Designing A Logo For Promotional Products

One of the most common mistake an artist or graphic designer makes when designing a logo, is not giving much thought to where the logo will be used. In this article I will give you tips on what to look out for when designing a logo. These tips will save you money further down the line, and in some instance, alot of money. They will also save you a headache when it comes to reproducing your logo on printed material.

Now, anyone in the printing industry is aware that it is pretty easy to reproduce any logo using a lithographic printing method. This is the type of printing generally used for paper, for example, magazine, letterheads, business cards etc. What many people do not know, and in particular the general public, the business owner, and more shockingly, the graphic designer, is that when printing a logo onto a promotional product, for example, a pen, mug, folder or keyring, this task can become complicated. Why you ask? The answer is quite simple. I have outlined some points below of the problems that may arise when printing a logo onto a promotional product.

Designing a logo in full colour - This is something designers do often, mainly because the more colours a designer can play with, the more ideas he can create. This sounds like a good idea doesn't it? Well not really, and here's why. Reproducing a full colour logo onto anything costs a substantial amount more than printing say one or two colours. Another problem is that on many products, you cannot print full colour process, and therefore can only achieve what is known as spot colours. this is basically a solid colour, and usually goes upto about 4 maximum. Remembering that the more colours used, the more money it costs to print. Substantially more! The only way around this is by limiting the items you can print on to, or by creating another version of your log which uses less colours. This would essentially mean you have two logos.

Using small text within a large logo - This is something that is seen quite often and does cause a problem to business gift printers. The problem is that if the logo is reduced to fit onto a pen for example, the small text will be 'so' small that it will not be able to print. Anything generally below a point size of about 6.5 will fill in and will not be achievable. Try and keep text within a logo to a decent size and in proportion to the logo itself.

Thin lines and large blocks - Using thin lines within a logo can cause problems with some kinds of printing, especially foil blocking and screen printing. With foil blocking, heat is applied to a specially made die which then presses into foil. The combined heat and pressure bonds the foil / design to the promotional product and leaves the remaining foil on the roll. The problem with a thin line is that blocks are made from metal, and transferring fine detail from the artwork to the die is tricky. As for screen printing, an ink is applied to a silk screen, which allows the ink to seep through the design part of it onto a flat product or material. The main problem that printers come across when screen printing is when thin detail is required to be exposed within a block or area of solid ink colour. This is because thin areas are likely to fill in due to the mass of surrounding ink. To put this into perspective, it would be like pouring melted chocolate onto a plate and then running your finger through the middle of it. The chocolate would just fill in the line that your finger just created.

Oddly shaped logos - This is often overlooked, but a bit of extra thought when designing your logo can make a big difference at a later date. There are a myriad of logos in the world today, each one giving of a specific image. One of the main problems I have came across when adding a logo to the required artwork for promotional products, is the shape of the logo. For example, trying to fit a tall narrow logo onto a promotional pencil where the print area is 50mm across by 15mm high will cause problems. My advice is to create a well balanced logo that would fit comfortably within a square, or slight rectangle. I am not suggesting that the logo itself has to be in a square, but just so that it fits proportionately within a square, or similar shape. This will optimize the logo to be reproduced on most items.

Basically, all you have to do when trying to dream up your ideal logo, or instructing your designer to create one on your behalf, is to consider these four points. It could save you time, money and a sequence of headaches.

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