Customizing with Confidence: How to Make Your Group Stand Out

Whether you’re organizing a T-Ball tournament or a corporate retreat, there are customizing options you may not have considered when choosing hats, tees, totes or other team gear. Customizing your gear is often more budget-friendly than you might think, allowing you to add maximum interest for a minimal investment. Branded is here to offer some tips on ways to make your group stand out:

Use Bold Artwork

If your group doesn’t currently have a logo — or you need artwork for a specific event — our graphic design team can work with you to create a memorable image that truly stands out. We recommend bold lines and strong graphics that make an impact from a distance, rather than cutely or overly-intricate designs that quickly lose impact.

When ordering only one promotional item, try to create artwork geared to that item. A team mascot with an expressive face is great for hoodies and t-shirts, but those sassy features can get lost on a baseball cap or an apron pocket. For those items, choose simpler, graphic shapes that are easily discernible from their outlines.

Go 3-D

Using embroidery will literally make your group’s polo shirts, tote bag and caps stand out. This 3-D option provides a rich-looking, raised surface for group logos, slogans or member names. Our multi-head, computerized equipment can handle the most intricate jobs.

Hundreds of color combination options are possible, allowing a bold contrast not just between the embroidery and the surface fabric, but within the embroidered portion itself. From icy pastels to bold primaries, our thread color palette is extensive. We also offer a line of fluorescent embroidery threads.

And for an unmatched depth of color and texture, check out our range of multi-colored embroidery options, in which individual threads have several raised bands of color. Branded is always happy to help with your embroidery order, just fill out a Quick Quote and we will get back to you within 24 hours.

Color is Your Friend

Embroidery placement is only the beginning of ways to play with different hues. If you don’t have to follow team color traditions, why not create unexpected color combinations that help you stand out in the crowd?

If your nonprofit is trying to avoid the usual sad burlap tote bags, for example, why not choose an edgier, neon orange campaign bag with a striking purple logo? Or a black tote with your event name rendered in teal? Perhaps you want to signal your bowling team’s coolness by combining two-toned black-and-gray camp shirts with team members’ names embroidered in individual fluorescent colors?

Caps are often one of the most affordable ways to create group unity or for thanking donors — while also giving them a keepsake they’ll want to wear again. Consider an unexpected jolt of color for the cap itself, such as salmon — a hue attractive enough to avoid drabness, but “manly” enough to be accepted by both genders. Finish it with a equally unexpected logo color, such as silvery green.

Someday Your Prints Will Come

Another great way to add drama to your team apparel is through the inclusion of a print instead of all solid colors. Many of our caps, for example, contain patterned front, side or back panels. Alternatively, choose styles in which the print is on the upper or lower side of the cap’s bill. Prints range from olive or pastel camouflage to racing-style checks, and stripes of every color. Similarly, an already striking color block tote can be made even more eye-catching when one of the two solid colors is replaced with a zebra print.

You’ll find that many of our apparel featuring prints always features a related, solid color. This mixture of patterns with solids allows you to add your logos and other printed material on the solid color, without those graphic elements getting lost in the printed background.

Go for the Glitter

Finally, don’t forget that the best way to draw all eyes to your group is by adding sparkle. Rhinestones are yet another item in which even budget-restricted groups can do a lot with a little. Select smaller sizes and fewer rhinestones to make your designs pop in a subtle way, or add more shimmer to items by adding colorful, larger and more plentiful rhinestones. Our quote sheet makes it easy to upload a design, then choose rhinestone size and placement, in order to determine a price.

For more ideas about making your group stand out with customization, contact our friendly design team and sales associates for tons of creative suggestions!