FOR MUSICIANS & BANDS
YouTube for Musicians: Channel Set-Up, Shorts and Live Sessions
How independent UK artists can set up a YouTube channel, apply for an Official Artist Channel, use Shorts, go live, organise playlists and build a community.
How to design band merch that sells: which products to start with, screen printing versus DTG, colour limits, sizing, mock-ups and pricing from real costs.
Band merch design that sells starts with the item and the buyer. Blowing up your logo isn’t a plan. Pick a few products people will really use, and keep the artwork simple with a limited palette. Match the print method to your quantity. Order size samples and show clear mock-ups, then price from real costs plus a fair margin.
Merch is one of the few parts of a music career that earns straight from fans at the moment they’re most fired up. That’s at the gig, right after the set, or when they land on your page. And every time someone wears it, your name is out walking the streets.
The problem is that a lot of merch gets designed like an album cover slapped on a shirt, and then sits unsold in a box under the bed. This guide is for independent UK musicians and bands. It sticks to the design and planning decisions that make merch more likely to sell, and less likely to lose you money.
People buy merch because they want to wear or carry something that says something about them. Promoting you is not their goal. A few principles follow from that.
Design for the buyer. Ask yourself whether a fan would wear this on an ordinary Tuesday. Clever, restrained designs often sell better than loud ones. Give people a choice, too: a bold front print for the committed fans, plus something small and subtle for people who just want a nice shirt.
Tie each design to something real. A tour, an album or a running joke from your shows gives the design a reason to exist. And keep the range small. A few good products beat a table with twelve on it, because you carry less stock and it’s far easier to sell at a gig.
Your logo holds all of this together, so get a proper set of versions sorted first. Our overview of graphic design for musicians explains how logo, artwork and merch fit together.
T-shirts are the default for good reason. Everyone knows them and wears them. They’re easy to display, too. Start with one or two designs on a plain, comfortable shirt in a colour that suits your artwork. Black is the usual choice, but a lighter shirt or a colour that picks up your artwork can catch the eye on a merch table.
Totes are cheap, they come in one size, and a simple one-colour design suits them. People carry them around in public. Best of all, there’s no sizing headache.
A signed or limited poster is a good shout for fans who don’t want clothing. Use your best artwork and print it on decent paper. Sell them rolled or flat, in a protective tube or sleeve.
Stickers and badges cost very little, as do patches. They sit nicely next to a bigger purchase. They also suit smaller budgets, so more of your fans can go home with something.
Most independent acts come across two methods: screen printing, and direct-to-garment printing, usually called DTG. Each one suits a different situation.
| Screen printing | DTG (digital) | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Ink is pushed through a separate stencil for each colour | A printer applies the design directly to the fabric, like a large inkjet |
| Best for | Larger runs of simple, bold designs | Small runs, one-offs, print on demand, detailed or photographic designs |
| Colour limits | Each extra colour usually adds setup and cost, so designs with one to four colours are common | Full-colour designs without extra colour setup |
| Setup | Set-up per colour, which favours bigger quantities | Little or no setup, so small quantities are practical |
| Things to ask | Number of colours included, ink type, minimum order | Garment suitability, print size, how the print feels and wears |
Suppliers vary in their minimums and pricing, and in quality. Get quotes and samples instead of trusting general rules. If you’re not sure which way to go, DTG or a print-on-demand service lets you test a design without much stock risk. Once you know what sells, you can switch to screen printing.
If you’re screen printing, fewer is usually better. Lots of designs work well in one to three colours, since every extra colour normally means another screen and more setup. Design with that limit in mind. Go for bold shapes and strong contrast, and leave out fine gradients.
Don’t forget the shirt is a colour as well. A design made on a white screen can vanish on a black shirt, so make a version for each shirt colour. This is exactly where your one-colour and reversed logos earn their keep. DTG gives you more freedom, but heavy, detailed or very dark artwork can still behave differently from one fabric to the next, so ask your supplier for advice and a sample.
Before you commit to stock, order a sample in every size you plan to sell. Check the printer’s size chart, because brands vary. Then decide where the print sits. A centred chest print, a small logo on the left chest and a big back print all look different, and the same artwork can look great in one spot and awkward in another.
Yes. Under the retained textile regulation, textile products made available on the market in Great Britain generally need a label or marking showing their fibre composition. It has to be in English, and it must be durable, legible, visible and accessible. Some products are exempt, and the rules change if you’re selling elsewhere. Most blank garments from a reputable supplier already have these labels, so leave them in place, and ask the printer if you’re unsure.
A mock-up shows a product before it exists, which helps you make decisions and helps you sell. Put your artwork on a template of the actual garment, in its real colour, at the right position and scale. Do that for every colour you’re planning to offer, and look at it on a phone-sized screen.
Once the real stock arrives, swap the mock-ups for photos of real people wearing it. Fans trust a genuine photo, and it shows how the thing fits and how good it is. If you sell on Bandcamp, the platform says merch images may appear as thumbnails when fans filter by category. It recommends at least 1200 x 900 pixels, as a JPG, PNG or GIF of up to 10MB, and suggests making images eye-catching at a smaller size. So pick a clear product shot over a cluttered one. Good photography of your band helps with lifestyle shots as well.
Start from your real costs. What other bands seem to charge is a poor guide. Add up what each item costs you, counting the blank garment and the printing plus any setup fees. Packaging and delivery go in too, as do card or platform fees if you sell online. Then settle on a margin that pays for your time and leaves something to put back into the band.
Selling as a trader brings tax and record-keeping duties, so hang on to your receipts and check the current HMRC guidance or ask an accountant. To get the merch seen, build it into your wider plan. Our guide to marketing for musicians shows you how.
The Limelight Company designs merch artwork for musicians through our graphic design for musicians service. You get print-ready files for different garment colours and print methods, plus mock-ups so you can see the result before you order. Before any work begins, we agree a clear brief with you, along with the scope and fee.
Start with one or two T-shirt designs and something cheap, like stickers or a tote bag. That keeps your spending and your stock small while you find out what your fans buy. Add posters, prints or other items once you can see the demand.
DTG suits small quantities and detailed, full-colour artwork, because there’s very little setup. Screen printing usually wins on bigger runs of bold, simple designs. Get quotes and a sample for both, then decide based on quantity and design, with your budget in mind.
That depends on the printer. Each colour normally needs its own screen, so a limited palette keeps costs down and the print crisp. Plenty of bold designs work in one to three colours. Ask your printer how many colours their quote includes.
You really should. A sample shows how the print looks and feels and whether the placement works, as well as how the garment fits. It costs very little next to finding a problem across a whole order.
Work out the full cost of each item first. Include the garment and printing, then packaging and delivery, and any fees on top. Add a margin that suits you on top. Compare with similar acts as a sense-check, and keep a record of sales so you can adjust future prices and orders.
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