If you’ve experienced the pain of buying something awesome online just to have something utterly disappointing arrive instead, then you can appreciate this black ink on black shirt fail. Here’s how to avoid this from happening to you.
What happened here?
Clearly, the strong message intended for the design above was completely lost. This is the result of poor communication between printers and the customer. When working with designers, a printing company should consider the following:
- What is the customer trying to do? The printer needs to understand the final destination for the design and what the customer wants to say with it.
- How can we achieve what they want? It is the printer’s job to make sure the execution of what a customer needs is done correctly or is even possible.
Once a printing company understands those points above, the representative should be able to communicate with the customer to work out any issues and avoid a botched product.
So is it impossible to have dark designs on dark fabric?
No, it can be done- if done correctly.First, think about what you want to do with the dark design concept. Do you want your design to have a very subtle contrast from the fabric? Do you want it to have a different texture? Do you want it to stand out from the fabric?
After you understand what you want, you can achieve your dark design concept in different ways:
- Black Foil: this method allows your dark design to shine and stand out better than ink because of the difference in texture.
- Slightly Lighter Ink or Fabric: a very dark gray or “heathered” fabric that is both black and dark gray is a good option if you want your black ink to stand out better. Or, keep the dark fabric and trade the black ink for a dark gray instead.
- Try Embroidery: for a different texture option, embroidery can make your design pop off the shirt and a little shine to it.
Get your dark design on dark fabric done right
Do you have a dark-on-dark concept that you want to create? We can help with that. We’ll take out the risk, and provide a free mock up that will actually look like the finished product. Get started with a free quote here, or talk to our friendly team members for expert advice.
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