Category: Design tips

Summer is rapidly approaching and it’s time to get your summer merch ready! We’re talking totes, slides, tees, tanks, you name it!. 

 The following is a solid list of guidelines for creating trendy summer merch:

Color palettes. Unless you live somewhere chilly (like Alaska), or are a surfer (see below), go minimal with black. Summer is bright, not bleak! You will find endless advice online about how to combine white with various clothing items like shoes, accessories, slides, etc., so be mindful about your color palettes. White will go with almost anything depending on the style.. 

• Candy Pastel Palettes.  Besides classic white, a fantastic alternate is a pastel palette, which goes with pretty much anything, including neutrals. If you’re an Instagram user, you’ve no doubt also seen minimal pastel pics gradually taking over in the last year or so. Watch for this trend to take over this summer. 

Product types: On your Spring Store, play around with different types of tees for different types of fans, from classic fit, tanks, v-necks, boyfriend tees, there are lots of different options. 

Bold and decorative typography: Summer is hot! And your merch font should be too! Typography encompasses scripts, graffiti styles, handwritten fonts, etc. Think footloose and fancy-free. If you’re not able to visualize it, check out this example.

• Daring. If this is more your jam, use large and bold t-shirt designs to create impactful slogans. 

• Strong & vivid. If you opt for this font route, you can accentuate your illustrations and graphics or create typography designs using decorative fonts.

When it comes to bold and decorative typography, it’s not just about being strong with the lettering but also about being super expressive. Hit it hard on the nose. In the world of bold, subtlety lives elsewhere. Employing these traits in your T-shirt designs (and all merch) will make people remember your brand. Think hard on how the colors and forms of your design aid the message you want to convey.

Surfer Prints. Surfers unite! Whether you’re a beach bum or just like tees with cute quotes, you can achieve the bohemian look a few different ways. Here’s an example of where black can work when paired with bright colors combinations. 

Tropical look: Don’t want the beach thing but still want to give your fans the tropical or “on holiday” look without even leaving the comfort of home? Floral print along with a splash of color is the way to go.. 

Psychedelic Look: Swirls, intense colors, free-flowing lines, paisley prints, and eye-catching graphics like kaleidoscopic patterns––along with messages of peace, love, nature, or other positive messaging in typography that is “groovy”––play a fun role in the psychedelic design trend.

• Tie-dye is closely related enough to this style and is still on trend, so ride that popularity wave through Summer ‘23. 

Punk Aesthetics are back!  It’s a Punk Summer! You know the look! Tattoos. Piercings. Metal studs. It’s back big time, if it ever even left. Don’t overlook this trend because there’s serious mining to be done here. A punk design might include disorderly fonts, collages of mixed media, newspaper clippings, or anything else that shows off the raw and powerful style of punk. 

Surrealism. You know the place between reality, dreams and the unconscious mind? There’s a market there this summer. And it will most likely increase in today’s “reality” of AI and the Metaverse. Experiment with escapism and unimaginable landscapes. Your T-shirt doesn’t need to be the work of Salvador Dali, but by getting familiar with the art style, you have another weapon in your design arsenal. Surrealism is about appearing to not have a specific design intent. Let your imagination flow freely.

Mixed Media. We’re supposed to only have 2-4 hours of screen time a day. Yeah, right. Who does that nowadays? The truth is we are so intertwined with the digital world now, it’s about leaning into the future. What does this mean when it comes to designing merch? Fun illustrations. Brilliant colors. Odd patterns. All with the intent to stimulate that sense of imagination, sense of wonder within your fans, reminding them how much magic and creativity we all have within our own souls. You can choose to do this by mixing media:

• Watercolor paintings combined with typography
• Collage of graphic elements & photographs
• Embroidery & screen printing
• Hand-drawn illustrations combined with digital elements
• Multi-layered designs using overlapping elements & transparencies
• 3D designs & elements with flat graphic design

Tip: You can discover great mixed media designs & art pieces on Pinterest. You may find creating Pinterest boards for this trend and all the other ones you like in this list very useful.

Whether you place your summer designs on T-shirts or other popular products like slides, totes, hats and tumblers, take advantage of these trends! 

Was all or some of the above too overwhelming? Spring has a top notch design team to help you with merch design services. 
Check out our blog for more creator success tips.

