Where should the logo go on a company t-shirt?
Put the logo on the left chest if you want staff to wear the shirt to work, and on the full front if you want it noticed across a room. People are used to a left chest logo from polos and uniforms. It reads as professional, it does not fight with a lanyard or an apron, and it is small enough to work on every body type. A full front print is for launches, conferences and events, where the shirt is doing marketing and a small logo would be wasted.
In the Merch to Order studio the front print area on a tee is 12" x 16". A left chest logo is usually three to four inches wide, placed high and to the wearer's left. A full front print is usually ten to twelve inches wide, centered, with the top of the design a few inches below the collar. The dashed box in the studio marks the printable area, and the proof shows exactly where the print lands.
- Left chest: uniforms, retail staff, trade shows where people wear the shirt for hours.
- Full front: launches, giveaways, conference booths, anything meant to be photographed.
- Both: a small left-chest logo on the front and a big statement on the back is the classic combination.
Should I print one color or full color?
Print one color when you can, because a one-color logo looks sharper on fabric, costs the same on Merch to Order, and fits any shirt color you choose later. Most logos have a single-color version already (the one used on invoices and letterheads). White on a dark shirt or black on a light shirt is the safest combination, and it never clashes with the garment.
Full color is right when the logo depends on a gradient, a photo or several brand colors that must stay exact. Every order is screen printed, one screen per color, and standard ink colors are included in the per-shirt price however many you use. If you need an exact brand color, add the Pantone codes to the order notes. A photo or a soft gradient may be printed direct-to-garment instead, which we decide when we prepare your proof and tell you on it.
Should I choose a dark or a light shirt?
Choose a dark shirt for most company orders because it hides stains, suits more people and makes a light logo pop. Black, navy and charcoal are the three colors businesses reorder most, and white ink on any of them reads cleanly from a distance. Light shirts (white, sand, heather grey) look softer and more like retail, which suits a lifestyle brand or a summer event.
Ink color is independent of shirt color, so you can pick from 14 shirt colors and set the text or logo color separately. The rule that never fails: high contrast. Dark ink on a dark shirt or a pale logo on a pale shirt looks fine on screen and disappears in real life. The proof shows the combination exactly, so if you are unsure, order the proof and look.
What should I put on the back of a company shirt?
Put something short and useful on the back: the website, a slogan, or a list of team names. The back is what people see in a queue, at a booth or walking away, so a website address in a bold font earns its keep. A slogan works when it is funny or specific; a mission statement in small type does not. Event shirts often carry sponsor logos or the date on the back.
A back print on Merch to Order is a flat per-shirt add-on: $1 more per shirt for a back print, at any quantity. Text and a logo on the same side count as one side, so a left-chest logo plus a name on the front is still one print.
What should I send a designer if I hire one?
Send a designer your logo as a vector file, your brand colors as hex or Pantone codes, the shirt color you have chosen, and the print size in inches. Tell them the print area, and ask for a PNG at 300 dpi with a transparent background sized to that area, plus the editable source file. That is the whole brief; anything else is taste.
- Logo: SVG, AI, EPS or PDF, or the highest-resolution PNG you have.
- Colors: hex codes for on-screen, Pantone codes if you need a screen-printed match.
- Size: for a full front tee print, 12" x 16"; for a left chest, about 3.5 inches wide.
- Delivery: a transparent PNG at 300 dpi at print size, with any fonts converted to outlines in the vector.
Can I design a company shirt without a designer?
Yes, if you have a logo file and a sentence to say. The Merch to Order studio lets you upload the logo, add text in four fonts, size and position everything on the front and back, and see the price update as you type sizes. Upload a transparent PNG for the logo, add the website in the text tool on the back, pick a shirt color and you have a finished company shirt in a few minutes. The studio warns you when an image is too small to print sharp at the size you set, and the proof checks it again within 24 hours.
How do I check the shirt before the full run?
Check the garment against one you already own, and check the print on the proof. Every order starts at 30 shirts, so instead of a one-off sample, each product page names the comparable wholesale blank (a Gildan 5000 / Hanes 5250 for the Classic Cotton Tee) and lists the fabric, weight and fit. If you have that shirt in a drawer, you know the feel, and the size guide gives the chest and length in inches for every size.
The print is checked on the digital proof, which arrives within 24 hours of ordering and shows every side at real size on the shirt color you chose. Spelling, placement, contrast and ink colors are all visible there, and changes are free until you approve it. Once the first 30 are right, every reorder comes from the saved design at $7 a shirt, $6 at 200+ or $5 at 500+.