uniforms. Make sure you order a variety of sizes that correspond to the demographic who will be wearing them.

Step 3) Choose Your Quantity
How many t-shirts do you need? Be sure to order enough tshirts the first time around because it will be cheaper for you in the long run. If you are ordering for a big event, a team, or organization, keep in mind that a couple extra t-shirts is better than being one short on game day!

We can help you with all of these. Just get in contact us via phone, email or our contact forms and we will step you through it.

Color:
The first thing you need to consider when planning your t shirt screen printing design is the number of colors you want to use. The screen printing process is monochromatic by nature, but it can be repeated multiple times to add additional colors to your image. The tone and opacity of colors will also impact your choice of ink but be aware that you’ll never get an exact color match as you might in conventional printing.

The T-shirt as a Canvas:
Your t-shirt color, fabric and size will influence the final look and feel of any inks and design applied to it. If you are just starting out with screen printing then it’s best to stick with a medium sized, white cotton t-shirt, as this will present the least challenging surface to screen print onto both in terms of design and physical properties.
While background color is a more conventional design challenge, bear in mind that stronger t-shirt colors will show through water based inks, so design appropriately or use thick mixed plastisols which can cover even the darkest base colors.

You should also carefully consider size and placement of your design. A conventional centre front print will avoid most problems, but be wary how you stretch the t shirt fabric when screen printing. More unusual placement might require screen printing before the t-shirt is stitched together!