Custom screen-printed t-shirts and apparel

Custom screen-printed t-shirts and apparel are ordered through Logo Loco, my promotional products brand. Whether you need shirts for a crew, an event, a fundraiser or a customer giveaway, I'll help you get the design, the garment and the print method right.

Every order is quoted to the project, because the price depends on the number of shirts, the number of colors in your design and the garments you choose. Call or text me and tell me what you're planning, or browse logoloco.co to get ideas.

Screen printing is a stencil method. A fine mesh screen is coated with a light-sensitive emulsion, and your design is exposed onto it so that only the design area stays open. Ink is then pressed through those open areas with a squeegee, directly onto the shirt.

A few things follow from that:

• One screen per color. A one-color design needs one screen; a four-color design needs four, lined up precisely on top of each other.
• Setup happens once. After the screens are made, each additional shirt prints quickly, which is why screen printing suits larger runs.
• The ink sits in the fabric. The result is a bright, solid, durable print that holds up well to washing.

After printing, the ink is cured with heat so it bonds to the garment and lasts.

Each decoration method has a job it does best. Here is a plain comparison:

I do embroidery in-house, so if a stitched logo on a polo or hat fits your needs better than a print, I'll tell you. Plenty of businesses use both: screen-printed tees for events and embroidered polos for the team.

Most screen printing uses one of two ink types:

• Plastisol ink sits slightly on top of the fabric. It gives bright, opaque color, works well on dark shirts and is the long-standing standard for t-shirt printing.
• Water-based ink soaks into the fibers. It gives a softer feel, often described as a print you can barely feel, and suits lighter garments and softer cotton shirts.

Specialty options such as metallic or glow inks may be available depending on the project. Ask, and I'll check what's possible for your order.

Because each color needs its own screen, the number of colors in your design matters. Fewer colors usually means a simpler setup. A strong one- or two-color logo often looks sharper on a shirt than a complex full-color image.

A few tips that help:

• Think about contrast. White or light ink pops on dark shirts; dark ink reads best on light shirts.
• Match your brand. If you have specific brand colors, share them (a Pantone number is ideal) so the ink can be matched as closely as possible.
• Count the garment color. The shirt itself can act as one of the colors in the design, which keeps the screen count down.

Good artwork makes a good print. Here's what to send and what to watch for:

• Vector files are best (AI, EPS, SVG or a vector PDF). Vector art is made of shapes rather than pixels, so it stays sharp at any size.
• High-resolution images also work, ideally at the size they'll be printed.
• Avoid hairline details. Very thin lines and tiny text can fill in or disappear on fabric.
• Convert fonts to outlines in vector files, or tell me which font you used, so the lettering prints exactly as designed.
• Keep gradients in mind. Soft fades can be printed with halftones (tiny dots that fool the eye), but solid colors are more reliable.

If your logo isn't print-ready yet, send what you have. I can help clean it up, and if you need a refresh, I also help businesses with branding. Just ask.

When someone sees your shirt at a job site or an event, the next thing they usually do is look you up. If your website and your Google Business Profile carry the same look as your shirts, it's clear they found the right business. That's why I offer both: the custom-coded website and the branded apparel, built to look like one business.