Logos and Promos

Embroidered, Screen Printed, Pad printed or Applique?  How to make sense of your promotional item & cause:

We see a lot of designs come through our emails for quotes on everything from political buttons, to silk ties.  We are often the last contacted after meetings and brainstorming sessions generating ideas for promoting, awarding, celebrating and designing.  We want you to know our time is free if you would like us involved from the start.  We get paid when orders are placed, produced and delivered but our happiest clients utilize us for our ideas and advice before the big event.

Most of the time, the initial artwork we get is not print ready.  This means that the files we receive are good for what they were created for (usually a web page logo or stock photo) but not good enough for placement on a promotional item like a key chain or being embroidered on a polo.   We will ask for artwork in specific formats so that it prints clearly on the item you order.  We almost always require the artwork we request in a vectored format in digital files that have extensions like .ai, .eps, .pdf, .cdr.  These file formats will work for conversion in our design software so that the sizes, colors and fonts can be shaped and sized for the item you are ordering.

The best piece of advice we can give is to have your logo or imprint created by a graphic designer specifically for the medium it will be placed on.  The problem with this advice is most small businesses and nonprofit organizations have limited funds and cannot afford to have their designs professionally created for each and everything they will end up printing on.  The other catch is that when designs are created by professionals, most professionals don’t create with a mindset of that image being placed on a textile item like a t-shirt, or embroidered on a blanket.  Most designers are trained to design for ink going onto paper and most design programs are set up with this in mind.  How an image translates into print on ceramic for a coffee mug or metal in 3D on a coin or in the exact colors on a colored piece of apparel can be dramatically different than what the owner of that logo envisions.

Dimensions are important because on promotional items there is a limit on size and area an imprint can be placed.  For an item like a ball point pen, you usually have space for 3 lines of information in less space than 2” horizontally and ½” vertically.  If there is a logo in the design, it has to fit into the limited space and if it has a lot of detail the print inside that logo may not be viewable or look blotchy.  This is one example of many details that should be considered when creating a logo and why it should be done by a professional that has the training and background to do the job right.

Large companies and organizations have people that do this full time as logos and information is being put on everything from price tags to their fleet vehicles.

In order to do the best we can, we offer design services where we can modify a logo to fit on the item we have been requested to produce.  There is often a lot of pain, sweat and tears behind the scenes to get things done right and on time in our business, but the result of a satisfied client with a smile on their face and the ring of the cash register make it all bearable.  Some things are simple and quick and other things take several adjustments and samples before it is right.  As a business grows, so does the need for printed items.  As things change so must those printed items.

At the moment we have a couple of different logos we use, one being round and the other in horizontal and vertical formats.  We often use different colors in our logos as well since color is the easiest thing to change and a huge part of what we do.  The main thing is that the name of our business is recognizable and the tagline trumpets our mantra.

So where do you start?  Start by giving us a call, email or quote request and we will keep the process as simple and easy as we can so that you can focus on what you do.  We specialize in making you stand out.  Our goal is to help you wear your name out.  What you wear and hand a prospect is a way to your next phone call or inquiry when a shopper needs what you do.  We hope this small bit of information is useful to you as you consider your next promotional item order and remember, “It’s your name….so wear it out.”