T-Shirt Design: primary research

The best primary research I can do is to look through my wardrobe. Below are images of the t-shirts I own that have specific designs on.

T-shirts with popular brands and logos on:

(left to right) Superman, The Beatles Abbey Road, "Bazinga" quote from The Big Bang Theory, Batman, Danger Mouse, Back to the Future, "Happy Camper" Tigger, Banksy artwork, Disney villains.

Words and general designs:

(left to right) "Oh.", moustache pattern, "What planet are you from?" alien design, Stand Up to Cancer charity design, "Regret Nothing", "With the band" rose design, "I <3 moustaches" design, random collage design, "Seattle" design, "Freddie Mercury" design.

Other various designs:

(left to right) "Discosaurus" design, "Moustaches of the World" design, "You're the one for me" design, "Who the f*ck is Alice?" design, "Opposites Attract" design, moustache prep design, man holding balloons design.

"Holy chic!" design - play on words, sounds like holy sh*t

Superdry top with brand name across front

So what I've found is that there is an array of styles but mostly the same layout, an image or text on the front of the garment. The imagery is mostly cartoon, often with words or phrases around the image, usually beneath. Simple imagery with bright colours is a fairly constant theme, with plain t-shirts so the eyes are focused on the design.

What do I need in my designs?

- simple t-shirt, plain colour

- brightly coloured designs

- simple & clear imagery (cartoon)

- bold text (slogan / brand name / phrase)

- design on front of t-shirt