Think of a logo as a promise your brand makes to your customers, followers, and fans. Why? Your logo is making a visual statement about who you are as a brand. It better be an accurate representation! How many famous brands do you recognize just by the logo? Most, if not all. That’s because a great logo communicates a message that is understandable and clear. 

However, it can be tricky to create a logo that perfectly matches your brand. How do you blend your business ideals with a logo design that not only helps your business stand out/be memorable but also fits the brand? Don’t worry, Spring by Amaze can help with our Design on Demand services offered by affinityX. But more on that later. 

First, here are some tips on how to create the perfect logo for your brand: 

Do some soul searching about your brand

Many people think they need to start with a logo and then develop the brand. That’s actually backward. Know your brand first and the logo will follow. First, you need to get to know yourself. Your brand is an extension of you who are, so ask yourself the tough questions about what you want to put into the world. If you truly understand who you are and what you’re about, it will help you understand the feelings you want your company to evoke. What do you stand for? What is the “why” for creating? Don’t rely on making money – that’s a (great) by-product. What is your mission? You’re on the right track if you can answer why you’re doing this and the answer isn’t to “just make money.” When you know the why, what does it look like in the form of a visual presentation? Now you’re ready to imagine your logo.

Simple is always better

We mean it. Simple IS always better. You don’t want to complicate the visual representation of your brand. You want to be instantly recognizable and not get lost in the fray. Complicated logos tend to succumb to that. 

Go minimal. You want to go as minimalistic as possible, especially if you include your brand name in your logo. Don’t clutter up the space with unnecessary words. Any letting on your logo should be easy to read and short. 

Keep it clean. What do we mean by clean? Your visual should have empty space. If you’re unsure if an element needs to be there, remove it. Sometimes simple shapes are all you need. An example is a camera company that just uses a circle and two brackets. 

Be literal. For the best impact, be simple, literal, minimal, and clean. For a great example, check out this Spring creator and their logo “Work for your beer.”

If you’re stuck, you can hire a design professional to help you arrive at a minimalistic, yet instantly recognizable logo. 

Land on your vibe 

Remember, your logo is what will tie your visuals together. It’ll be on your channels, your site, and your merch. Logos are part of what gets fans to emotionally connect with a brand. How do you want your fans to feel? What vibe do you want to give off? Playful? Intense? Excited? Or would you rather be all business and keep it practical? Whoever your ideal customer is – based on the emotion your brand evokes – pick the right colors, iconography, and typography that will strike an emotional chord. 

Be memorable

Your brand name is important even if it’s not in your logo. Some brands opt to have their name in the logo. If this is the route you’d like to go, your name needs to be memorable, short, and simple. Something goofy, for example, is memorable. Who’s gonna forget the name NerdFace? Being memorable means your customers can easily repeat the name to others. But having a memorable name and recognizable logo generates more residual benefit than just being memorable. It also saves you marketing costs. Word-of-mouth takes over!

Trust your instincts

This may sound abstract but allow us to go a little Obi Wan on you for a second. Temporarily toss the spreadsheets, polls, and reports to the side. Have you ever heard a name or seen a logo in your head and it just felt right? You just know, right? Take a piece of paper and write down the name of your brand. Then write 10 words that represent your mission and your values. Next, bust open a thesaurus and make those 10 words as specific as possible. Finally, find your font, your colors, and watch your logo come to life. You will be looking at your brand’s visual identity. Be Luke, close your eyes and trust the force!

Test logos with family & friends

Not everyone can afford focus groups, but if you can, do it! Let’s assume you can’t afford it. You want to find out what your audience responds to. Make sure to ask friends and family (or a test audience if you have the budget) very specific questions so you can learn what logos/names your audience is attracted to. Identify the emotion behind the attraction, which will then inform your final logo before launch. 

SEO can matter

You may be tempted to roll your logo out the second you arrive at your perfect branding. Pump the brakes one last time. Is this a common name or similar logo to anything else? Double check. It’s worth it. You want to stand out and this will be one less headache you will thank yourself for. 

It’s time to get creative!

