How to Choose the Right Promotional T-Shirt

T-shirts are a great way to promote your business or non-profit organization. As a promotional tool, color and style of the t-shirt and logo/design should be carefully considered. Since T-shirt printing companies (and embroidering companies) offer a large selection of t-shirt styles and colors, deciding which shirt is best may seem slightly daunting. However, choosing the right promotional t-shirt does not have to be stressful. By following a few guidelines, you can easily find the right t-shirt for your organization.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

How to Choose the Right Promotional T-shirt

1. Decide how much you are willing to pay per t-shirt and then shop around for the best deal. Most t-shirt printing companies give bulk discounts. The more t-shirts your organization orders, the less you will pay per shirt.Promotional t-shirt printing is a competitive business--this means price varies considerably. Shopping around to find a good deal can save you a lot of money. There are many companies on-line that specialize in printing or embroidering logos and custom designs on t-shirts. You should also check out local printing companies also to see if they offer t-shirt screen printing services.

2. Create your t-shirt logo or design. Simple designs usually work best for promotional t-shirts. An effective logo or design captures attention and is easy to remember. Joe Barlow's Golf and Ski Shop t-shirts, for example, could have a drawing of a golfer and a skier beneath the name of the company, or could simply have the name of the company. If you don't have the time, or just aren't willing to create your own logo or design, many companies will do it for you (for a fee). Some also have professional templates you can use.

3. Choose the color and general style of the t-shirt. White is usually the cheapest t-shirt color but white can look plain unless your design colors are bold. Many t-shirt printing companies offer a wide variety of t-shirt styles and colors. When choosing the shirt color, consider the customers you are trying to reach. Are they young? Are they old? Your customer demographic is important to keep in mind when choosing color and design; for instance, if you are trying to draw in conservative, older customers, black t-shirts with Gothic red lettering are probably not the best choice. Match the style of the promotional t-shirt to the message you want to convey. For a sporty look, for instance, you might choose ringer t-shirts (these have colored bands on the neck and sleeves) or baseball t-shirts (the sleeves are a different color than the body of the t-shirt). When in doubt, choose a neutral color--such as light gray--that will allow your logo to stand out, will look less casual than white, and will stand up to many washings.

Tips & Warnings

• For small logos or design, embroidery looks best (but costs more than screen printing)
• If you create your own logo on a computer, follow the t-shirt printing company's guidelines for saving the logo to the right kind of file (PNG and TIFF are two common files types used for saving designs for printing)
• Order promotional t-shirts several weeks in advance to allow for production, shipping, and any possible delays
• Make sure you choose either preshrunk cotton or that you are aware how much the t-shirts will shrink
• Know ahead of time if the printing company you order from has a satisfaction guarantee

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