
2020 t-shirt design trends are here and the start of a new decade has brought in some of the best trends yet. We’ve studied all our favorite designs from the past year to help you get ahead on all of the newest trends in custom apparel.
Explore the 20 new t-shirt design trends for 2020 below and see how you can get the look for your next t-shirt creation.
20 T-Shirt Design Trends for 2020
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Rainbows
Colorful rainbows have become quite a popular image to use on t-shirt designs! Rainbows evoke joy, hope, and wonder, making them the perfect image for almost any type of t-shirt. Many designers have paired a bright rainbow with an inspirational word or phrase that ties into their cause or mission.
Animal Portraits
With the rise of Animal influencers on social media, we’ve seen a new trend of large animal portraits on shirts, in the likeness of the pet celebs they’re meant to celebrate. Designers create large, stylized portraits of dogs, cats, turtles, cows, and more! This is a great design idea if you are the parent of a pet celebrity, or if you’re designing merchandise for an Animal Rescue or Conservation Organization.
Artwork on Shirts
Popular artists are moving their creations out of Instagram and onto shirts! Artists select work that’s been a fan-favorite on social media and translate that into a printable apparel design.
Mountains
Mountains can be symbolic of challenges, setting goals and achieving them, or simply being outside in nature. The beauty of mountains and the many ways they can be visually represented makes them a very popular imagery choice for apparel.
Retro Typography
Designers are throwing it back to the 60’s and 70’s with retro fonts in psychedelic colors. Using a groovy font in a funky color is an easy way to create a simple graphic tee that is easy to pair with other accessories. With a simple and retro graphic tee, you can dress your look up or down.
Delicate Florals
Flowers are beautiful and can be represented in so many ways, but they also carry a broad array of symbolism as well. Flowers can stand for growth and beauty, or a fresh start. But they can also just be added ornamentation to frame words or phrases that hold the most weight in the design.
Bold Statements
Sometimes your t-shirt just needs to say what it needs to say, boldly and clearly. Creating a simple t-shirt with a word or phrase that gets your point across can sometimes be all you need on your merchandise. This approach works really well if your apparel is advocating for a cause, political campaign, or social movement.
Inspirational Words
We’ve seen a rise in t-shirt designs lately that simply and beautifully encourage the wearer and anyone who sees the shirt being worn out and about. Inspirational quotes are no longer just for iPhone wallpapers and dorm room walls. They can now go anywhere by being printed on custom apparel.
This design trend is especially popular in the adoption community. They’ll often design their shirts to feature a popular adoption saying that resonates with their families adoption journey.
Off-Register Prints
Taking a queue from screen printing on paper, this look of coloring outside the lines is a classic way to add interest to an illustration. Blobs of color lie off-alignment from the lines they are meant to fill in. This style has roots in ‘60’s pop art.
Rainbow Words
Add interest and energy to text-based designs by making the letters a rainbow of colors. While these example images are both more playful and feminine, you can change the mood of the shirt by refining your color palette used for the letters.
Geography Designs
Many t-shirt designs on Bonfire are being created for Campaigns for a specific event happening in a geographic area. Whether it’s a world map, country outline, or city marked on the silhouette of a state, it’s very popular to reference a location with its outline.
Abstract Drawings
Organic, abstracted forms make for compelling t-shirt designs and can stand alone or be combined with text. Some of our most popular abstract drawing shirts use a mixture of colorful and creative strokes and lines to make their design stand out.
Oversized Back Prints
Oversized prints on oversized products are all the rage, especially with the Gen Z and VSCOgirl crowds. Screen printing your design in such a large way is a great option for designs that are more intricate and detailed or designs that are meant to look premium in that L.A. street grunge way.
Left-Aligned Text
Aligning your text to the left side of the shirt is a great way to stylize your design while keeping a minimal aesthetic. This technique works well with text-only designs, because it adds some intentionality to the text placement. But it’s also a fun way to integrate text into a more dynamic and illustrative design.
Repeating Text Designs
Say it a little louder for the people in the back. Repeating your message is a surefire way to get your point across. It will make the desired impact, and result in a well-designed shirt at the same time. This t-shirt design idea is perfect if you aren’t super design-savvy, but still want to create a trendy tee on your own.
’90’s Vibes
The dream of the 90’s is alive and well, with neon colors, geometric shapes, and MTV vibes abundant. As Gen Z’ers and Youtubers create merch for their subscribers and followers, they tend to look to the 1990’s for design inspiration.
Plastic Bag Vibes
The iconic white and red “Thank You Thank You Thank You” bag has been a point of inspiration for years. The poppy and familiar design makes it easy to emulate and transform into artwork for almost any message.
Pocket Print Designs
The “pocket” printing location is incredibly popular this year. Influencers and other members of the Bonfire selling community created small logos or designs and printed them on the front of their tees. Pocket prints are a great way to promote your message in a subtle, yet impactful way.
Handwritten Typography
You can never go wrong with hand-drawn designs or fonts. Your hand-drawn letterforms can have a range of different moods, so it can be funky, retro, bold, or delicate. The flexibility you have when you draw your own lettering makes it a great choice for almost any t-shirt you’re designing.