Sleeveless or sleeved is a design decision
People treat it as a preference about sleeves and settle it in a second. The shape of the artwork has a stronger opinion than they do, and it points at one of them more often than not.
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Laid next to each other, a tank and a tee look like two versions of the same garment. Most people decide between them on the sleeve alone, in about a second.
The artwork usually has a stronger opinion, and it's worth hearing before the sleeve settles it.
What actually differs, apart from the sleeve?
The armhole and the shoulder line, and between them they change the shape of the printable field.
A sleeveless cut takes its armhole deep and open, which pulls the outer edge of the chest inward and upward. A sleeved cut keeps a broad, flat panel all the way out to the shoulder seam. Same person, same chest, and a noticeably different rectangle to design into.
Which one suits a design better?
It depends on the design's shape, and this is the real decision.
A wide design — big type running edge to edge, a horizontal composition, a landscape — wants the broader panel. Nothing is cut away at the sides and the full width survives.
A vertical design — a tall figure, a totem, a stacked wordmark — sits well on the narrower field, because the reduced width emphasises the height and the eye reads it as intended.
The one to be careful with is a composition whose edges matter. A higher armhole cuts in, so a design that runs to the full width can lose its outer edges on a sleeveless cut.
Does the print end up the same size on both?
The proportions are set the same way, so a design occupies the same relative area — but the garments are different shapes, so it reads differently.
Rather than reasoning about that, look. The design gets composited onto whichever garment you're considering before you order, and the difference is obvious immediately in a way no description manages.
Which is better in heat?
Sleeveless, clearly, and it's the main reason to choose it.
An open armhole and no sleeve is a genuinely cooler garment. If the shirt is for summer, for training, or for somewhere warm, that's the answer and no design consideration outweighs it.
Cotton is still cotton, though — neither is a technical fabric, so for hard effort in heat both are better as the thing you put on afterwards, which is worth knowing for a race shirt.
Which one shows more of the wearer?
The sleeveless one, which is a social consideration more than a design one.
It's a different amount of exposure and a different register — more casual, more physical, more summer. That's a preference rather than a rule, and it's the main reason people rule one out before considering anything else. Worth settling first, because it makes the rest of the question moot.
Should a group order have both?
Yes, and it's an underused option.
One design, some people sleeved and some not, still reads as a set — the design is the common element and the garment is the individual choice, the same way colour works for a family or a team. Nobody has to wear a sleeve length they don't like in order to be part of it.
Which should I pick if I don't know?
The sleeved one, on balance.
It's the more versatile object — wearable in more weather, in more settings, and under more things. Sleeveless is the better choice when there's a specific reason for it: heat, a vertical design, or a preference for the cut.
How do I order?
Pick the design at JustOG, choose the garment and the size, drag the crop frame, and see it composited on the real garment before ordering. It's made to order and shipped.
Designs other people have published are in the shop.
The sleeve is the part you notice. The armhole is the part your design notices.