Create a T-Shirt Design in Photoshop and Illustrator

What You'll Be Creating

Recently I was asked to design a T-shirt for the Legnica Fantasy Association, which my sister belongs to. Since it's a non-profit project, I decided to share my creative process with you. I'll show you how to create the idea, how to refine it in Adobe Photoshop, and how to create a two-color, ready-to-print vector out of it.

1. Form the Idea

Step 1

Sometimes the idea will come to you from nowhere, but most of the time you'll need to help it along. The easiest way to create something new is to find inspiration that's somehow linked to what you want to do. 

And what do we want to do here? A kind of super-stylized logo for a Fantasy Association "Gladius". Members of Gladius meet up to talk about fantasy or sci-fi books, and play tabletop games like board games, card games, and, of course, role-playing games. This is what we need to include in our design.

So, the first step is to find images associated with this topic. Look at them and try to find something that links them all. How can they meet together in a one place? This step is the most important of them all, so take your time.

Step 2

We need to prepare the proportions of our designs. In the case of a T-shirt, the center of attention is the center of the shirt—you can try other compositions, but the middle-point will be the most successful one. It's because people look at a shirt, not really at the image—and the faster they get the message, the better. So, use a cross as your guide lines for a clear message.

Step 3

Sketch the idea/ideas very loosely, and see if it survives outside of your mind. Don't pay attention to the details, just create a big, solid form. If it's readable without details, you can be sure the primary message will be delivered.

Hint: if you look at your rough design and think "there's something I don't like about it, but it will look better when I add this or that", delete the file and start again. A building with weak foundations will certainly look better with curtains and plants on windowsills, but it will not work better. 

2. Refine the Sketch

You can create the whole design traditionally, but it may take you more time. There's going to be lot of reshaping things, and it's certainly easier to do on layers. I will explain how to do it in Photoshop, but you can use other software for it.

Step 1

Place your sketch in a new file, lower its Opacity, and lock the layer. We'll need a new layer for every step.

First, I want to take care of the unicorns. One of them will be a normal magic animal, while the other one will be a skeleton—this way it will not get too sweet. So, we need to start with a horse body. You can use my tutorial about horses as a reference. 

The pose defines the space used by the unicorn and the rhythm of its body, so pay good attention to it before adding the details.

Step 2

Use the pose as a base for the skeleton. 

Step 3

Duplicate (Control-J) the skeleton and flip it horizontally (Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal). Move the copied skeleton to the place of the other unicorn.

Step 4

Now we can easily use the skeleton as a base for the body of the other unicorn. First sketch the body without any details.

Step 5

When the body is established, we can add more details, like muscles...

...head...

...and decorations.

Step 6

I decided to place a scroll-like shield in the middle, where I'll put the name of the association. Draw just half of it.

Step 7

Just as we did with the skeletons, duplicate the half of the scroll and flip the copy horizontally, then place it in its spot. Then you can Merge (Control-E) the halves.

Step 8

To emphasize the middle, I added a fantasy sword along the vertical line of the cross.

Step 9

To make the image fuller and its secondary message richer, I added two dice and an open book.

Step 10

I placed a long sash under the crest to include the full name of the association. 

Step 11

To make the caption a part of the picture, I've added similar sashes on the sides of the crest.

Step 12

Time for the name, in the end. In my case the name was a part of the secondary message—the shirt is going to be more decorative than informative. 

I've used Minim font.

3. Shade the Sketch

Before we go to vector, we can use Photoshop's tools for a freer design. Illustrator holds you accountable for every line you draw, so let's not use it for the design of the shading.

Step 1

If you want to use a black T-shirt, add a new layer with a black background. Then duplicate the sketch and Invert (Control-I) its colors. Lower its Opacity to a very small value.

Step 2

Take a hard Brush or a Pencil and paint over the illuminated areas with gray. You don't need to be too precise about it. Remember to keep the contours unpainted. 

Step 3

Use the same brush in white to paint another layer of light, this time only in the heavily illuminated areas. Use it as an opportunity to create important contours.

Step 4

Use the same trick for the other elements, keeping a proper balance between what you paint and what you leave.

