Midjourney T-Shirt Design Prompts: Formula and 24 Examples

The t-shirt design prompt formula

A t-shirt graphic is not a photo. It has to survive being printed on fabric, viewed from a few metres away and separated into a handful of ink colours. That means bold shapes, clean edges, a limited palette and a background that is easy to remove.

Formula: [subject] t-shirt graphic, [illustration style], [line and shading], [limited palette of N colours], centred isolated design on a plain [solid colour] background --ar [ratio] --no [extras]

Two words do a lot here: "isolated" and "centred". Together they push Midjourney towards a standalone graphic instead of a full scene. If you get pictures of people wearing shirts, add --no shirt, model, mockup. See our negative prompts guide for more on --no.

Getting a print-ready result

• Transparent-look backgrounds. Midjourney does not output transparent files. Ask for a plain solid background (white for dark-on-light designs, black for light-on-dark ones), then remove it with a background remover or in an image editor.
• Limited palettes. Screen printing charges per ink colour. Asking for "three colours" or "two-colour screen print" keeps designs simpler and usually cheaper to print. Midjourney will not count perfectly, so tidy colours in an editor.
• Flat colour over gradients. Gradients and fine textures can be hard to separate. Use "flat colour", "no gradients" and "bold shapes" unless you are printing digitally.
• Resolution. Upscale your chosen image, and for screen printing consider tracing it to vector. Check your printer’s or print-on-demand service’s file requirements for size and resolution.
• Text. Midjourney is poor at long, exact text. Generate the graphic and add slogans with a real font afterwards.

24 copy-ready Midjourney t-shirt design prompts

Vintage and retro

• a skeleton surfing a giant wave t-shirt graphic, vintage screen print style, thick clean outlines, three colours orange teal and cream, centred isolated design on a plain white background --ar 1:1 --no text, mockup
• retro 1970s sunset over desert cacti t-shirt graphic, stacked horizontal stripes in the sun, flat colour, four colours mustard rust brown and cream, isolated on a plain black background --ar 1:1 --no text
• vintage motorcycle badge t-shirt design, circular emblem with wings and laurel shapes, distressed texture, two colours black and red, centred on plain white background --ar 1:1 --no text, mockup
• retro arcade joystick with lightning bolts t-shirt graphic, 1980s style, bold outlines, neon pink and electric blue on a plain black background, centred isolated design --ar 1:1 --no text
• national park style badge of a bear in front of pine-covered mountains, line art with flat fills, three colours forest green tan and cream, isolated on plain white --ar 1:1 --no text
• old-school tattoo flash style swallow carrying a rose t-shirt graphic, bold black outlines, red green and yellow fills, centred on plain white background --ar 1:1 --no text

Cute and character designs

• chubby cat in a tiny astronaut helmet floating among stars t-shirt graphic, kawaii style, thick outlines, pastel palette of four colours, centred isolated design on plain white background --ar 1:1 --no text
• cheerful avocado doing yoga t-shirt design, simple cartoon, flat colour, green brown and soft pink, isolated on a plain white background, lots of empty space around it --ar 1:1 --no text
• sleepy sloth hanging from a crescent moon t-shirt graphic, soft rounded shapes, flat colour, navy yellow and grey, centred on plain black background --ar 1:1 --no text
• tiny dragon roasting a marshmallow over its own flame t-shirt graphic, cute storybook style, clean outlines, warm orange and green, isolated on plain white --ar 1:1 --no text
• frog playing an acoustic guitar on a lily pad t-shirt design, hand-drawn line art with flat fills, three colours, centred isolated on plain cream background --ar 1:1 --no text

Bold and streetwear

• roaring tiger head front view t-shirt graphic, bold vector illustration, sharp angular shading, two colours black and orange, centred isolated on plain white background --ar 1:1 --no text
• melting smiley face made of graffiti drips, streetwear graphic, thick outlines, acid green and black, isolated on plain white background --ar 1:1 --no text
• samurai helmet with cherry blossoms t-shirt graphic, Japanese woodblock-inspired flat colour, red black and off-white, centred on plain white background --ar 1:1 --no text
• back print design of a snake coiled around a dagger and roses, symmetrical composition, detailed black line work with one red accent, isolated on plain white --ar 2:3 --no text
• abstract glitch skull t-shirt graphic, offset colour channels, bold shapes, cyan magenta and black, centred isolated on plain white background --ar 1:1 --no text
• small left-chest emblem of a paper plane inside a circle, minimal line icon, single colour black on plain white background, simple and clean --ar 1:1 --no text

Minimal, nature and line art

• continuous single line drawing of a mountain range and a rising sun t-shirt graphic, minimal, black line on plain white background, centred --ar 1:1 --no text
• geometric wolf head made of triangles t-shirt design, low-poly, two tones of grey and one blue, isolated on plain white background --ar 1:1 --no text
• botanical illustration of a fern and mushrooms t-shirt graphic, fine ink line art with flat sage green fill, centred on plain cream background --ar 1:1 --no text
• ocean wave inside a circle t-shirt graphic, minimalist flat vector, three shades of blue, crisp edges, isolated on plain white background --ar 1:1 --no text
• hand-drawn coffee cup with steam forming a heart t-shirt graphic, simple doodle style, single colour brown on plain white background --ar 1:1 --no text
• seamless repeating pattern of small lemons and leaves for an all-over print shirt, flat colour, yellow and green on white --ar 1:1 --tile
• constellation of a bear made of stars and thin lines t-shirt graphic, minimal, white and gold on plain black background, centred --ar 1:1 --no text

The last-but-one prompt uses --tile, which creates a seamless repeating image for all-over prints.

Rights, trademarks and common mistakes

1. Using logos, characters or slogans you do not own. Avoid trademarks, sports team marks, film characters and real people. They can get listings removed and cause legal trouble.
2. Assuming you can sell anything you generate. Check Midjourney’s current terms for your plan, your print-on-demand platform’s content rules and the law where you sell before listing designs.
3. Too much detail. Fine textures and tiny elements disappear on fabric. Look at the image at thumbnail size: if it does not read, simplify.
4. Skipping clean-up. Expect to remove the background, fix stray marks and reduce colours. Generated images are a starting point, not a finished print file.
5. Inconsistent collections. For a range of shirts that belong together, reuse one style reference and the same palette words.

Similar rules apply to small graphics; see our sticker prompts guide.

Doing this faster with Dreamdrive

Dreamdrive keeps the full prompt with every capture, --sref code included, so a look you liked is a search away in your Library.