Designing custom apparel isn’t just about creating an incredible design. You can spend time ideating and perfecting a logo or design for your clients, but the key to ensuring value is the way you apply it to your garment. When creating quality custom apparel with a signature logo or lettering, you will need to decide between printing and embroidery.
At AWDis, we know it can be challenging to determine which method adds the most value for your clients, so let’s look at how the benefits of each method, the garment in question, and the end use of the apparel can help you make the right choice.
Is an Embroidered or Printed Logo Better Value for Clients?
Let’s begin by looking at these two methods at face value. Embroidery – decorating a garment using a needle and thread to create lettering and images – is generally considered the more durable of the two methods. Due to its tactile finish, it’s also considered to be the superior method aesthetically.
Printing – applying images or lettering directly to a garment using ink – equally has its advantages. Offering brighter and more vivid colour, it can deliver sharper and more detailed imagery, especially over a larger surface area.
To determine the method that will deliver the most value for your clients, a more tailored approach is required. Let’s take a look at how printing and embroidery shape up against one another for specific garments and activities.
Is It Better to Embroider or Print on Hoodies?
Hoodies are the foundation of so many custom apparel lines. From corporate event clothing to sports club uniforms, these garments are the perfect place to start a customisation journey, and our Just Hoods range rightfully sits at the heart of everything we do at AWDis. But should you embroider or print on hoodies?
If you’re working with a heavy hoodie with a GSM of over 280, such as our Signature Heavyweight Hoodie, embroidery is the best customisation method. The fabric of these hoodies can support the tension of the stitches without distorting, meaning detailed, tactile logos can be created to portray quality and style. Lighter hoodies, such as our Electric Hoodie, are conversely better suited for printing.
The size of your logo will also impact what method you choose for customising a hoodie. A heavy hoodie can only support an embroidery logo of a certain size, so large back designs are always recommended to be completed using printing. Embroidery is just right for small logos on the front torso.
When Should You Choose Printing or Embroidery?
When customising apparel, your client’s needs must be at the forefront of every design decision. Knowing when to use printing or embroidery must therefore come from an assessment of what best aligns with the client’s intentions for the garment. Let’s look at what garments are better suited to either printing or embroidery.
Embroidery: Custom-Facing Quality
Due to its technical quality and tactile finish, embroidery is perfect for garments worn in corporate or customer-facing environments where a logo’s quality is intended to reflect the quality and viability of a brand. Staff uniforms crafted with our 100 Polo, for example, can be completely transformed with the intricate detailing of an embroidered logo.
Additionally, embroidery’s durability and lasting quality make it ideal for garments that are to be used for long periods of time. A corporate uniform will be worn for hours on end, day after day, so an embroidered logo that doesn’t fade, crack, or discolour is vital for keeping your logo looking fresh and eye-catching.
Printing: Eye-Catching Merchandise
For garments that depend on bright colour, detailed imagery, and maximum visibility, printing is the ideal method, and perhaps no type of garment depends on this type of customisation more than merchandise.
For bands wanting their name to be seen, promoters trying to spread the word about their event, or fashion retailers looking to create branded apparel, printing allows for much more colourful and detailed logos than embroidery, not to mention much larger designs that don’t weigh down the fabric.
A brand looking to boost awareness with our Cool T, embroidery of a certain size would compromise the garment’s drape and breathability. Printing, however, is lightweight, low-cost, and capable of matching Pantone colours, making it essential for producing a high quantity of garments that pack as much detail on their surface as possible.
Find Your Client’s Ideal Garments Here at AWDis
Choosing between embroidery and printing can be difficult, but now you have the expertise to select the right method for delivering maximum value for your client. If they need quality that emphasises their brand ethos or colourful images that can’t help but catch the eye, there’s a design method perfect for the job.
Whether you’re looking for durable polos, casual hoodies, or lightweight sportswear, we’ve got just what you’re looking for at AWDis. Got questions? Reach out – our team is always here to help!
