T-shirts. Every single person on the planet owns one, and their universal appeal serves a wide range of purposes and audiences. They can be amazing works of art, a corporate uniform, a canvas for advertising, a souvenir, or a personal and political statement.
Similarly, clients on 99designs need t-shirt designers for a wide range of purposes, they’re also one of our design categories that most often award multiple winners, so there’s a lot of potential rewards for competing in them! Wanna start designing t-shirts? Here’s inspiration from some of our talented t-shirt designers on 99designs:
Giulio Rossi
Designer Giulio Rossi uses a variety of styles in his designs but he really develops each stylistic approach fully, which results in very refined characters that stand out from the competition. His use of a vertical layout and stylized cartoon bears make this design so great.
zoelhenry
Skulls are a go-to concept for a lot of T-shirts designs, but here zoelhenry has taken his detailed illustrative style and put his unique spin on it. The monochromatic blacks also work extremely well for the skull concept.
dibu
dibu‘s intense take on a traditional Chinese lion grabs your attention… and it definitely doesn’t let go!
vabriél
vabriel is a BEAST at illustration, and his fearless illustrations have won a bunch of T-shirt contests!
welikerock
Here’s a nice graphic tee from welikerock; he has a great eye for striking type treatments and geometric, abstract elements.
Arace KMD
Zombies are very in these days, and here designer Arace KMD uses a bold, spooky aesthetic to capture their mindless rage.
buddy79™
buddy79™ has used an extremely intricate illustration to capture the philanthropic tone of the Wear Good for Haiti cause, and has made something serious look extremely hip and artistic.
kinara15
I think we can all agree that Kinara15‘s mad design skills are even more real than Bigfoot. This sweet design is from the Discovery Store T-shirt Contest for the “Finding Bigfoot” show.
beaniebeagle
Here beaniebeagle uses an all-over monochromatic pattern for a standout T-shirt design entry for an ethical apparel company.
girinath
Designer girinath has a really nice collage look going on here.
BATHI*
Designer BATHI* has had a lot of success in T-shirt contests because of his really distinctive, stylized illustrations. One of his specialities is drawing intricate waves made up of lots of sinewy, flowing lines.
_Trickster_
_Trickster_‘s design for a gothic pinup fashion line of shoes and corsets has just the right balance of edge and elegance.
Resources
Wanna get in on the action of t-shirt contests? Here’s more t-shirt websites that will give you some ideas of how to develop your style:
And here’s a great tutorial for making your own t-shirt mockup so that you can showcase to clients how your design will look when worn. There are also a lot of t-shirt mock-ups available for purchase online, but as always we suggest making your own.
