THE CASE OF T-SHIRT ANIME MERCH DESIGNS
Written by: Chloe Natividad
Hello again Chloe here And today as a self-proclaimed graphic designer, I really wanted to talk about T-shirt designs of any anime merchandise. Before, I do buy these kinds of t-shirts because I really want other people to know that I am a big fan of a particular anime (even if in reality they genuinely don’t care lol). But now, yeah, I don’t really buy lots of it because my cabinet is kind of full, and I’m maintaining my “underconsumption core” agenda.
Anyway, what I’m trying to show you on this blog is my preference in terms of what makes a good or bad graphic tees for me. Reminder that if you wore those “bad” designs I mentioned, I’m actually cool with you! I’m not here to bully someone.
MY PROBLEM WITH SOME DESIGNS
Okay, objectively, it’s not like these kinds of designs have broken some law of graphic design and stuff, but personally I wouldn’t wear this kind of t-shirts. I do like showing to the world that I like this specific merchandise BUT for me this is too much. The designs are too obvious, and I think it kind of lacks creativity. It’s like you just chose an image from Google (edit it a tiny bit) and then call it a day. If I looked at the artworks of the following shirts alone, they are actually good but putting it in a t-shirt does not really click to me. What I’m trying to say is the elements chosen are not for t-shirts.
MY PREFERRED SHIRT DESIGNS
These designs are what I find cooler. Minimal in design, but they still represent the merchandise without being too flashy (the clothes above are not sponsored btw!). I also think that this is more creative since designers made the anime references simplified but still recognizable, especially to the fans. Additionally, To help you recognize each references on these shirts if you don’t know: the white shirt has mecha on the side which is the RX-78-2 from the Mobile Suit Gundam series, the shirt in middle is a reference from the manga or anime Fullmetal Alchemist, and lastly the red shirt is the literal t-shirt of the character Yū Nishinoya in the series Haikyu!!
MY TAKEAWAY
I really think that minimal graphic tees for anime merchandise is so much better than the latter ones because they could be worn in every occasion. I also love the creative input of the designers when they try to simplify these anime references. Minimalism is one of the principles of graphic design, and it is also one of my favorite things to apply when I’m creating my own designs so seeing them on these shirts are definitely a good call for me. So yeah, how about you? Do you think designers should strive more for these subliminal designs for anime t-shirts or nah?