4. Prepare the Vector File in Adobe Illustrator

Let's move to Illustrator!

Step 1

Create a New File. While the size of a vector file doesn't matter most of the time, here we need to pay attention to it. Why? We're going to use the smallest unit possible (1 point) for thin lines, and there's a risk they'll become smaller when being resized. Therefore, it's better to choose the final dimensions now, or make them a bit smaller than expected.

Step 2

Place the sketch in the file. Scale it and, if needed, crop the Artboard (Shift-O) to its proportions.

Step 3

Use the Eyedropper Tool (I) to pick both colors you used and save them asSwatches.

Step 4

Double-click the layer with the sketch to open the Layer Options window. SelectTemplate.

Step 5

Add a New Layer below the sketch and draw a big black Rectangle (M) to make the background.

Now we're ready to start building!

5. Vectorize the Idea

Why did I say building? Because, as I said before, Illustrator holds us accountable for every dot and line. For the final picture we need to get rid of the chaos element and do everything according to plan.

Step 1

Create a New Layer, and lock the others. Paint the white highlights once again, this time doing it in a clean way, with the Pen Tool (P) or the Pencil Tool (N). Keep all the paths closed and avoid thin, sharp elements.

When you're done with this step, the overall message of your design should be revealed even when the sketch is hidden.

Step 2

Do the same with darker highlights on a separate layer.

Step 3

Now we'll want to blend both highlights without adding any more colors. Let's use simple parallel hatching for it. If we do it properly, the lines should appear to be blending from a distance.

Fortunately, we don't need to draw the lines one by one. It's Illustrator, after all! Draw a 1 pt horizontal line with the Line Segment Tool (\). Use the color of the second highlight for it.

Step 4

Select the line and move it with Object > Transform > Move. First make a Copyunder it, then above it.

Step 5

Make the outer lines 0.5 pt wide.

Step 6

Select all the lines and Object > Expand. Then Unite them with Pathfinder.

Step 7

Drag the lines into Swatches panel. Then recolor them to white and drag once again. We've just created two hatching patterns!

Step 8

Blend gray parts to the background by drawing the pattern with the Pencil Tool (N)on a New Layer.

Step 9

Go to Object > Transform > Rotate to rotate the hatching. Select -45 degrees and tick Transform Patterns only.

Step 10

Do the same to blend the white parts.

6. Clean It Up

Step 1

We want the hatching to become a part of the highlights, so that every color has its own layer. Converting patterns to shapes is a bit tricky, so be careful here:

1. Select the pattern.
2. Object > Expand.
3. Object > Ungroup.
4. Use Divide from the Pathfinder panel.
5. Object > Path > Clean Up.
6. Use Unite from the Pathfinder panel.

Now the hatching is ready for you to Unite it with the rest of its color. Do the same with the other one.

Step 2

Let's put the full name of the association on the sash. Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw curves for the text.

Step 3

Use the Type Tool (T) to convert the paths to a text area.

Step 4

Type the text. The font is Optimus Princeps.

Step 5

If your font looks too thin, you can add another stroke to it in the Appearance panel.

Step 6

We don't need editable text, but rather clean paths. 

1. Select the caption.
2. Type > Outline Stroke.
3. Object > Expand Appearance.
4. Object > Path > Outline Stroke.
5. Use Unite from the Pathfinder panel.

Step 7

Select both the caption and the white highlights, and use Minus Frontfrom Pathfinder when holding Alt. This way you'll subtract the shape of the letters from the white.

Step 8

Once again take a look at colors. They're often printed darker than on the screen, so keep it in mind. Also, sometimes it's good to create an imbalance of C, M and Y for a tinted gray.

Step 9

For the last time check if everything's OK. I needed to move the sash a bit to center it.

Step 10

Prepare the file for printing. Depending on the printer, you may need an AI, EPS, or even PNG file (pay attention to the colors in the latter!). You can also create a mock-up of your design to imagine how it's going to look.

We're Ready to Print!

Now you know how to design and create a beautiful T-Shirt in two colors, without gradients. You can also use this technique to create clean illustrations and tattoo designs. 

And here's how the T-Shirt looks on my sister: