Your Embroidered Logo: Best Decoration Method con't

Lets say you want to purchase twenty-five sweatshirts to give away to good customers. You want a small design on the front and a large design on the back. What are your options?

Sweatshirts can either be embroidered or screen printed. Printing will create a more casual look. Embroidery will work fine for a small front design but may be expensive for a large back design especially if you need a custom set-up. But, if you're okay with using stock embroidery text that will lower the cost.

You decide you want a more athletic appearance so screen printing may be a better choice as long as you don't have many colors in your design. If you have multiple colors you should consider direct-to-garment printing especially since the total number of garments (25) is small. But, you decide to limit your cost and have a two-color front and a one-color back design so screen printing seems like a good option.

Your Embroidered Logo: Best Decoration Method?

Need a large design on the back of a few sweatshirts? A large quantity of polos with a left chest design? A multi-color print on T's? Wondering what type of decoration is best for your job?

Decorating methods range from traditional embroidery to newer methods like direct-to-garment printing and sublimation.  How do you decide which method will produce the look you want at the most cost effective price? Define your artwork, the type and quantity of the apparel and who will be wearing it.

Artwork - What size is it? Left chest sized, full back or in between? How many colors? Will there be more than one design per garment? The amount of detail may determine the size of the design.  If you want to include lots of information like your location, phone number and web address you'll need a back-sized design.

Apparel - What type of garment will be decorated?  T's, polos, button down shirts? Who will wear the items? Where will the garments be worn? What is the desired "look"? Casual, formal, athletic, hi-tech? What is your budget? What are your options?

To be continued...