When you’re feeling overwhelmed attempting to decide on a t-shirt and ink colour mixture to make use of in your subsequent design, don’t fear – we’re right here that will help you out!
With so many choices to select from in our design device, we all know it may possibly appear tough, at first, to determine on a colour mixture that you just love. With slightly steerage from our design crew, it is possible for you to to seek out the right colour mixture very quickly.
To search out inspiration in your t-shirt design, discover 12 of our favourite t-shirt and ink colour combos that work each time!
Key Takeaways
- Choosing the proper t-shirt colour mixture is a essential design step that impacts your design’s readability, visible enchantment, and general success.
- There are concrete design rules behind nice colour palettes. Excessive-contrast combos (i.e., gentle ink on a darkish shirt or utilizing complementary colours) make designs extra vibrant, whereas utilizing analogous colours brings concord to the design.
- Following these rules and incorporating trendy design tendencies provides you with a confirmed place to begin in your design.
Prepared to begin designing?
Begin making your personal premium customized merch without cost on Bonfire.
What’s the easiest way to decide on t-shirt design colour combos?
Understanding the fundamental rules of colour principle can lower the time you spend selecting colour combos in half. This merely entails understanding the colour wheel and the relationships between colours.
There are three sorts of colours within the colour wheel:

- Main colours: Pink, blue, and yellow
- Secondary colours: Violet, inexperienced, and orange
- Tertiary colours: Pink violet, blue violet, yellow inexperienced, blue inexperienced, yellow orange, and crimson orange
Moreover, there are names for the colours’ relationships with each other on the colour wheel:
- Analogous colours: Colours which might be subsequent to one another on the colour wheel (usually in teams of three). These colours naturally mix collectively, making a extra harmonious design.
- Instance: Inexperienced, blue inexperienced, and blue
- Complementary colours: Colours which might be opposites on the colour wheel. When used collectively, they distinction strongly and create designs that stand out.
Utilizing a colour wheel may help you select a primary palette that fits your design—from there, you possibly can play with completely different shades and hues till you discover the precise colours you want.
What colours go nicely collectively on a shirt?

1. Pink & White

This colour mixture is a good option to make a design actually pop. Delicate line work reveals up finest when there’s a powerful distinction between the ink colour and the colour of the t-shirt cloth. So any vibrant colour ink printed on white attire, or white ink printed on a darkish shirt colour will all the time look sharp. Design a crimson and white shirt.
2. Inexperienced & Gray


There’s simply one thing about inexperienced Ink on gray clothes. Whether or not the inexperienced you employ is extra earthy or leaning towards Kelly Inexperienced or teal, it’s certain to look superior on our gray attire choices. Our favourite inexperienced colour mixture is Kelly Inexperienced on our gentle or darkish gray Crewneck Sweatshirts. Design a inexperienced and gray shirt.
3. Blue & White

Blue and White is a basic pairing and works in each combos (blue ink, white shirt, or white ink, blue shirt!) They’ve nice distinction collectively, so your art work is bound to look sharp, even with the smallest textual content. Design a blue and white shirt.
Strive these colour combos in our interactive design device
4. Blue & Yellow


Placing blue and yellow collectively makes a really pleasing colour mixture. The heat of yellow tones meets with the cooling impact of blue tones to create a beautiful stability. Design a blue and yellow shirt.
Professional Tip from Our Designers:
So as to add complexity, use a couple of shades of yellow and blue to actually discover that complementary relationship much more.
5. Maroon & White

These colours pair so nicely collectively due to the excessive distinction between the maroon and white. Maroon shirts permit white designs to actually shine, which is particularly useful when a design has delicate and skinny strains. Bonfire’s Maroon Crewneck Sweatshirt is an superior attire merchandise to print on to realize this look. Design a maroon and white shirt.
6. Blue & Gray


Mix blues and greys to create a shirt that feels cool in tone. As a result of there are such a lot of colours within the realm of blues and greys, and since now we have so many sorts of blue and gray shirt colours to select from, your potentialities are countless for this colour mixture. Design a blue and gray shirt.

7. Shades of Blue

Blue shirts are a few of our best-selling merchandise and for good motive. Blue ink on blue shirts all the time finally ends up wanting nice collectively. Simply ensure that the blues getting used have sufficient distinction in order that the whole design will probably be seen on the shirt. Strive gentle blue ink on a midnight navy tee, or royal blue ink on an ice blue tee. Design a darkish blue and light-weight blue shirt.
8. Pink, White & Blue


Whereas on paper this colour mixture sounds restricted to patriotic designs and flags, in observe it finally ends up understanding very well for all types of designs. The first colours of crimson and blue stability out nicely with the neutrality of white. Design a crimson, white and blue shirt.
9. Pink, Orange & Yellow

These heat tones, when mixed, create stunning designs that really feel enjoyable and energetic. Print a design with these desert-like tones on the same coloured attire merchandise, or neutral-toned tee for extra stability between the shirt and design. In search of extra distinction? Select a darkish blue or purple to play off the reds and yellows in your design. Design a crimson, orange, and yellow shirt.
10. Rainbow

Colour is enjoyable, so in the event you don’t need to restrict your self, benefit from our 8-color restrict. One thing to remember although, the worth to screenprint is calculated on a per-color foundation. To maximise your marketing campaign earnings, we advise conserving your colour depend down, particularly in the event you’re utilizing your shirt gross sales to boost cash for a trigger. However you possibly can nonetheless play with colours, even in the event you solely use 4 or 5 colours. Design a rainbow-colored shirt.
11. Impartial Colours


Earthy neutrals impressed by the colours of the land, sea, and sand mix so nicely collectively. In case your design options photographs of nature, utilizing a palette of earth tones carries on the message and tone of the shirt. Our Mild Olive and Stone Gray each function unbelievable backdrops in your impartial design. Design a shirt with impartial colours.
12. Vivid Colours

Neon inks and vibrant shirt colour combos won’t be proper for all campaigns and causes, however going vibrant is an effective way to create a shirt that exudes vitality and constructive vibes. Tahiti Blue and Neon Inexperienced are our most vibrant Unisex Tee colours, however the True Royal and Pink Triblend Slouchy Tanks are tremendous vibrant as nicely! Design a shirt with vibrant colours.
It doesn’t matter what ink and shirt colours you’re pondering of mixing, ensure that there’s excessive distinction between the colour of the attire and the design being printed on the shirt. We’ve additionally written a brilliant useful information about optimizing your design for print if display screen printing is a brand new factor for you.
Prepared to begin creating your shirt?
Leap into our design device to get began without cost.

Joe is the Director of Progress Advertising and marketing at Bonfire and has over 8 years of expertise within the customized merchandise and attire fundraising area. His favourite shirt colour is Kelly Inexperienced, and he prefers hoodies over crewneck sweatshirts.

