Achieving the Wow Factor

By Elise Hacking Carr

On the Flip Side

Headquartered in Tustin, Calif., Logomark offers various decorating techniques for promotional products including, but not limited to, textiles. Here, Errol Bouchet, production director, breaks down the most common methods.

• Screen Printing: In its simplest form, it is transferring ink through a woven fabric screen and laying it down on an item. There are obviously many variables when it comes to deciding what size and type of mesh to use and what ink is needed for the product you are working with.

• Pad Printing: This is where an image is picked up off an etched plate and is transferred to an item by way of a silicon rubber pad.

• Digital Printing: A computer is used to reproduce an image, and then is printed out on a printer. In our industry, this process is used to print on paper and the image is then transferred by heat to a product.

• Transfer: This process is used to apply both digital and plastisol images to products.

• Laser Engraving: Without over simplifying the process, this is where a laser machine is used to engrave or mark an item with an image by way of a laser beam.

• Embroidery: This is probably the oldest decoration method and can be traced back to the Iron Age. The principle today is still the same as back then—thread or yarn is sewn onto fabric to create a design on fabric. Today, however, we use computerized embroidery machines that have the ability to do up to 15 colors.

• Deboss: A magnesium or copper plate with the logo on it is used to stamp leather so that the image is embedded in the item. The deboss equipment that we have is a radio frequency type machine.

• Vinyl: A decal or sticker is printed and then applied to the relevant product.

• Dome: This is a process whereby two epoxy-type resins are mixed together and is injected on top of a vinyl to preserve the integrity of the image.

For more information, visit www.logomark.com.

Christian Audigier makes it look so easy. Granted the exclusive rights to the designs of Don Ed Hardy (aka the Godfather of Tattoo) in 2004, Audigier launched what has become the explosive Ed Hardy brand of apparel. Dubbed “street couture,” the Ed Hardy line has collected an eclectic following along the way, covering the gamut of music powerhouses from Pop queens Madonna and Britney Spears to rocker Brett Michaels and hip-hop’s Kanye West.