It can be daunting to design a logo, but your brand logo is crucial to your success as a creator. It will go on your channels and your merch. Remember—your logo is a visual representation of who you are, what you do, and why you do it. That’s a lot, right? Don’t worry, Spring by Amaze has got you covered with Design on Demand Services offered by affinityX. You’ll get a professionally-designed logo for an affordable price so you can start using that perfect logo asap! 

And as always, reach out with questions anytime to creatorhelp@spri.ng.

We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with AffinityX! Creators are always asking us for design services and we’re finally able to say—we got you! By partnering with AffinityX, a top-tier agency, we’re able to offer professional design services exclusively for our creators! We’re talking merch graphics, storefront banners and social media promo visuals. 

If you want to stand out, look more professional and sell more merch, you’ll want a custom design. Read on to learn about the design services we offer or jump straight to our design services page here. 

Store Hero Banner 

You want to make a good first impression, right? Nothing does that better than a custom-designed banner image that showcases your unique brand. Welcome your fans with your unique design at the top of your store page. This service includes:

• 1 high-resolution static banner graphic (non-editable jpg or png) 
• Delivery by email in a zip file
• 100% ownership of design
• $17

How it works:

• After purchase, you will be emailed a creative brief for your design specifications
• You get 1 revision request after you receive the design
• 3 business day turnaround after the design is approved

Learn more about the Store Hero Banner and place your custom order here: https://affinityx.creator-spring.com/products/spring-digital-storefront-banner

Promo Image Design 

It’s always a good idea to drive traffic to your store from your social platforms, preferably with a personalized visual that shows off your brand and merch. With this service, you’ll get a personalized visual advertising your brand to share on socials. Design includes:

• 1 high-resolution static promo image (non-editable jpg or png) for the platform of your choice: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google Display or Personal Profile Image 
• Delivery by email as a zip file (image size dependent on selected platform)
• 100% ownership of design
• $17

How it works:

• After purchase, you will be emailed a creative brief for your design specifications
• You get 1 revision request after you receive the design
• 3 business day turnaround after the design is approved

Learn more about the Promo Image Design and place your custom order here: https://affinityx.creator-spring.com/products/promo-image-design

Custom Merch Graphic Design 

Another great idea and must-have for your brand is a personalized logo or design that you can use on your merch. Our professional designers can deliver on your vision. Give us your inspiration, and they will create a high-quality design that you can use on any print-on-demand merch (including t-shirts & sweatshirts). This service includes:

• 1 high-resolution graphic design (non-editable jpg or png, sized to product specs)
• Delivery by email as a zip file
• 100% ownership of design
• $17

How it works:

• After purchase, you will be emailed a creative brief for your design specifications
• You get 1 revision request after you receive the design
• 3 business day turnaround after the design is approved

Learn more about the Custom Merch Graphic Design and place your custom order here: https://affinityx.creator-spring.com/products/custom-merch-design-graphic

Bundle these three and save! 

Build out your brand with all three services for one great price! From your socials, to your storefront, to your merch, you’ll have a professional, cohesive brand. Bundle includes:

• 1 Store Hero Banner image (non-editable jpg or png)
• 1 Store Promo Visual graphic (non-editable jpg or png)
• 1 Custom Merch Design (non-editable jpg or png)
• All delivered by email as a zip file
• 100% ownership of all designs
• $50

How it works:

• Complete only 1 creative brief for all services 
• 1 design revision for each service 
• 3 business day turnaround after you approve all designs

Learn more about the Premium Bundle and place your custom order here: https://affinityx.creator-spring.com/products/bundle-merch-graphic-promo-image-hero-banner

We couldn’t be more excited about our new partnership with AffinityX, truly the best of the best when it comes to visualizing a brand. Let’s get started on your custom brand design! 

Check out all of our design services here.

And as always, hit us with questions anytime at creatorhelp@spri.ng.

A common question we hear from our Spring creators is: How do I improve my T-Shirt sales? Our answer is simple: With better designs! 

Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a graphic designer to have solid designs that your fans will want to buy. Spring’s Dashboard has simplified the process to customize products with your designs. All you need to start is a great idea. 

So here are 10 T-Shirt design tips for tees that will sell:

1. Create quality designs.

It goes without saying, but internet shoppers can tell if a design looks professional or thrown together. T-shirts don’t have to include intricate graphic designs (they won’t read that well anyway) but they should look like some thought and intention went into them. We’ve got good news if you’re a complete beginner! There are plenty of free tutorials on YouTube to guide you through the design process if using Photoshop or Illustrator. Check out the channels Jazza and Charlie Pangus.

