AI T-shirt designer

Background

Many people want to express their identity, beliefs, or passions through what they wear—but most t-shirt platforms offer only generic templates and limited customization.

This project started with a simple idea: can we let anyone create truly personalised t-shirts in seconds using AI? Not just adding text to clipart, but designing something original, expressive, and tailored to them.

Project Overview

I built this startup from scratch—from user research and design to backend systems and launch.

The goal was to make custom t-shirt design accessible, artistic, and joyful, without needing any design skills.

User research

To validate the concept, I took the idea to the streets—literally.

I spoke to dozens of people in parks, markets, and coworking spaces. Almost everyone loved the idea. They spoke about how hard it is to find t-shirts that feel personal, or how clunky existing platforms are.

This gave me strong confidence in both the problem space and the emotional resonance of the solution.

Service blueprint

User journey map

Prototyping

Armed with feedback, I created multiple prototypes:

• A simple prompt-based flow to describe your t-shirt idea
• An interface to preview and tweak the AI-generated design
• A mobile-first layout to make creation fast and fun

Tech stack & implementation

I built the full-stack app using:

• Node.js + Express on the backend
• OpenAI APIs for natural language interactions
• Flux APIs for image generation
• A custom admin dashboard to manage user orders and generated designs
• A dynamic image rendering service for t-shirt previews

Testing

I tested the platform with real users. They were excited not only by the novelty but also the ease of the experience.

A few key learnings from testing:

• People loved using short phrases like but then edited the prompts to make them more elaborate
• Users appreciated having a “Step by step guided flow”
• They enjoyed seeing the design instantly mocked up on a t-shirt

Final design

The final product is a sleek, mobile-friendly app that lets users:

• Describe their t-shirt in plain English
• Preview multiple design variations
• Add optional text
• Place an order instantly

I also designed a admin-facing tool to manage incoming orders.

Impact

• Launched a full working MVP and tested it with early users
• Enabled anyone to turn an idea into a wearable piece of art in under a minute
• Laid the foundation for a platform that turns creativity into a product