Are you thinking of making custom socks to sell as merch?Sounds awesome! Custom socks can be extremely profitable when done right. Now, creators of all sizes can collaborate with factories to outsource production tasks instead of knitting custom socks wholesale them themselves or slaving over a screenprinter. This allows them to focus on the things that matter, like their sales strategies.
Even if you find a manufacturer reputable for creating custom socks, you’ll still need to make some important decisions… like selecting the material, you’ll use to make your socks and deciding what design you’ll have embroidered or printed on your socks. I mean, let’s be honest – ugly socks are hard to sell!
Perhaps you already sell your artwork as prints, stickers, pins, or other products and would love to see your artwork turned into a pair of novelty socks. Your artwork will look great on this medium that may be unfamiliar to you if you make a few small tweaks.
To design a pair of socks that sell like hotcakes, you don’t have to be an amazing artist. Even if you’re not much of a designer, you’re in luck! When you select The/Studio as your manufacturing partner, you can also benefit from free professional design services for each order, with as many revisions as you want.
Pillars of Making Good Sock Design
The four key factors for designing a good sock are as follows:
- Color scheme
There is no restriction on the number of colors you can use in your sock design with The/Studio. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Make a thoughtful color choice based on the type of socks your ideal customers are most likely to wear – colorful or neutral, stand out, or blend in. Even a solid color is a bold choice when compared to usual white socks – ensure that your color scheme suits the socks’ design and purpose!
- Clarity
Even though it seems obvious, printing a design on a sock is very different from printing on a page… and white lines or too much pixelation can make a great design look bad really quickly! Make sure any details are large enough to be seen clearly.
How to Design a Pair of Socks for the Cocktail Party
Having done some pre-design prep, you’re ready to start putting your ideas on paper. Learn how to create a great pair of socks with The/Studio’s online product creation tool and your own expertise.
- Gather Inspiration
First things first, start brainstorming some ideas for your custom socks. When creating your socks, think about who will buy them, how you want your customers to feel wearing them, and how you want them to be styled. During this phase, you should get inspiration from anything you can, including Pinterest, Instagram, and socks that are sold at the mall or online by competitors. You will definitely want to create totally unique socks, but don’t let that stop you from getting ideas from everywhere.
- Get Creative
Lastly, it’s time to launch your creative process… however that usually looks for you. Start doodling on your iPad, have a little brainstorming session in your sketchbook, and use Illustrator to create a rendering – whatever you need to do to get your ideas flowing.
When designing your socks, think about how your artwork will be incorporated, whether it’s as embroidery, a repeating pattern, or one large image. Please don’t worry about finalizing your design – whether you submit a masterpiece or a black-and-white sketch, our designers will be able to work with that as well!