So, I got into this whole psychology t-shirt thing recently. It wasn’t some big business plan, more like a personal project, something I wanted to try out myself.
Getting Started – The Ideas
First, I just started jotting down ideas. What psychology concepts are kinda funny or iconic? Didn’t want anything too textbook-y or serious. Just simple stuff, maybe a bit quirky. I spent a good few evenings just scribbling notes, thinking about stuff people might recognize.
- Maybe something with Pavlov’s bell? Classic.
- Or a simple brain graphic, but kinda minimalist.
- Considered some famous quotes, but kept it short.
- Even thought about inkblots, but making them look good on a shirt felt tricky.
I landed on a few simple text-based ideas and one or two super basic graphics. Stuff like “Trust the Process” or a simple maze graphic. Kept it real basic because I wasn’t sure how the printing would turn out.
Designing and Shirt Hunting
Didn’t use any fancy software. Just sketched things out, then used some free online tool to make clean versions of the text and graphics. Nothing professional, just clear enough for printing. The main thing was making sure it looked okay when imagined on a t-shirt.
Then came finding the actual shirts. This took longer than I thought. I wanted decent quality cotton, not those thin, cheap shirts that feel like paper after one wash. Looked at a few suppliers online, ordered a couple of samples just to feel the material. Settled on some mid-weight cotton tees in basic colors – black, grey, white. Easy to work with.
The Printing Part
Okay, printing. First, I thought about doing it myself. Looked into those home iron-on transfer kits. Bought one, tried it. Honestly? It looked kinda cheap. The edges were obvious, and I worried it would peel off fast. So, scrapped that idea.
Decided to find a local print shop instead. Found one that did Direct-to-Garment (DTG) printing, which seemed better for small batches and simpler designs like mine. Took my designs over, talked to the guy there. He gave me some pointers on file types and sizes, which was helpful.
We did a test print on one shirt first. Just to see how the colors looked and how sharp the lines were. It looked way better than the iron-on stuff. Much more professional, felt like part of the fabric.
Getting the Batch Done
Happy with the test print, I placed a small order. Just maybe 10-15 shirts across the few designs I liked best. Wasn’t trying to start a business, just wanted some cool shirts for myself and maybe to give a few away to friends who are into psych stuff.
Picked them up a week later. Laid them all out. Yeah, they looked pretty good. Simple, like I wanted. The print quality was solid. Wore one out, felt pretty good. It’s kinda cool wearing something you put together yourself, you know?
Overall, it was a fun little experiment. Took some trial and error, especially finding good shirts and the right printing method. But ended up with some unique tees that actually feel nice to wear. That was the goal, really. Just making something tangible from a random idea.
