Written by Aiste Stancikate
To give yourself the best chance of selling your T-shirt design and creating a buzz on the likes of Instagram and Facebook it helps to understand how to use photography to your advantage. Hands down one of the most effective ways of showcasing your product is quality photos; they let existing and potential buyers check out a real-life version of your T-shirt in the flesh (which helps them imagine themselves wearing one!).
If you’ve never staged a DIY photoshoot it can be hard to know where to start, but our experience has taught us that it doesn’t need to be overcomplicated. For some photoshoot tips, we’ve turned to the creator of some of our favourite recent campaign photos, Berlin-based illustrator and mixed media artist Aiste Stancikaite.
We loved Aiste’s photos for two main reasons:
- Clean and simple, they let her House in Tarumi design speak for itself
- She used different models to emphasise how versatile her T-shirt was
Here she talks us through how to do a photoshoot:
Don’t Be Intimidated – it’s a learning process
I’d never run a T-shirt campaign before so the biggest challenge for me was finding ways to show my design in the most interesting way possible, to really make it stand out. I decided to take my own photographs, which I learned a lot from, and will be very useful for future campaigns.
Lighting Can Make or Break A Photo
One of the most important things is shooting in good light. I’ve found that I take my best photographs when I shoot on a really sunny day, and ideally in the afternoon, so the light is warm and shadows are long. If I shoot on a bright day I can also play around with the shadows to create a more interesting picture. An overcast day can work too though, if you want a calmer, more gentle atmosphere.
Showcase Your T-shirts Versatility and Wearability
I took some pictures of myself wearing the T-shirt and had two other people, a man and a woman, model it for me, creating different looks and showing various ways to wear it. I think this really gave people a better impression of how the T-shirt would look on them.
Show As Much Detail As Possible
I chose to do a few close-ups of just the T-shirt showing the quality of the print and T-shirt material, and combined these with the photographs of the T-shirt worn by a variety of people and body shapes.
Think Carefully About Where You Shoot
I picked the surroundings of my photographs very carefully. I chose a clean and minimal background with a hint of urban atmosphere which helped to keep the T-shirt as the main focus, whilst creating a young and fresh look to the images overall. My print was all about texture and angles, so I tried to subtly match these themes in the background too.
Have Fun and Find Your Own Style
It’s important to find your own style and method, depending on the message you want to portray with your photographs. Experimenting is all part of the fun!
Looking to run your own T-shirt pre-order campaign? Here is everything you need to know to get started.