Ultimate Guide to T-shirt Printing and Design

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A T-shirt is a casual piece of clothing that many of us use to express what we represent. Well, others wear T-shirts to advertise. So, how do you design a T-shirt that does it all? If you have a design you would like to imprint into your casual T-shirt, or an idea to promote your business or merchandise, or do you want a T-shirt to commemorate an event? Whatever your reasons for designing and printing a T-shirt, it is when and where you wear them that counts. This guide will show you all the steps you need to take to successfully create your own shirt taking into consideration different budgets.

Design your T-shirt following these steps

Figure out the need for the T-shirt: Do you need a T-shirt for promotional purposes or advertising? Whatever the case, it will always have an aspect of branding. Even if you are designing and printing a T-shirt for fashion, it must have consistent themes to communicate the message. If your T-shirt was for a one-time event, it still must bear personality traits that you want the T-shirt to pass across. Think of the themes you want your T-shirt to convey, for example, is it serious or playful? Is it conservative or edgy? Is it affordable or luxurious? Designing a focused T-shirt answer all the questions above at a glance. For an effective design, focus on real and quantifiable data rather than personal preferences. Think of your target audience and their brand traits or who do you think they want to associate with. We have four goals that will guide you in designing your T-shirt. Is it for promotional purposes? If yes, you want to keep your brand in the minds of prospective clients. You will give away these T-shirts as gifts at conventions, trade shows, conferences, and other events. If you are designing T-shirts for company usage, you might want to design quality T-shirts that employees will put on as a show of teamwork and solidarity. If your T-shirts are meant for merchandise, think of style, business strategy, and marketability.

Factors to Keep in Mind

Define quantity and the budget to implement: As a designer, you may be anxious to get the actual T-shirt design, but some factors go in such as quantity and budget. These two aspects play a critical role in the final product. Before you start the entire process, plan the budget and the number of T-shirts you would like to have. Depending on the method you will employ to print the actual T-shirts, budget and quantity will determine the number of colours you want to use therefore affecting the designs in one way or another.

Determine the printing option: There are many factors to consider when choosing the printing option to implement for your T-shirt designs. Factors to consider include, the cost of the printing option, the appearance of print designs, production time, and materials. There are several printing options to consider including; screen printing, vinyl graphics, print-on-demand, or direct-to-garment printing.

Brainstorm design concepts: This is the right time to figure out what goes into your T-shirt. Think about your target audience while brainstorming design ideas. Figure out how it looks when printed on the actual T-shirt and make sure it sends the right message about your brand.

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Why is promotional merchandise becoming more popular in branding?

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One of the challenges that many businesses suffer from is stiff competition from the other businesses that deal with similar products. Therefore, even though you have quality products and services, it would be challenging for many people to identify this fact. Therefore, you have to ensure that you select a perfect marketing strategy that will help you campaign for your products and services. Using promotional merchandise is a perfect way that so many businesses and companies are using today when they are advertising their brand.

Today, promotional merchandise is being used by companies in branding, and this has led to an increase in sales for these companies. Therefore, if you are looking for the best way of advertising your company or business, you should try using promotional merchandise. Until you do so, you will not understand why more companies are using promotional merchandise for branding. Let’s check the impact that promotional merchandise has on branding:

It boosts the visibility of a brand

One thing that you need to understand about promotional merchandise is that they provide advertisements to so many people on a daily basis. When you give people your promotional merchandise, they share this promotional merchandise with other people, which makes your brand visible among a large population.

With your brand’s logo on the promotional merchandise you are using, it is easier for their customers to recognize your products, especially if your promotional merchandise includes items that people typically use every day like pens and books.

It retains customers

As the provider of goods and services, you have to ensure that you have a genuine reason why people should buy the products and services that you sell. When you provide your customers with your promotional merchandise, they realise that they are valued, and hence this is why they decide to be loyal customers. This leads to customer retention.

It leads to the generation of leads

There are so many ways in which business owners use to generate leads, but most of these ways always fail. However, your promotional merchandise can help you generate leads, which you can use to improve your business or company’s returns.

It leads to brand recognition

Your brand is identified by certain things like the products and services you offer and also the logo. Therefore, when you provide people with the promotional merchandise that you have selected, they will know what makes you different from the other brands. This leads to brand recognition.

It creates brand awareness

There are so many people who are not aware of your company’s existence and the products or services you offer. This is why they never come to make any purchases in your business. When you issue people with promotional merchandise, many people will become aware of your existence, and also, they will share this promotional merchandise with other people. The more people who get into contact with your promotional merchandise, the more awareness is created.

It boosts the confidence of a brand

When people see your brand for the first time, they are never sure whether it’s a good idea to purchase the products and services your brand sells. However, promotional merchandise helps your brand to be popular, and as a result, many people will want to be associated with the products and services that you are selling. This, in return, boosts the confidence of one’s brand. 

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4 Things that a Corporate Uniform Signifies

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Impressions do last, and in the corporate sector everything sells the product from your skills to dressing to communication. For businesses to look highly professional and in order, a corporate uniform is necessary. It not only inspires your employees to perform better, but also influences your customers by creating an everlasting impression. Below mentioned are 4 things that a corporate uniform signifies.

