T-shirt designer for less?

April 18, 2009 3:57 PM

Who are some really good t-shirt designers who are accessible to people with less than $2000 of starting capital? Finding the printing is the easy part. I need someone who can make the file first. Designers with a storefront set-up would be especially helpful.

Mefi Mail me if you have personal recommendations to share.

posted by parmanparman to work & money (6 comments total)

Me. I sell my occasional designs here.
posted by mattdidthat at 4:03 PM on April 18

Odd. I was going to use this week's question to ask the exact same thing. So, uh...MeMail me with personal recommendations, too!

One possible resource: deviantArt has a T-shirt Graphics category. Try finding some graphics you like and asking the artists if they'd be interested in doing some for you.
posted by tomatofruit at 5:25 PM on April 18

Asking for the designs up front, before getting paid is Spec Work which a lot of designers hate.

I had a friend who had an online t-shirt store for a while. He advertised for designers to submit their own eyes, which he would pay them a couple hundred dollars for if they actually sold. But he did all the printing himself (he stocked shirts, did the silkscreening himself, etc)

Is this tee-shirt for a specific thing that you know people will buy for sure? Or do you just want to start a 'general' t-shirt store?
posted by delmoi at 6:19 PM on April 18

My roomie does this, pixiebird.com. I believe she may be on etsy as well. Here is the rest of her portfolio.
posted by idiotfactory at 7:48 PM on April 18

delmoi: No, I am at heart to say I would never put an artist under the indenture of spec. The concept as an enterprise should be banned by congress.

As to your question, I give my time to help local charities as a fundraiser and product developer. I had a great group of people in my last cohort and I'm making them all t-shirts to thank them.
posted by parmanparman at 12:04 AM on April 19

A couple of my eFriends set up Kingstrike, a company that reproduction rights to designs by designers. They currently run about for exclusive rights, $400 so that's well within your budget.
posted by jedrek at 11:45 AM on April 19