by market appeal, do you mean what sells the best? or who wears more funny shirts than shirts with video games on them?
it's impossible to know because it's impossible to track. once a blank shirt is sold, anything can be
printed on it, and it's not as there's a regulatory agency, which would just screw the results up anyway in all likelihood, that has to pass a design. it's a niche industry, so the most 'popular' designs catering to the widest market doesn't necessarily mean that you'll do the best there as it's obviously going to be the most crowded. you might do better selling shirts with a wildlife theme to people interested in conservation. if i sold more 'sassy' shirts made with pink rhinestones than i did shirts with snarky philosophic sayings on them, no one would ever know except me and who i choose to tell.
i can go to the flea market and literally find hundreds of joke shirts. i can go to a college bar and find it full of cultural references. a museum gift shop will be full of artistic wares. in all that there will be a wide range of quality and prices. as far as we're concerned, those products would have various profit margins.
if all a brand wants to do is follow the trends, there's money to be made, naturally. that's not to say you'll have more success at that than selling something you're really in tune with, though. simply trying to appeal to as big of a mass market as possible doesn't guarantee anything. indeed, since it *is* the biggest market you have your stiffest competition from the big dawgs.
why did you pick those three kinds of shirts? there are many more niches, such as streetwear, political, lifestyle, fashion... it's a long list.
all i can say is do the kind of shirts that excite you, then go out and find your market and work diligently, intelligently and creatively on carving out your share of the pie. that way you can appeal to whatever market you're aiming for. i ask you: is great success in a small market better than moderate success in a large market? there are too many variables and unknowns to say for sure, but one thing i can say with a certain amount of experience ~ making less money doing what you love is far better than making more doing what you hate. worry about the market you want to be good in, and let the billion dollar corporate entities and their shareholders worry about the next hot fashion trend and this summer's colours (unless that's your thing, in which case you'd want to stake out the mall stores and look at what people are actually wearing and who those people are).
or if you're worried about it, combine art, humour and pop culture into one design.
make it an MMA style with glocks on it in rhinestones or foil on the hot colour and style. better throw in some kind of sports theme in there as well. how can you go wrong with a mess like that? lol.
it's impossible to know because it's impossible to track. once a blank shirt is sold, anything can be
printed on it, and it's not as there's a regulatory agency, which would just screw the results up anyway in all likelihood, that has to pass a design. it's a niche industry, so the most 'popular' designs catering to the widest market doesn't necessarily mean that you'll do the best there as it's obviously going to be the most crowded. you might do better selling shirts with a wildlife theme to people interested in conservation. if i sold more 'sassy' shirts made with pink rhinestones than i did shirts with snarky philosophic sayings on them, no one would ever know except me and who i choose to tell.
i can go to the flea market and literally find hundreds of joke shirts. i can go to a college bar and find it full of cultural references. a museum gift shop will be full of artistic wares. in all that there will be a wide range of quality and prices. as far as we're concerned, those products would have various profit margins.
if all a brand wants to do is follow the trends, there's money to be made, naturally. that's not to say you'll have more success at that than selling something you're really in tune with, though. simply trying to appeal to as big of a mass market as possible doesn't guarantee anything. indeed, since it *is* the biggest market you have your stiffest competition from the big dawgs.
why did you pick those three kinds of shirts? there are many more niches, such as streetwear, political, lifestyle, fashion... it's a long list.
all i can say is do the kind of shirts that excite you, then go out and find your market and work diligently, intelligently and creatively on carving out your share of the pie. that way you can appeal to whatever market you're aiming for. i ask you: is great success in a small market better than moderate success in a large market? there are too many variables and unknowns to say for sure, but one thing i can say with a certain amount of experience ~ making less money doing what you love is far better than making more doing what you hate. worry about the market you want to be good in, and let the billion dollar corporate entities and their shareholders worry about the next hot fashion trend and this summer's colours (unless that's your thing, in which case you'd want to stake out the mall stores and look at what people are actually wearing and who those people are).
or if you're worried about it, combine art, humour and pop culture into one design.
make it an MMA style with glocks on it in rhinestones or foil on the hot colour and style. better throw in some kind of sports theme in there as well. how can you go wrong with a mess like that? lol.
