Screen-printing & Apparel Design

There’s something special about throwing on a t-shirt, or a hoodie, with a logo or personal design printed on it. Nothing beats throwing on a t-shirt with your favourite band’s best album plastered over the front, and noticing another member of the public wearing the same band. Nothing beats throwing on a t-shirt of your favourite brand, and noticing another member of the public wearing the same brand too. You throw each other a look, a knowing smile. You’re part of the same team somehow, a club that you both belong to.

When you start a new job, the logo sitting proudly on your shirt signifies you’ve become part of something new. You can walk into any office and have almost instant comradery with everyone present.

Have you ever created something, like a new business, or an important event? Try throwing on a hoodie with the name and logo of your creation printed ceremoniously on the back. You’ve achieved something great, something tangible. And if someone asks you about your business while you’re wearing it? A bonus advantage of clever marketing and branding.

​How do we do it?
Now there’s a number of ways you can get your hot little hands on that specially designed apparel. Here we’re going to break down the three main processes of apparel design (and the one favoured by us at One Bite), so you can make the best choice for your needs. Make your father’s day by giving him a branded T-shirt or hoodie! Better still get him to advertise your business while he’s out and about!

1. Embroidery
   Not just for grandmothers anymore, embroidery is a basic process where thread is stitched into your custom product so you can rock your logo wherever you go. Think golf polo shirts, jackets and hats. Some logos may have to be altered a little if embroidery is the preferred method though, because it’s a tad difficult to recreate shading using just threads. To us, there’s nothing worse than a logo that doesn’t represent your brand correctly – it’s all about consistency people! It’s also difficult sometimes to get very small text to sew well using embroidery, that’s just the basic limitations of needle and threads. Embroidery is also a little more expensive than screen printing (but you didn’t hear that here!). Lastly, if you’re looking at hoodies or t-shirt, embroidery is often too heavy for certain fabrics, and you’ll get puckering around the logo due to the tension created by the stitching. Not a good look for your fancy new company t-shirts!
2. Vinyl
   Vinyl printing is all about heat transfer. Letters and designs from coloured vinyl are cut out using a special machine and then heat-pressed onto t-shirt’s to transfer. Vinyl printing uses a combination of pressure and heat – simple and bold. With vinyl, every shirt or hoodie requires individual set up, time consuming for any medium to large quantities, and time equals money. Simple graphics work best with vinyl, think text based pieces, or basic shapes. Need numbers for your rugby team? Use vinyl. Want a detailed logo or photo print? Keep looking. With vinyl you can’t create true gradients, shading, or blending, which means any fine details will get lost.
3. Screen printing
   There’s no hiding the fact that screen-printing is our favoured approach and I want to take this time to explain why we choose this process over the two above. Firstly, screen printing is a process that uses inks that are applied to apparel (or really just about anything!). The list really could go on forever and examples of screen printing are seen everywhere. The process is called screen printing because a mesh screen with a stencil is used. Each ink colour in a design is pushed through onto your t-shirt, creating a finished logo once combined. The winning selling point that has us shouting about our screen-printing from the roof-tops? The one thing you just can’t get with vinyl or embroidery? It’s all in the details. Detailed design is something that you just can’t get with vinyl or embroidery.

Ok it’s obvious now, screen-printing wins.
Screen printing is the best option in our view as we can create high end designs that include the pièce de résistance - shading and gradients. Detailed logos? No problem. Photos? Done. Cool effects? Bingo. Specific colours that are on brand? Easy. All these effects are nearly impossible with embroidery or vinyl. Plus if you’re printing a bunch of the same item it’s the most cost effective as well, a true winner in our books.

The graphics produced through screen printing should also last for the t-shirt’s life under normal use. To make your custom graphic last the garment’s life, simply flip your garment inside out before chucking it in the wash, and use cold water. Easy.

Get in touch with us today if you’re interested in looking at how One Bite Graphic Design can create the perfect screen-printed item for you and your business. Get in touch with One Bite TODAY! OR better still check out the website!