Jersey Design Mistakes to Avoid for a Professional Look:
While designing a custom jersey design is a great opportunity to do some creative thinking, there are plenty of mis-steps you can take that can take something from a great idea, to an idea that should be regretted.
Whether you’re designing for a sports team, a corporate event, or just for personal use, there are several things you need to keep in mind to ensure that your jersey design stands out in the best way possible.
Then if your plan is to make your custom jersey design portray a professional unique look you will want to stray away from these design mistakes.
Don’t Go Overboard with Colors
Adding a multitude of colors to your design seems tempting, yet one shade too many can turn your jersey design into a confused and unprofessional looking piece. When the design contains a number of colors competing for attention, it confuses the viewer where it becomes impossible for the eyes of the viewer to catch the primary elements of the design.
- Use a color palette: Choose two or three primary colors that complement each other. It gives your design a clean cohesive look and makes it stand out.
- Keep the colors simple: If your jersey is very detailed or has a loud pattern, use a simple color palette. Allow the design to speak for itself.
Avoid Clashing Fonts
One of the most crucial components of your jersey design is typography. The perfect alternative design can be made ugly with just clip art. Consider the feeling that you want your team or event to feel. Does it convey a serious, casual, sporty, or even playful vibe? And your font choice should reflect that.
- Choose readable fonts: It’s crucial that the text on your jersey is legible from a distance. Avoid fonts that are too fancy or complex.
- Don’t mix too many fonts: Using more than two fonts can make your design look chaotic. Stick with one or two fonts for the best effect.
- Consider the size: Make sure your text is big enough to be read from afar. You don’t want important details like team names or numbers to get lost.
Keep the Logo Simple
If your design has a logo, make it as clean and simple as possible. Complex logos can be overwhelmed by the design as a whole, particularly if they are small (and appear on a small surface) or appear on a busy background. It will be a lot easier if there are clear lines with a simple logo that will be easier to memorize.
- Use vector graphics: Logos should be in a vector format so they can be resized without losing quality. A blurry or pixelated logo doesn’t look professional.
- Avoid overcrowding: Don’t place the logo in an area that makes it hard to see. Make sure it’s visible and stands out without overpowering the rest of the design.
Don’t Forget About the Fit
Design of the jersey design is not only the graphics in it, but also the fit. Even the most stylish of jerseys will be ruined by a pair of ill fitting bibs Always ensure that the jersey, regardless of whether it is for a team or individual, is of a comfortable wearing and well-fitted.
- Consider different body types: When designing for a group, remember that people come in all shapes and sizes. Make sure the jersey design works well for different body types.
- Pay attention to the length: Your design may have some big graphics or text on the back, so you will want to make sure they don’t get cut off by the collar or sleeves. It is all about placement for a nice, clean, and professional look.
Don’t Overcrowd the Design
Simplicity is key. Jerseys are primarily meant to be athletic apparel, so although layering details together is fun, too much information or design elements on the fitted cut may make the jersey design look a little dense. Adding too many things to the design dilutes attention and may make the design more complicated to comprehend.
- Focus on essentials: That is, primitive: team name, logo, or sign that would denote the group.
- Give space: Dare to leave spaces in the areas. It allows your design to have room to “breathe” and makes sure the main components are noticeable.
Be Careful with Image Quality
A blurry or pixelated image is the last thing you want to display as a professional. Just as with any other medium or method, if you are putting images or graphics in your jersey design, make sure they are high quality. If you print a low-resolution image, this will not only show by distortion in the photo, but will give an unprofessional appearance to the entire design.
- Use high resolution images: Use 300 dpi images for the best print quality.
- Avoid stretching images: Do not stretch a small image to fill a big area. This bends the picture out of perspective.
Don’t Forget About the Placement
How about where you position the design elements on the jersey could determine its professionalism level. If you dump everything in one place it can feel a bit messy. Watch where all the elements are to ensure that they correlate to one another and the design as a whole.
Balance The Design: Space Design Elements Out On Jersey Avoid cramming to one area and leaving others space blank.
Consider the location of the graphics: Logos and text are often placed on areas such as the chest, back, or sleeves, and you need to make sure that these areas are visible and not obstructed when worn.
Don’t Overcomplicate the Design
You may want to incorporate a lot of elements but sometimes simplicity speaks is the best practice when it comes to designing a jersey. KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid, A simple clean design works better than a complicated one. The idea is to leave an impression that sticks with your audience; something stunning, but not cheesy.
- Stick to one main message: Decide what message you need a jersey for. If you are representing something such as a team spirit, logo, or special event, be sure your design infers that right away.
- Avoid too many different styles: Too much mixing of various fashion types, colours or graphic types can result in a disorganised, cheap design.
Not Considering the Fabric
Your jersey material also has a bit of weight in how the design will appear once printed. Different fabrics will absorb ink differently, and some artwork just won’t look as good on some fabrics as others.
- Test your design on other fabric: If you print on a synthetic jersey design, your design may appear differently than it would on a cotton or compression fabric.
- Consider durability: Ensure that the ink used for the print is durable and will last for the long haul. You don’t want the design to disappear after washing it a couple of times.
Fun Fact to Lift Your Spits:
Maybe you’ll learn something new about uniforms (the Chicago Cubs wore the first jersey with the logo of a team in 1900). At that time, it was not about the jersey design, but for the team to be recognizable. When you create your custom jersey, you are joining a long tradition. However, to avoid confusion, make sure yours looks a little sharp and more professional.
A jersey is a chance to be as creative, and as uncompromising, as you like, to establish a strong visual identity but it’s easy to slip up and ruin the whole effect. By steering clear of these commonly made jersey design mistakes, you will deliver a jersey that will look and feel clean, authentic, and distinctive.
Keep this in mind less is more in design simplicity, readability, and balance is the key. Now keep these tips in mind and you will end up designing a jersey design that speaks a great deal.