Is your tshirt idea evocative or provocative?
This is one of the most crucial questions in the evaluation stage that many print-on-demand creators and entrepreneurs aren’t asking.
It’s not enough for tshirts to feature an image that looks good or a message that sounds nice. It has to entertain, elicit emotion/feelings, or provoke the wearer or onlookers in some fashion.
Today more than ever marketers know that consumers need to be entertained in order to command their attention. This is why commercials for medications, advertisements for political candidates, and ads for diapers are more like mini-movies than old-fashioned marketing pitches.
Humans have an ever-shrinking attention span and require humor, emotion, or shock factor to look long enough at something to absorb it, react to it, or want to buy it.
This is why tshirt creators must put more pressure on themselves to ensure that a majority of their designs elicit laughter (puns), thought (idea-challenging or affirming statements), anger (political issue statements), fear (horror designs), love (love of people, places, or things), positivity (inspiring, supportive or uplifting quotes), pride (statements celebrating one’s accomplishments or those of a loved one) or a broad range of other feelings/emotions like satisfaction, relief, peace, anxiety, grief, disappointment, and joy.
If it doesn’t evoke or provoke, your idea will be harder to sell on a tshirt.
