How To Design Promotional Merchandise With A Customized Logo

Promotional merchandising is a quick and reliable method to create brand awareness and/or reinforce a brand message. It is a popular tactic that, most likely, your competitors are employing as well. What makes promotional merchandising favorable to any business is that promo products can be customized based on your goals. So developing something fresh and exciting for your target market will not be too challenging. You will only need to highlight your unique qualities and values.

And how do you do that? By adding a customized logo to your promotional merchandise. Your brand logo is your company’s distinguishing symbol, so it helps your market identify and recall your brand. For instance, if you create custom mug designs with your logo, people will either be aware of or remember your brand and might consider visiting your store whenever they see it.

Now how can you design your promotional merchandise with your logo? By following these seven tips:

Consider Your Audience

Once you find a message for your merch, consider your recipients. Who is going to receive this promo material? What type of design would be compatible with them? Will it help them in the long run?

The design or promotional merch should, first and foremost, be customized with the target market in mind. Considering the recipients’ preferences may encourage them to keep or use the product rather than ignore it at home or throw it away. In short, they’ll see value in the item and use it as intended.

Allocate A Budget

Allocating a budget is always an essential step in any business activity.

Before the design stage, do a price canvassing to know which supplier can give you the best bargain and how much you need to run this campaign. Usually, this entails asking a potential supplier for a quote or a bid.

Start Designing

After allocating your budget, you may now start designing your promotional merch. The message should be the focal point of the design, and your brand logo should serve to complement it. The colors must work well with your brand colors too. Also, the text has to be readable so that people can easily comprehend the message. So here are tips you can follow:

• Select A Complementary Color Palette: For instance, if you use earth tones on your logo, then it’s wise to use a color scheme that is also earthy. Likewise, if you have a colorful logo, you may use bright colors for your merchandise design.
• Choose Readable And Legible Fonts: If you can’t read the text or see the logo, then it defeats the purpose of your promotional merch strategy. So choose a font style and size that makes the text readable.
• Ensure It’s Share-Worthy: If you want to reach more audiences through your branded merch, ensure it’s something people will want to photograph. That means the design has to be eye-catching and engaging for your target market.

You want people to take photos of themselves wearing your product and post them on their social media accounts. This will give you free advertising and exposure for your business.

Create A Product Mockup

Once you’re done designing, don’t print the promotional products yet. You will need to know what the design looks like on the product. It will help you assess whether the design is visually appealing on the item.

What you should do first is build a product mockup. A mockup is a virtual representation of your merch with the design. It will be what you will present to your stakeholders so that you can solicit their opinions about which parts they want to change, if any. With a mockup, it will be easy to incorporate any changes before the design goes to print.

Use A High-Quality Material

After finalizing your design, look for a supplier who can provide high-quality material. For example, if you chose T-shirts for this project, go for cotton shirts. If you plan to print on mugs, use ceramic, porcelain, stainless steel, or melamine material. Always go for durable material so that your merch can last longer.

Use The Proper Printing Method

The printing method is essential as it affects how long the print can last. Even if you use a durable material, it won’t last long if the design is not printed through the best possible method.

Screen printing or heat transfer are popular and reliable methods for merchandise branding. Screen printing tends to fade after some time, however. Meanwhile, heat transfer doesn’t fade away but takes more time and effort than screen printing. Digital printing, on the other hand, can deliver better quality. While this alternative is limited to paper-made products, the design doesn’t chip off easily.

Research extensively to figure out which printing works best for your branded merch. Try consulting a print production expert because they can guide you through the process and provide good options.

Summing It Up

Ultimately, designing promotional merchandise with a customized logo needs careful planning. It usually starts with creating a message that stays true to your brand. Aside from that, you should also consider the specific audience of your business and how they would perceive your products.

Once you figure these out, you can choose a design that best represents your brand. Just make sure to use high-quality material and the proper printing method. That way, your merch delivers your company’s goals in producing it in the first place, helping your business grow.