Embroidery Guidelines

Clothing embroidered with your company logo has become more of a trend. The nationwide movement toward corporate casual wear coupled with the ever-important need for image enhancement, has created a booming need for embroidered wearables. Polos, denims, twills, and jackets have topped Corporate America's purchasing list. These products are being used by human resource managers, marketing professionals, and CEOs for special events, client gifts, employee gifts, and as a standard for acceptable dress in the workplace.

While most professionals have an idea of what type of apparel would best suit (no pun intended) their company, most have little or no understanding of corporate logo embroidery, the process, and/or how to get the best result.

Get Your Image Across

For the best embroidered logo result, provide your embroidery company with camera-ready art. Most embroidery companies now have the technology to receive your logo via e-mail, an efficient method of getting your image across clearly. .

► Tip: Thorough embroidery companies will fax or e-mail you an image of your art after they have received it to assure that they have the correct image, in the correct size.

From Art to Stiches

Once art is received, the embroidery company converts the image into stitches, a computerized drafting technique called digitizing . The digitizer created a file, instructing the embroidery machine exactly what type of stitches to use and when to change colors in the design.

► Tip: Experienced digitizers know the best type of stitching to use for each aspect of design. They have computer programs that allow them to create different effects for your embroidered logo. Look for embroidery companies with at least 10 years of experience in the trade.

Logos can be Sew Good...

Logos can be good, or they may need slight modification to create the impressive embroidered image you desire. An average corporate logo size is approximately 2" x 3" and contains approximately 7,500 stitches. This is the perfect size to embroider on the left chest of a garment selected - not too large and overwhelming, but large enough to project a professional image. This is often referred to as a heartcrest logo.

► Tips: Many logos contain aspects that can be lost in the embroidery process, such as little lettering and small elaborate detailing. A good embroidery company will work with you to incorporate the look you want into an image that will embroider well.

Show Your True Colors

Thread and garment can combine beautifully to create the logo look you desire. Keep in mind that most embroidery companies limit colors to six per logo, but some charge more for color changes. Now more than ever, embroidery vendors have clothing selections of all colors and patterns. If your logo colors are standard, chose your clothing as your canvas that will highlight the color(s) in your logo. If you have more flexibility with your logo colors, consider establishing two thread color sequences-one for light colored garments and one for dark colored garments.

► Tip: Service-oriented embroidery companies would be happy to develop color sequences for you, including recommending garment color families that would work well with your logo. Make your life easier and leave it up to the experts!

Location, Location, Location...

 While corporate embroidered logos are typically placed on the left chest, embroidery companies are getting more and more requests for logos to be embroidered on alternative locations. More and more, you have see subtle logo placement on the sleeve of a polo or on the yolk (the back of the neck, underneath the back collar).

► Tip: If you are tired of a left chest logo, ask your embroidery company about alternative locations. Keep in mind that depending upon the location you select, your logo may have to be modified to embroider well (for example, some large logos may have to be reduced to accommodate a sleeve location).