For decorators willing to take their apparel – and profit margins – to the next level, multimedia designs are the way to go. Combining two or more decoration techniques results in an elevated look that puts you head and shoulders above the competition. Planning and flawless execution, however, are paramount with multimedia decoration. Greg Gaardbo, CEO of Shockwaves Promotional Apparel, walks us through how to achieve depth perception by using sublimation and appliqué techniques on a tank.

1. Carefully choose your design

Choose artwork that has one eye-catching object on a consistent background; that object will end up being the focus of the design while the rest fades. In this case, the full picture was a forest image, and Gaardbo wanted to make the frog stand out.

2. Separate and sublimate the background

Separate the design into two parts: foreground and background. Enlarge the background art and use the Gaussian setting in Photoshop to give a slight blur to the image. When you remove the foreground image from its background in Photoshop, leave the negative space on the artwork to create a shadow effect on the final product. Sublimate the background onto the tank top as an all-over print.

3. Sublimate the foreground image separately

Keep your foreground image in full focus. Cut out the image and sublimate it onto a separate piece of polyester fabric.

4. Combine the images

Sew the foreground image onto the front of the tank top, replacing the negative space from which the image originated. By leaving no white space, the eye-catching object will appear very close to the viewer. Run a final stitch around the perimeter of the foreground image.