T-Shirt+Design+and+Screen+Printing+Project

Return to Previous Screen

T shirt Design and Screen Printing Project:


 * Purpose**: All artists will find themselves at some point in their career working for someone else. Their clients will have specific requests and demands. It is up to the artist to find the most efficient way to communicate with the client, meet their needs, while maintaining their own personal creative freedom.

1#: Students recognize and use the visual arts as a form of communication. 2#: Students know and apply elements of art, principles of design, and sensory and expressive features of visual arts. 3#: Students know and apply visual arts materials, tools, techniques, and processes. 5#: Students analyze and evaluate the characteristics, merits, and meaning of works of art. **Directions**: Students work together as partners. Both will play dual roles: client and artist. The client presents their idea to the artist and the artist creates the design. The first day will be spent going over ideas and asking lots of questions. Sketchbooks should be used to create tiny ‘thumbnail’ drawings of their ideas. These designs can be hand drawn or created on the computer. However, this is a drawing assignment, therefore, the computer students have first access to the computers!! The students will evaluate together the work created, giving suggestions and feedback, until the client is completely happy. The artist is creating a t-shirt design that represents a theme, a place, an event, a company, a belief, or an emotion that the client chose. The image can have words, forms, shapes, lines, and textures. There should be no value used but bold shapes, forms, and bold lines. After the drawing is complete, the artist will then screen print the design onto a t-shirt or a bandana that the client provides. Please see youtube videos on how to screen print.
 * CDE Art Standards**:
 * Ideas for t-shirts**: a favorite band, a favorite movie, sports, pastimes, music, a shoe company, a personal mantra, a favorite sports team, belief in God or spirituality, a favorite expression, or how Art Rocks!

Things to Consider: The typography (font choice) must go with the visual idea. Using soft flowing fonts will only create confusion if the images are bold and big. There must be unity between the typography and the subject. Think vector images: solid forms with no detail or value. Strictly lines and solid forms. Also, the subject matter must be limited to 1-2 colors. If you use two colors, you need to use two screens for printing. The subject matter must fit within the confines of the hoop. See videos in order to understand.


 * Materials**:
 * 1) Hoops
 * 2) Screen
 * 3) Modpodge
 * 4) Brushes
 * 5) Fabric paint (screen ball)
 * 6) Iron (heat set 3-5 mins per side)
 * 7) Cardboard
 * 8) Squeegee
 * 9) Sharpie
 * 10) An amazing drawing
 * 11) A t shirt or bandana the kids brought in.


 * Youtube video**: []; []; [];


 * Vocab**: typography, san serifs, serifs, vector, texture, form, shape, composition, and screen printing.