How to Make a One-Color Print Look Expensive
Published by: Siobhan Ingram
Date: 06-16-2025
You don’t need six colors to make great merch.
In fact, some of the best designs use just one—and they look better for it.
At FCE, we love helping brands maximize simplicity.
A one-color design forces clarity. It puts focus on the shape, the font, the feeling.
But there’s an art to making it feel premium.
Texture matters. Discharge inks, water-based inks, or high-end puff prints can add richness and dimension to even a single color. Fabric choice matters too—printing clean white ink on a deep navy tri-blend tee feels more luxurious than printing it on a bargain cotton shirt.
Placement also plays a role.
Center chest. Sleeve hits. Neck tags. Less space, more precision.
One outdoor gear company we work with prints their entire apparel line in white on forest green tees—small chest logos, back patches, nothing overdone.
It feels sharp, cohesive, and expensive—because it’s intentional.
In merch design, simple doesn’t mean basic.
Simple, done right, means powerful.