Branded merch is a key part of growing any business. And in order to do it successfully, we need to design our merch so that it catches anyone’s eye, or both eyes. After all, the apparel we design and later sell (or give away) will represent our company for years to come. Even if we eventually change our logo or corporate slogans, the ones we design now will have to be timeless and speak to a wide audience out there.
In terms of what the best piece of promo apparel is, few people will see eye to eye, since anything can be an excellent promo item. Of course, if we’re talking about the most frequent items that brands use, those would have to be the ever-popular personalised T-shirts. Therefore, in this article, we will cover everything that a business owner needs to know about custom T-shirt design. We’ll get into the T-shirt size selection, logo size, logo shape, colour selection, and so much more.
Why a T-Shirt?
As we stated earlier, T-shirts are by far the most popular items that companies like to use as branded material. Every industry, from metallurgy to NFTs, from hardware manufacturing to vegan food production, has a line of custom T-shirts that spread the company’s message and promote the brand. So, why are T-shirts so popular?
Well, first off, a T-shirt is an item we use regularly. Clothing is something that people need daily, and a promo shirt is always welcome in any household.
Next, since T-shirts are so useful and in-demand, they provide an excellent form of viral marketing. In other words, the more we wear the shirt, the more people will spot the logo and the design on it. Therefore, more potential customers will research our brand independently simply because they saw the logo on a T-shirt they happened to like.
Finally, T-shirts like the Uneek Classic T-Shirt allow for various different design choices when it comes to marketing. We will touch upon this subject a little later down the article, but to put it simply, one T-shirt represents a big, vast canvas for any logo to take place. It’s like a miniature, moving billboard that anyone can see at a close distance.
Now that we know why T-shirts are a useful method of branding, it’s time to focus on how to design them and further promote our brand.
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Knowing Our Audience
This particular section is fairly obvious; any businessperson worth their salt will tell you that you have to know your market before selling a product. After all, not everyone will like branded polo shirts or V-neck clothing. Furthermore, some people might feel uncomfortable in polyester and might prefer 100% cotton for one reason or another.
So, how do we know our audience when choosing the best T-shirts? Well, we have to focus on a few key details:
- Our industry of choice
- The age of our potential customers
- Professional profiles of each customer
- Shopping history of individual consumers (if available)
- Current trends (both good and bad).
Let’s take a few examples to illustrate our point. For instance, we have two customers. One is a 50-year-old corpulent gentleman who happens to be a chief executive officer at a brand that collaborates with us. Another is an 18-year-old shopper with an interest in skateboarding gear who enjoys buying our products. Off the top of our head, the T-shirt designs will look a little bit like this:
- The older businessman will receive a T-shirt with subdued, neutral colours and a logo printed on the breast pocket; the logo will be small and unintrusive, but recognisable.
- The skater customer will receive a brightly coloured T-shirt with a huge design on either the front or back of the product; the company logo can also be small, but it will have to stand out coupled with some corporate messaging, or even a skating motif combined with the company logo.
Logo Positioning
We touched a bit upon this in our examples earlier, so let’s address them on a broader level. Positioning the logo of our brand on the T-shirt will really depend on several factors. These include the occupation of the T-shirt wearer, their likes and dislikes, their relationship with our brand, their preference of apparel in general, etc.
Fortunately, there are plenty of options to include corporate imagery and logos onto the T-shirt. We can place the logo literally anywhere: front or back, left or right chest area, or even across the chest, around the neck, across the entirety of the front of the shirt, etc. We can even get creative and print some logos and corporate messages alongside the sleeves or the lower rim of the shirt. And if we’re providing shirts with hoodies for the modern crowd, we can adorn the hoodie with some logos and images as well.
List of Shape Options for Brand Logos
Logos come in many shapes and sizes, and the ones we choose will have to fit the type of message we want to send or the kind of industry we’re in. Furthermore, logos have an aesthetic to them, so it’s important to get the shape absolutely right when printing. Some logos, for example, look terrible if we elongate them vertically or horizontally. Others don’t work unless we print them large enough due to the amount of detail. What follows is the list of the most common shapes for logos on branded T-shirts.
Symmetrical Logos
The name really says it all. A symmetrical logo is one whose two halves perfectly mirror each other. The perfect example of such a logo includes the famous arches of McDonald’s and the equally familiar mermaid of Starbucks coffee.
When using a symmetrical logo, it’s best if we place it in the centre of the T-shirt, across the chest or near the belly area. Size-wise, it can be fairly large, but not too big. After all, the logo itself will attract enough attention due to its symmetrical shape.
Wide Logos
Wide logos are effectively banners. Their width well exceeds their height, and as such, they are perfect for the backs of shirts. More specifically, we can place them just beneath the neckline, so that the two edges can ’connect’ the shoulders. This placement is also perfect for placing additional text and information directly underneath the logo for anyone to read.
Some of the most prominent brands out there have wide logos. The more popular variants include Coca-Cola, Samsung, Subway, Amazon, and Facebook.
