Esports: a jersey designed for a camera, ordered in a run of ten

A webcam shows the shoulders, the upper chest and the top of the sleeves. That is where an esports jersey carries its design, and it is why the sleeves are printed rather than left blank — the sleeve is on camera for the whole stream and the hem never is. A design that puts the detail at the waist has put it where nobody will see it.

Contrast matters more than colour. Streams compress, and a subtle two-tone design turns to mud at 720p. The team logo on the chest and the tag on the back are laid out large, in a colour that separates from the body, and we check the mockup at thumbnail size before we send it.

The whole design goes on by sublimation, which suits the gradient-heavy style esports teams favour and handles a sponsor’s exact colour values, the argument our page on full-panel colour without a weight penalty makes for every printed jersey.

A team of six ordering jerseys will order ten and keep four for substitutes and a second roster. A team with an audience will come back and order forty hoodies to sell. Both are normal and both come from the same files, so a supporter run months later matches the players’ kit.

We keep the design and the print calibration on file for the team, and a reorder is printed to it. The tag list can change between runs without touching the design.