Our favorite t-shirt design trends draw inspiration from sources like the earth, the stars, and our dinner plates.
Think about your favorite t-shirt. What do you like about it? It could be the flattering silhouette, the beautiful color scheme, or the fact that it depicts your favorite candy bar. In an ideal world, your shirt would check all three boxes, striking a perfect balance between high-quality garment construction, artistry, and personal expression.
T-shirts may be a basic closet staple, but they’re far from simple. In fashion, small details—a subtle logo here or a hemline there—can mean the difference between cutting edge and passé. In the crowded custom t-shirt market, staying current with the latest fashion trends helps aspiring designers unlock their best creative ideas and win customers.
Read on to explore popular t-shirt design ideas for your small business, categorized by subject matter, artistic style, and construction techniques to help you create designs that sell.
Popular shirt designs: Subject matter
- Food
- Astrology
- Text
- Animals
- Florals
Our favorite t-shirt design trends draw inspiration from sources like the earth, the stars, and our dinner plates. Subject matter is just the starting point. Review these themes and get inspired to add your own personal flair to your t-shirt designs:
Food
Whether on social media or on the front of a t-shirt, professing your love for your favorite food is a highly popular trend. Food-inspired t-shirts range from cheeky and ironic to chic and artful. Crowd-pleasing dishes like pizza, hot dogs, and French fries will always be a hit, but modern, trendy designs aren’t afraid to get specific. Find your own voice by showcasing an artistic interpretation of your favorite ingredient—maybe you’ll jump-start the next craze.
Shopify sellers can lean into this trend by connecting it to their brand identity—think coffee-themed designs for cafés with merch, or quirky snack shirts for foodie influencers monetizing their audience.
Astrology
Astrology’s surge in popularity has created ripple effects—designs inspired by mystical and New Age practices are popping up on t-shirts, totes, and other textiles.
These shirts draw imagery from star charts and classic tarot card decks. Designs often use hand-drawn illustration with delicate details and ornate serif or gothic fonts. Symmetry, cosmic themes, and other elements like swords and skulls give these t-shirt designs an overall spooky, mysterious tone.
Ecommerce store owners can use this aesthetic to build themed product collections. You can also offer personalized items—like zodiac sign tees—to increase perceived value and justify higher price points.
Text
T-shirts with typography on them have been popular in some form for decades. Slogan tees often display motivational phrases, famous quotes, or short, humorous phrases. Text is the focal point of these designs. They often stick to just text, but occasionally include other design elements, such as basic shapes or minimalistic graphics, to add emphasis.
Creative fonts can add a contemporary twist to these classic designs. A surprising font choice helps text-based tees convey tone. For example, imagine a t-shirt printed with the phrase “Not today.” In a heavy gothic font, this design may seem slightly ominous. The same phrase would seem light-hearted and cheeky if displayed in rounded script and ornamented with a cartoon daisy.
For Shopify merchants, this trend offers a quick win. Test funny or viral phrases on shirts with minimal risk. You can even run A/B tests with font choices and slogans to see what resonates most with your customers.
Animals
Animals are always in fashion—especially in the highly sought-after pre-teen market. Axolotls have surged in popularity in recent years, and these lovable amphibians are still going strong on t-shirt designs. Other trendy animals include capybaras and highland cows, along with perennial favorites like monkeys and cats.
Anime and kawaii-inspired designs are popular in youth t-shirt designs. For adults, consider a more artful, hand-painted approach. Animal-themed apparel sells well year-round and makes great gifts during the holidays. Shopify sellers can create seasonal collections featuring trending animals or offer customization options for pet lovers.
Florals
When it comes to florals, the possibilities are endless. Floral t-shirt designs can be whimsical and romantic, like Liberty of London’s intricate fabrics, or as bright and playful as Marimekko’s bright, minimalist prints. For moody designs, try using a dark background color and thick outlines or exaggerated details.
Designers can find floral inspiration in art and nature. Classic Hawaiian prints, traditional Japanese ink drawings, and botanical illustrations all showcase floral designs. Once you select your ideal illustration style, researching the symbolic meaning behind flowers might help you pick the perfect blossom.
Floral designs are ideal if you’re looking to target specific demographics—maybe you’re hoping to reach out to eco-conscious customers or provide products for wedding parties. Use Shopify’s tagging features to make these collections easily searchable.
Popular shirt designs: Artistic style
- Y2K
- Hand-drawn
- Maximalist
- 1970s
- Punk
- Surrealist
Y2K
Whip out that flip phone and sign in to AIM—Y2K is back in vogue. Y2K-inspired designs pay homage to 2000s fashion trends like rhinestones, velour tracksuits, fur trim, shiny chrome, big logos, crop tops, low-rise jeans, and oversized accessories. Early aughts nostalgia also includes pop culture references related to cultural moments in early internet culture.
Shopify sellers can tap into this nostalgia-fueled trend by marketing Y2K tees to Gen Z shoppers on platforms like TikTok. Use bold graphics and product mockups with glittery overlays or low-res camera filters to fully lean into the aesthetic.
Hand-drawn
Maximalist
Maximalist t-shirt designs aren’t afraid to make a bold statement. They use eye-catching design elements like bright colors, large prints, and chaotic layouts with scattered or overlapping images. These designs are loud, fun, and unapologetic. Text elements are typically bold and colorful.
You can go big with maximalism on both product and store design. Think homepage banners with bright, clashing patterns and collection pages that showcase your boldest, busiest designs. Maximalism also lends itself well to limited drops and collabs.
1970s
1970s-inspired t-shirts are groovy and psychedelic. These designs use earthy colors like brown, orange, and mustard yellow or vibrant gem tones like deep purple and bright green. Common themes include rainbows, mushrooms, daisies, sunbursts, and trees. Graphic elements are often gently distorted and appear wavy or melting. Other design elements like treatments include outlines, drop shadows, repeating geometric patterns, and retro fonts with rounded, bubbly lettering.
Shopify brands with a retro or boho vibe can easily integrate 1970s aesthetics into their product line and branding. Even if your niche is modern, offering a few vintage-inspired shirts could help attract customers looking for a nostalgic twist on today’s trends.
Punk
Punk fashion is bold and rebellious. Punk-inspired t-shirts use DIY-inspired design elements like cut-and-paste magazine lettering, paint splatters, and asymmetrical collage-style compositions. The overall look is gritty and distressed. Punk designs use a restricted color palette—t-shirts are usually primarily black or white with occasional accents of red, hot pink, or bright green.
This style fits well for ecommerce stores aiming to build a strong identity and community around subculture or anti-establishment themes. Pair your punk-inspired line with zines, band stickers, or even digital downloads to build brand lore and loyalty.
Surrealist
Surrealist designs are absurd and dreamlike. They use unexpected images and illogical compositions to surprise and provoke the viewer. Imagery may be bent, disjointed, or out of scale. Surrealist designs speak for themselves—they don’t typically include text.
If your store targets an artsy, niche audience, surrealist designs can help you stand out. These pieces are often more conceptual and can command higher price points when marketed as wearable art, especially with limited-run or artist-signed editions.
Reference: https://www.shopify.com/in/blog/popular-shirt-designs
