How the Rise of Flat Design could Inspire your Printed Clothing

Like many trends, flat design has fallen in and out of fashion over the years and more recently, this type of design has again seen an influx of admirers, with many graphic designs declaring it their go to choice for fantastic eye-catching art work. 

If you’re an established or wannabe clothing designer, printed clothing with flat design artwork might be a great way to breathe life into your business and really start to grab people’s attention.

So what exactly is flat design?

There are a few rules that must be followed in order for your new printed pieces to be considered flat design. 

Firstly, it’s important that your artwork has no added effects. Flat designs only use two dimensional elements and none of the effects that are normally used to create shadowing or depth should be present. 

Other elements of flat design include the use of fun, bright and often retro colours, specialised typography that fits well with the design and a strong emphasis on minimalism.

It is the bright, minimalist structure of this type of design that makes it appealing to so many and what could potentially make it so attractive to your customers. 

If you are unsure on how to get started on creating great flat design artwork, try researching images and techniques on the internet – it’s amazing what you can find.

Could it help my small business to grow?

It is no secret that printed clothing is great way to make money and show off your design skills at the same time. 

When designing clothing, it is important to move with the market and that’s why flat design could be so advantageous for your business. The clean lines and ‘bare bones’ look of flat design has become increasingly popular with both mobile developers and website designers alike, because it moves away from the messy chaos of traditional skeuomorphism to give you nothing but attractive functionality.

This transition from chaos to cleanliness can also work for your printed clothing items too, as images will focus more on functional design elements that work well together, rather than creating special effects that may appear more real but are confusing and harsh to look at. Overall, flat design is almost certain to leave you with a more colourful and attractive piece of artwork that is easier on the eye.

Flat design works well on all types of printed clothing, from t-shirts and hoodies to aprons and tote bags. So no matter what big ideas you have for your company, it’s never been easier to make minimalism work for you.