How to Make Your Own T-Shirt Ad

Creating a human billboard to advertise a business is a clever way to pass the word. Instead of an actual wooden billboard, which the wearer lugs around on street corners, you can use a T-shirt to passively spread the message. If the ad is interesting, it can instigate dialog between the wearer and those who read the ad. To maximize the advertising potential of the T-shirt, it is wise to equip the wearer with enough positive knowledge about the business so he will be able to give a personal endorsement.

Things You'll Need

• Photo transfer paper
• Computer with inkjet printer
• Scissors
• Ironing board
• T-shirt
• Silicone paper
• White typing paper
• Iron

Instructions

1. Create digital artwork for the T-shirt. You can design the artwork with a graphics program, such as Photoshop, or you can create a simple ad in a word processor, such as Microsoft Word. If you are unable to create the art, take your idea to a graphic artist and hire her services.

2. Insert a sheet of heat-transfer paper into your inkjet printer's paper tray, with the rough side of the paper as the print side. Set the settings of the printer to the highest printing quality.

3. Print the artwork onto the paper and allow it to dry for a moment before removing it from the printer.

4. Trim off excess paper around the design, leaving a small border that can be gripped to remove the backing paper.

5. Tear off the backing paper. To do this, make small ragged tears along the border to expose the backing edge.

6. Lay the T-shirt on the ironing board and smooth out any wrinkles. The side where the design will be applied should face you.

7. Position the printed artwork on the T-shirt, printed side up, and cover the artwork with silicon paper and several blank sheets of white paper.

8. Iron over the sheets of paper with a hot iron. Apply pressure as you iron. For cotton fabric, apply heat for about 50 seconds, and for synthetic fabrics, apply heat for only about 25 seconds. Use the fabric's suggested heat setting when adjusting the iron heat.

9. Wait for the shirt to cool and then peel off the outer layer of the ironed-on design.

Tips & Warnings

• For more than a dozen T-shirts, it may be more affordable to have the shirts printed by a silk-screening company. Heat-transfer paper instructions may vary by brand.