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.

Armed with dip dyes and rhinestones, the Ed Hardy line adds edge to an otherwise contained look. Nevertheless, the behind-the-scenes process of giving a basic T-shirt the “wow factor” isn’t always full of glitz and glam. After all, there is a method to the madness. And as novice distributors test the promotional product waters by shopping for dependable screen printers to decorate the number-one wearable in the industry, there is much to consider.

Tom Vann, founder and CEO of, Naperville, Illinois-based Target Graphics, recommended finding a screen print shop that will offer a tour since nothing can replace seeing something carried out firsthand. “Distributors always come out with a great appreciation for just how much goes into garment screen printing. I often tease that folks think printed T-shirts grow on the ‘T-shirt Tree’—alluding to the misinterpretation that printing T-shirts is quick and easy,” he said. “Certainly it is not rocket science, but it does involve a process.”

The process, he continued, requires adherence to a specific set of standards, including:
• Order processing
• Production scheduling
• Art preparation
• Art approval
• Screen making
• Ink mixing
• Press setup
• Printing
• Quality control
• Packing and shipping.

Once a distributor selects screen printing as its preferred decorating method, the degree of complexity depends on what is trying to be accomplished. For instance, on a basic level, T-shirts are fairly simple products. Choose a high-quality brand, and have it printed. Vann noted the majority of printers will use plastisol ink and 100 percent cotton for fabric.

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Elise Hacking Carr Author's page

Elise Hacking Carr is editor-in-chief/content director for Print+Promo magazine.