Tall Logos
Tall logos, also known as vertical logos, are insignia that are technically the polar opposite of wide logos. In other words, their height is longer than their width. Some famous examples include Levi’s, NBA, Pontiac, and Playboy.
In terms of products, vertical logos are great for items such as printed water bottles, tumblers, etc. However, they can also be excellent T-shirt design elements. We can place them as small images on the breast pocket or centre them in a large format. Interestingly, we can also place them along the length of the shirt, either on the right or left side, giving the item a bit of asymmetry. While asymmetry is atypical of a product design, it will definitely stand out.
Full-Space Logos
If a logo is incredibly intricate, like the old Ferrari logo or the famous birds of Nestlé, it will have to take up more space. That’s where the T-shirts shine as promo items, since they can literally fit a logo of any size on them. With these complex logos that have plenty of small details that need to stand out, we can use the entire front or back of the shirt and just blow the image up as much as possible.
Logo Size
Logos, we’ve learned just now, come in different shapes, sizes, and complexities. Depending on what type of logo our brand has, its size will differ. We’ll explain further with several examples.
Let’s say that we have a brand like Nike, with a nice, simple, recognisable logo. The famous Nike symbol works well in any size. We can either blow it up and plaster it on the back of the shirt, or it can end up as a small, elegant image in the back corner of the breast pocket. Or it can simply be of medium size and end up on the centre of the shirt.
However, something like the Subway or Samsung logo will demand a large size. While we can still see the letters of Samsung and the shape of Subway on a small corner-pocket logo, it still works best if it takes up more room.
Design Complexity
The golden rule of logo printing in terms of complexity is simple, and it goes a little bit like this:
- If the logo is simple, it can go small
- The more complex it is, expand it
- Fewer colours means less space
- More colours mean more space.
And speaking of colours and logo design…
Colours, Colours, and More Colours
As stated above, when our logo contains a wide range of colours, we will definitely need to make it prominent on our T-shirts. Otherwise, during the printing process, all of the colours kind of compress and the logo ends up unintelligible. It’s easy enough to work with simple, single-colour logos like McDonald’s, Audi, Apple, etc. But when we have something complex and colourful, like Google, Firefox, MSNBC, eBay, or any number of basketball team logos, we’ll need some space to make all of those vibrant shades stand out.
T-Shirt Sizes
Some of our customers will wear a medium-sized T-shirt, while others will opt for a small, or extra large. Naturally, when the size of the canvas changes, so does the appearance of a logo. For instance, if we opt to place our logo in the centre of the shirt, the one on an XL product will be bigger than the one on an L product.
We must take size differences into account when designing our T-shirts. Some logos will definitely look odd if they’re too small for an XL T-shirt. Others might suffer aesthetically if the logo is too big for a size S. So, in order to keep everything smooth, we might have to opt for several different logo sizes that correspond to the size of their designated T-shirts.
Visualising Our Logo: 4 Different Methods
Some people have a hard time deciding on where to place the logo of their brand on a T-shirt. And while they might have a size in mind, it’s not always easy to imagine what their company’s logo might look like when printed. In order to make a definitive choice, we can try one of these visualisation methods.
Using a Piece of Paper
Let’s say that a typical A4 piece of paper represents the basic logo size. If we have a sample blank T-shirt, we can simply lay the paper onto the centre of the shirt and do a bit of measuring. If the paper appears too big or too small for our intended design choice, we can adjust the paper accordingly until we have the exact size we need. We can do something similar with shapes; all it takes is some scissors and cutting the paper up into that specific shape.
Printing the Logo
This method is a bit of a step-up from the previous one. What we need to do is print a few different logo options (and sizes) onto paper, cut those shapes out, and then place them onto the shirt. It’s just like the paper method, but this time we actually have a proper visual aid to help us decide. We can also see if the colours of our design mesh well with those of the T-shirt itself. After all, not all branded T-shirts are white.
Comparing Like to Like
If we need a proper, real-life example of logo printing, we can always take one of our favourite shirts from the closet and examine the logo. If it looks good enough, we can apply the same principle onto our own shirt.
Alternatively, we can print a sample copy of the shirt at a local printer’s office. That will give us insight into what our logo looks like on a piece of fabric.
Asking for Some Advice
When all else fails, we can always contact our customer service representative. Not only will they answer any print-related question, but they might also provide certain suggestions and recommendations of their own, which could definitely help us decide on the best design.
Custom Brand Logo Designs for T-Shirts Summed Up
Branding a T-shirt is part business practice, part artistic endeavour. There is no one universal answer, of course. But if we dig hard enough, we can find one that fits our particular needs. Hopefully, this article has provided our readers with some valuable insight into printing custom branded T-shirts and the proper use of company logos on promo merch.
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Check out our full collection of branded clothing items which includes sweatshirts, jackets, childrenswear, and corporate wear. If you’re looking for something else, you may also browse our latest promotional products. Don’t hesitate to give a member of our experienced team a call on 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today.
