No matter what your customized screen printed apparel is for, we at River City Screen printing and Embroidery want to make sure that your product comes out looking great! Whether you are designing a logo for your business, family reunion, social club, music group, or any other organization, customized apparel is a great and practical way to get your name out there! Whether or not your finished product looks as awesome as possible depends greatly on the quality of the logo you have designed for submission. In order to be sure that your logo is going to make for the product you dreamed of, be sure to follow these tips when you are in the logo designing phase!
Be Aware of Size
It is important to have the finished product in mind when you are first designing your logo. For instance, creating a design for an entire shirt compared to a shirt pocket or hat lends itself to a few advantages and freedoms in terms of the space you are working with. A busy or intricate design can cause a smaller space to be over crowded, which might distract from your logo all together. It is also important to remember that your original file size in terms of pixels is a huge factor in the quality of your print. You will want to aim for 300 DPI (dots per inch) or PPI (pixels per inch). This factor has to do with resolution of your image, so if you have a design that is not the appropriate DPI or PPI, the only way to increase the resolution is by reducing the physical size of your final print. If you are submitting one logo for different sized products, then you will want to customize the size and DPI for each final product.
Be Aware of Color
Knowing how the screen printing process works should shape how you choose the colors for your logo or image. Every color in your print is considered its own layer, and each layer is applied by its own screen. Because of this, it is important to to minimize your color usage to no more than 6-8 different colors, and this number should reduce for your smaller screen prints. There are a lot of ways to be strategic with the colors for your design in order to reduce the number used. For instance, using blank space in your design can allow the color of the actual fabric to be used intentionally, letting your have a cleaner, clearer looking final product.
Be Aware of Format
When it comes to the overall quality of your print, your file type is a top priority. The best file format, without question, is vector. Vector file types come in formats including PDF, ESP, AI, SVG, and CDR. Having your design as vector file already increases the odds that your print is going to be a higher quality. There are many online tutorials and programs that can help you convert your you image to a vector file if it isn’t already, and you will not be sorry for your investment!