2. Research popular keywords.

Every creator has a niche that they fit into, and every niche has trending words and phrases people are using and searching for. You’ll want to know what these words are, because if you can use them in your design, you’ll have a better chance of catching some eyes. A free way to do this is to check out other creators in your niche, as well as their fans, and see what words or hashtags they are using. Or, you can pay for premium sites like KWFinder, where you can search for different keywords to see what is trending (anything over 1000 searches a month is a strong showing).

3. Browse other designs for inspiration.

Not sure what to design? Look around. We like to click through Etsy. You can get a ton of inspiration on designs. Go to the search bar, type in your niche, then type shirts. Ex: Rock climbing shirt. You’re looking for 3 things: 

• Is this type of design something you can create on your own? For instance, quotes or words are easy for T-shirts, while drawings are more involved. 
• Look at the reviews. If one tee has 800 reviews and another has 57, then you’ll have a good idea of what’s resonating with other shoppers in that niche. 
• Look at what the actual review is, meaning, is it a 5 star, 4 star, etc. Were people actually happy with the design? If the reviews all complain that the image was too small or it sat too low on the front of the shirt, this information will help you when you design your own tee 
• Keep in mind “inspiration” doesn’t mean copying someone else. Your design will be rejected for copyright infringement. Make sure it’s your own work or that you have a license if it’s someone else’s work.

4. Design for the calendar.

There is a lot of money to be made during holidays. Add a holiday-spin to your designs for special days like Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day! In fact, almost every month of the year has some sort of special occasion you can design for. And it doesn’t need to be a lot, you can add some pink hearts to a fan favorite item just in time for Valentine’s. Take advantage of these special days because fans are already expecting to buy something new for themselves or as a gift for someone else. 

5. Play with price.

If your sales are sluggish, try dropping the price slightly from the recommended price. Ex: If Spring’s recommended price is $21.99, drop it to $19.99. Why? Sure, your profit margin will be lower, but the number of sales might rise because you’ll be lower-priced than the competition. Keep in mind the quality of your materials, as different fabric blends appeal to different audiences: Classic, Comfort, Premium, Triblend, etc. If you want a high-quality product, like an apparel line that you’re very serious about, you’ll want to go with the Premium tee, for example. If you opt to go with the premium line, adjust your price accordingly.

6. Placement matters.

This is not a hard and fast rule, but for new designers, using a tall rectangle on the front of the t-shirt while designing is a good guidepost. What if you’re experienced or just don’t want to use a tall rectangle? Still consider proper placement. Will someone be able to see the design when it’s actually being worn? Keep in mind, fans come in all shapes and sizes! You want to make sure your design is clearly visible on all body types! If you’re not going to use the tall rectangle method, make sure the design is still near the middle of the chest otherwise it could get lost when worn. 

7. Fonts matter.

They convey feelings. They can even change the implied meaning. Ex: I will always find you. If it’s in a cutesy font it has one meaning, but in horror font, it’s quite the opposite. Also, keep fonts big, bold, and easy to read. 

8. Use color wisely.

The colors you use depend on your brand and your audience. For example, you may have fans that would be turned off by bright colors like pink, yellow, or orange. In that case, go with popular neutrals like be black, white, or gray. On the other hand, your audience may want colors that are LOUD. In either case, you need to have contrast. Gray text on a black background does not stand out, but white text on a black background does. Also, don’t forget the base colors of your tee! The color fabric you choose should complement your design. 

9. Make your designs easy to understand.

Your t-shirts are a walking billboard. A stranger walking by has 3 seconds or less to see your shirt and register what it says. Don’t overcomplicate it. Make it easy to read and understand. Don’t make the words too small, and make sure the artwork is clear. Remember: 3 seconds tops. 

10. Design complimentary items.

Your t-shirt can lead to a matching outfit! Design another product like the classic pullover hoodie or leggings with the same or matching design. You’re building your brand! 

Don’t forget to take advantage of Spring’s deep well of design resources, where you can even collaborate with a professional designer! We’re here to help you flourish! 

And as always, hit us with questions anytime at creatorhelp@spri.ng.