# The Perfect T-shirt Product Shot - Part 1 - Images to Display



## kamilski81 (Sep 22, 2008)

This is Part 1 of my search for the perfect product shot.

*Images to display*:
Sites display: a) just the original design of the tee, b) a real pic of the actual t-shirt, or c) both the design of the original artwork, and a pic of the actual t-shirt.

Which of these product shots is saying what? 

My interpretation is as follows, please feel free to add any advice. 

A, includes just a design and does not let the customer know what the shirt will look like, once they receive it; thus, they will be more reluctant to make a purchase. 

B, does not show a picture of the design, but does this matter? Do customers care about what the design looks like or do they care about what the design looks like on a shirt? In my opinion, it is the latter. As long as the photo of the t-shirt is of high quality, then they will make the purchase.

C, contains both a picture of the original design, and a picture of the shirt. Once again, I believe that once the design has been printed on the t-shirt then artwork does not matter what it looks like. The crucial part becomes what the artwork looks like on the shirt, and this is the selling point.

Overall, I believe that displaying only the shirt in a product shot is needed, option B. As long as the picture is of high quality and displays the design correctly then the customer will be most satisfied.

Some may argue that, option C is better because the more images you have then the happier the customer will be. I would disagree with this because the user will spend less time deciding, and will be happier overall (since you are saving them time). For example, when you go to the supermarket and there are 30 types of milk, you are wasting time deciding on which one to buy. Would you be more satisfied if the decision was just made for you, and there was one type of milk?


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## pwapparel (Feb 16, 2007)

you could do an experiment on this using Google Analytics. Set up pages that are the same but have the different image options and it will hook up with your cart to help find out turnover rates!


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## dvirhazout (Oct 20, 2008)

I would say C...
It's a realy importent thing that you should consider.

I chose C because the designs look muck better on real people and it attract more that just seeing the design..


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

In my opinion, customers do care what the actual design looks like, especially when there are details in the design.

For wording/phrase type tees like the McCain t-shirt you linked to, the details are a bit less important. 

But when you are selling t-shirts that are a bit more fashion orientated, showing the details in the design is important. 

Having a photograph of the actual t-shirt in my opinion is a "best practice" for selling t-shirts. That doesn't mean you can't be successful without showing a showing an actual photograph (see: tshirthell), but from a customer point of view, seeing an actual photograph helps to show that the t-shirt is real, the business is real, and gives an overall more realistic view of the t-shirt the customer is interested in without leaving much to guesswork.

I think having multiple product shots is a good thing though. Showing the t-shirt closeup or showing the t-shirt on both a male and female model can help customers make a decision. Remember that you're not there to answer any questions the customer may have, so you want to make sure you can answer as many as possible with your website so they don't have to look around for an answer or worse, just leave because things aren't clear.

I like the threadless method because for those customers who want to see the design closeup by itself, the link is there. You can also see the product photographed on models to see the fit.

I also like the *DBH way of displaying the product* on the product detail page because the product shot is larger than most sites which helps to show the detail in the design.

Overall though, I like the *bustedtees way* of presenting the t-shirts. On the main/catalog page, you get nicely sized images of *just* the t-shirt design that allows the customer to quickly scan to see if a t-shirt design catches their interest. Once you click on the design you like, *the product detail page* is laid out very nicely. Clear photograph of the t-shirt above the fold, an image of just the t-shirt design, also above the fold (no clicking necessary to see it), add to cart button, size chart, inventory status all above the fold for easy clickin'


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## prometheus (Oct 19, 2006)

I would be torn between B & C. No matter what, I want to see the real deal. Not a dream version of what the shirt looks like, because we all know that what you see (on a monitor) is not always what you get (printed). For the most part I would say B is fine, but I do like option C. Sometimes it gives you a closer view of details in the product. For the most part when I have seen both, the comp image is pretty close to the final product.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Thinking about this some more, I think the importance of the product shot is also related to your selling point.

If you're selling t-shirts at $10 each, it's a bit easier to get away with just showing a mockup of the design on the t-shirt or just the design itself. The barrier for your customer to part with that $10 is not that high.

When you're selling t-shirts at $25+, your designs are held to a much higher standard. Customers parting with $25 have a higher barrier for what will make them change their mind. So offering photographs, detailed shots, etc is a bit more imperative.

Even at $10-$15, I think it would be hard to give the customer "too many" product shots. Unless it made the "add to cart" page too messy or hard to navigate, the more the better. Those that don't need the extra photos to decide won't click. Those that do will be satisfied by the additional information and won't miss out.


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## prometheus (Oct 19, 2006)

I agree with that. I am still a "hands on" guy when it comes to buying, and like seeing the actually product. I guess it makes me also feel like it is the real deal.


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## maXmood (Oct 9, 2008)

i'd go with option C. i've seen alot of ppl that consider the details of the design + how it looks on a tee.

and i agree with Rodney in regards to the selling point. i'm the kinda guy that likes to know how the design looks and how does it fit. when i was in Thailand (for my honeymoon), i went shopping for tees that cost around $5 the most, i ended up buying 33 t-shirts in 2hrs. actually i was in a hurry at that time, but i was willing to pay $5 for something that cought my attention for a second. when i flew back home, i went through all the tees and ended up giving away 20 of them just because i didn't like the design (after a second look) and they didn't fit the way i wanted them to be.

so basically, if you're thinking about displaying a product, i suggest that you display the design (for details) and the product itself (or even worn on a male/female). considering the selling point of course.

another way to go is, your customer reference.. you put a side poll in your online shop asking the customers how they want the products to be displayed, and that's where u get ur customers' satisfaction(90%).

good luck


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## kamilski81 (Sep 22, 2008)

All amazing advice, the Cameesa team talked this over today and we decided to go with option B. Although, after reading these replies, we may go with C in the future. We are figuring that a close-up shot of the t-shirt will actually be better than the design itself because the color will me more accurate, and there will still be detail of the design.


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## 90chevytruck (Aug 24, 2007)

Why couldn't you just have both options A and C. Maybe have a thumbnail of just the design and when you click on it, it would show a person model wear the product. you could also show a larger version of the actual design or something similar to this TeeFury T shirts - One new limited edition cool shirts every day!.


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## kamilski81 (Sep 22, 2008)

You could have the design, but it doesn't always look like the t-shirt. There would be inconsistencies and possibly a little confusion, which we want to stay away from at all times.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

I just saw threadless's new design of TypeTees - Funny, awesome, original slogan tees and t-shirts curated by Threadless and I have to say that the way they expanding on the "bustedtees" type layout with the thumbnails of the t-shirts on the main page is pretty darn cool!

When you hover your mouse over the thumbnail, you see how the image looks on a t-shirt. It *looks* like an actual photograph of the t-shirt expanded. Pretty neat.


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## prometheus (Oct 19, 2006)

I like that Rodney. That is cool.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Just found this nice example of a t-shirt product shot today at designgive.com:

They have a great overall catalog page with big product shots:
designgive : Products

And a nicely laid out product page with an even bigger product shot and good positioning of the add to cart buttons:
Star : T-Shirts & Hoodies : Designgive : cause for design


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## the funk (Aug 8, 2007)

Rodney said:


> I just saw threadless's new design of TypeTees - Funny, awesome, original slogan tees and t-shirts curated by Threadless and I have to say that the way they expanding on the "bustedtees" type layout with the thumbnails of the t-shirts on the main page is pretty darn cool!
> 
> When you hover your mouse over the thumbnail, you see how the image looks on a t-shirt. It *looks* like an actual photograph of the t-shirt expanded. Pretty neat.


That is pretty neat and the page loads quick too.


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