The navy design on a navy shirt
A customer leaves a three-star review: 'You can hardly see the design.' They ordered your dark blue linework design on a navy shirt. It was offered because when you created the product, the integration selected every colour of the blank, and you did not untick the ones that did not suit. The mockup made it look passable. The real print did not.
When you look through your listings, you find more: a pale design on sand, a red design on maroon. None of them are misprints. They are colour choices nobody checked.
Every colour is offered unless someone removes it
Blanks come in many colours and integrations default to generosity. The check that a design works on each colour relies on the seller unticking boxes carefully, every time.
- Product creation often selects all colours by default.
- Mockups can flatter low contrast combinations.
- Designs with a light and a dark version need the right one per colour.
- Heather and marl colours print differently from solid colours.
- Adding colours later, across many listings, skips the check.
So poor combinations accumulate, and the first person to notice is the customer.
What poor colour choices cost
Disappointed customers leave reviews that mention quality, even though the print was correct. Returns and replacements follow, and your partner will not reprint something that printed as specified. Bad combinations clutter listings, making the good colours harder to choose.
Offering fewer, better colours also usually looks more considered, which matters in a crowded market.
There is a time cost too. Every listing created from scratch means going through the colour list and unticking the poor matches by eye, and when you add a second product type or a new partner, that job starts again for every design. Most sellers do it carefully for the first few designs and quickly after that, which is how the navy on navy shirts get through.
The colour rules we build
- For each design, a contrast check compares the design's colours with each garment colour your partners offer, using the partner's colour values.
- Combinations with low contrast are flagged, and you confirm which colours the design is allowed on.
- Where a design has light and dark versions, the rules record which version goes on which colour.
- When a listing is created or colours are added, only allowed colours are included, and the right version of the file is linked.
- Your existing listings are checked against the rules, with a list of variants to remove or switch.
- New colours released by your partners are added as unchecked, so they are never offered until you decide.
| Combination | Check result | Your decision |
|---|---|---|
| Dark design on light garment | Good contrast | Usually allowed |
| Dark design on dark garment | Low contrast | Use light version or exclude |
| Design on heather or marl | Contrast varies | Review with a sample |
| New partner colour | Unchecked | Decide before offering |
Contrast is a guide, not a verdict. Some low contrast combinations are deliberate and look good, and you can allow them. The rules make the choice explicit.
Listings with only the colours that work
New designs go live on the colours you approved, with the right version on each. When you add a new colour of a blank, it waits for your decision rather than appearing on every design. The review list for your existing catalogue shows the handful of combinations to remove.
Reviews stop mentioning designs you can barely see.
Signs colour choices are hurting you
- Customers have said the design is hard to see.
- Integrations add every colour by default.
- Light and dark versions are sometimes mixed up.
- New colours appear on listings without a check.
- You have never reviewed colour combinations across the catalogue.