Corporate Branding

Branding is an important process for companies after gaining their significant positions in the market. Color schemes, taglines, and uniforms are some branding elements that aid well in corporate branding. When your employees wear the official uniforms, they are a walking advertisement of your brand wherever they go. Uniforms also help people associate with your brand, and once they associate with it they will automatically start resonating with your brand. Brand resonation in return leads to customer retention. Therefore, corporate uniforms adelaide play a very important role in building your brand image and maintaining a loyal customer base.

Customer Experience

Corporate uniforms enables you as a company to make sure that your customers get the desired experience. When customers enter your facility, they come with some sort of expectation. However, it is on you to make sure that you deliver an experience so good that exceeds their expectations. Greeting them in proper uniforms gives an impression that you as a company have a welcoming attitude towards the customers. It also shows that you’re a responsible representative who wants to make sure that customers’ needs are well catered. In simple words, uniforms play an essential role in building perceptions.

Unity

Uniforms are a good way to promote unity and belongingness among your workers. People are motivated to work at a place where rather than being judged based on their race and color, they are treated equally. Having a corporate uniform annuls any kind of misperception that might lead to bias. A uniform signifies that people wearing that are welcomed whole heartedly in a safe place and they’re now part of a corporate family that is working together for a common cause. This phenomenon is exceptionally helpful for team building and results in a more efficient and productive workflow.

Safety

There are some professions that require proper measures as the work conditions might get a little adverse. For example, while working in the field of electricity and chemicals, there is always some risk involved. A proper and safe uniform is required to do the work which shall minimize the threat of becoming a victim to any accident. Moreover, doctors are also required to wear scrubs and surgical masks in order to meet the health and safety requirements. Likewise people tend to show respect and cooperate with a police officer in uniform.

This shows that sometimes, corporate wear is for their own benefit.  It is important that whatever profession you’re working in takes the health and safety requirements into notice and makes sure that their corporate wear is designed perfectly considering employee security.

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How it is made: what are the main inks used in screen printing?

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Plastisol inks
The Plastisol is an ink that comes from plastic and is the one most commonly used in the printing of T-shirts in screen printing : it is a homogeneous liquid mixture ready for use which works very well in the case of images with gradients, shadows and halftones. The beauty of Plastisol is given above all by the accuracy of the colors and their covering consistency: in fact, thanks to the Pantone Color Matching System® , it is also possible to recreate and print Pantone colors. Plastisol contains resins and plasticizers and therefore requires very high temperatures for the polymer to dissolve in the plasticizer and dry properly.

Plastisol is easily printable even with high thread count frames and offers colorsparticularly bright . Furthermore, unlike waterbase inks, it provides a wide range of special products and applications. However, since Plastisol is composed of resins and PVC (a suspension of polyvinyl chloride in plasticizer), it is rubbery to the touch and therefore is not suitable if you want to make a vintage hand print and / or an eco-sustainable collection. Although there are techniques for lowering the viscosity of the material, the result will be difficult to compare with that of a print made with the dtg technique ( direct-to-garment or direct digital).

Water based inks
Water-based screen printing inks typically consist of two components: the aqueous base and the pigments, which are added to the base to create colors. These inks are well suited for printing on white and light fabrics and can also be used if silk-screen frames are used on natural fabrics and paper. In the field of screen printing, water-based ink is an excellent alternative to Plastisol, as it has some interesting advantages.

It is equally resistant to light and washing, although it does not pass through the oven, and is therefore perfect for synthetic fabrics such as polyesterand acrylics, which cannot be subjected to high temperatures; moreover, it allows to obtain a vintage and soft hand, because the ink filters into the fabric and leaves only a thin layer on the surface. Since waterbase inks are free of plastic and PVC, they are also eco-friendly and easy to use. One of the main disadvantages of this type of ink is given by the fact that the printing results with water-based inks on dark fabrics are of a lower quality than those obtainable with Plastisol. In addition, waterbase inks are much more expensive, as well as difficult to manage, and Pantone colors, mid tones and shades are more complex to obtain.

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What is Screen Printing?

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1 – Preparing the file
The files must be prepared respecting certain quality standards and minimum parameters. Each printer will provide you with these details according to your needs.

The final print result is directly proportional to the quality of the file provided. Check out this page to learn more about how to properly prepare your files for screen printing with Burger-print.com

2 – Film engraving
Screen printing allows you to apply only one print color at a time. Therefore complex designs are broken down into individual colors by a chart. A transparent film will then be made (one for each color to be made) with the image above which will be subsequently impressed on the frame.

3 – Frame engraving
The frames are nothing more than metal or wood squares on which a special micro-perforated fabric is stretched. A special photosensitive gelatin is applied to it which solidifies when exposed to light.

To imprint the frames, therefore, luminous planes are used on which the previously engraved film is first affixed and then the frame in this order. The light will solidify the portions of the frame that it will be able to reach, leaving instead those areas that the etched film darkens gelatinous.

It will be sufficient to wash the frame to remove only the non-dry portions which will then be those through which the ink will be transferred to the substrates to be printed.

4 – Preparation of the inks
The inks are prepared according to the type of printing and the necessary colors. This process is carried out according to specific formulas in order to obtain the color shade desired by the customer by mixing different base colors together.

5 – Commissioning
Before printing, it is necessary to correctly arrange the frames on the screen printing carousel and load them with ink. This phase is one of the steps where greater precision is required especially if there are different printing colors to be made.

In these cases, in fact, a perfect alignment between the different color bars is necessary.