Apparel Factoids

In order to compete in the employment marketplace, employers in the 90s searched for creative options to attract new employees and retain present ones.

So, what happened?

• Wearables shot to the #1 category in Promotional Products
• Up 3 points from 24% to 27% in one year

• 90% of all US companies have casual day of some kind
• 1/3 of all companies allow casual clothing every day
• More than 40% of all companies have expanded their casual dress options in the last three years

• 87% - improves morale
• 81% - perceived by employees as a benefit
• 51% - employees save money because of casual dress
• 47% - improves productivity
• Given the chance, 96% of employees take advantage

• 81% - Improves morale
• 57% - I'm judged now more on my performance than appearance
• 57% - Better camaraderie with managers & co-workers
• 51% - Do best work when casually dressed
• 43% - Boss is more approachable

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Boardroom Casual- Apparel that's different than the traditional business suit, but still appropriate for the boardroom. Blazers, oxfords, vests, ties and scarves are the operative words here.

Business Casual- Professional dressing that's perfectly suited to attend a meeting, conduct a seminar or to meet a client. Banded collar shirts, oxfords, denims, vests, sweaters and turtlenecks are your main menu here.

Relaxed Casual- Office-appropriate attire that's professional enough to face customers, but comfortable enough to sit in front of the computer. Golf shirts reign supreme in this area, as well as denims, chambray shirts, fashion fleece, sweaters and turtlenecks.

Dress Down Casual- Casual apparel for a labor-intensive day such as cleaning out files or organizing your area. Tees, sweats and denim are your directions on this one.

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Consider these opinions of small business owners when asked about holiday gift giving:

• Over 75% feel it helps improve their business
• Over 55% believe it leads to increased sales
• Over 70% consider it an important part of their marketing effort
• Over 85% believe it improves employee morale

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• 21.5 million men
• 5.1 million women
• With 2.1 million, juniors (aged 12-17) represent the fastest-growing group
• With 7 million, the 30-39 year age group is the largest percentage at 26.4%
• 1 in every 4 golfers is a senior (2.7 million aged 65+)
• 43% hold Professional/Management/Administrative occupations

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Following the tips below can help assure the artwork you provide will achieve the dynamic results you want when your logo is screenprinted or embroidered on your wearables. It can also help increase the efficiency and quality of the decorating process. Art that is "ready" for use is provided in an electronic file that can be used for pre-press and printing without making modifications. Below are a number of important considerations and tips to help get your art ready for decorating.

Acceptable Artwork Formats

Art may be provided in any of the following formats. Please note the modifications that may need to be made it order to make each format ready for decorating.

For all three formats, proper resolution is critical for clean results. The standard resolution for printed artwork is 300 dpi (dots per inch).

Mechanical artwork

The traditional standard for acceptable mechanical artwork is "camera-ready black and white." Mechanical artwork can be supplied on a sheet of white paper or bromide, and should be no larger than 8.5" x 11".

Hand-drawn artwork

A logo that's been drawn by hand is a great starting point, but it will need to be digitized and modified for practical use.

Digital artwork

Images created in Adobe Illustrator, QuarkXPress, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Word, Excel, or Powerpoint are preferred over mechanical and hand-drawn artwork for quality of the end result and efficiency. However, digital artwork may still require modification and/or preparation for the decorating process.

File suffixes

If your digital artwork file ends with any of these suffixes, it can be used to properly prepare your art:

• .bmp
• .eps
• .gif
• .pct
• .pdf
• .tiff
• .dst

Proofs

Any time you supply digital artwork, be sure to include a printed proof for reference.

Disk formats

When providing your artwork on disk, it is best to use one of these more standard disk formats: CD-Rom, or regular floppy.

E-mailed art

When sending your artwork via e-mail, be sure to provide all of the basic elements, including:

• fonts
• layers
• paths

Unacceptable Artwork Formats

Artwork provided in the following forms, or similar forms, will not be able to be modified into ready art... therefore delivering extremely poor results when translated into decoration for a garment:

• on a fax sheet
• scanned into a computer
• on a business card
• on a printed promotional item such as a napkin or matchbook cover

Logo Placement

Consider these lesser-used, but highly-noticeable garment locations for a unique logo/artwork placement.

• Back yoke
• Back of collar
• Sleeves
• Cuffs
• Pocket

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Here is an easy way to estimate the amount of stitches you'll need for great looking logos.

• Print out the grid below
• Cut out your artwork and place it over the grid
• Count the number of boxes it fills, then find that number in the chart
• If your design goes outside the grid, estimate the extra grid space you need and add it to your original total.

Click here for a downloadable pdf of the grid.

Other Points to Remember when Estimating a Stitch Count

• 1 solid square inch of embroidery equals approximately 2,000 stitches.
• 1 solid square 1/4 inch of embroidery will equal about 125 stitches.
• No letter should be smaller than 3/16" each letter 1/4" in height equals about 100 stitches.
• Drop shadows in your logo will translate to 200 extra stitches per inch.
• Straight lines under logos typically require 200 extra stitches per inch.
• Fabrics, colors, and artwork detail will affect the amount of stitches.

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It's always beneficial to print more items than less because of the set-up charges involved. If in doubt about the final quantity of screenprinted items you'll need, it's often more economical to order more than you think will be required.

Every color has an associated cost; different colors have different chemical make-ups, which make them more or less expensive than others.

Drop shadows, shading and anything that blends from light to dark will probably end up looking like a series of dots and should be avoided. (This does not apply to single-color halftone gradients).

Most likely, the following special requirements will add to your screenprinting costs:

• If you need your screenprinting to match an exact color, requiring inks be custom-mixed to achieve that PMS color
• The process that allows colors to show correctly on dark goods
• Additional locations on a garment
• Special (not the normal) logo locations

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Buying for Men: Any style listed as Adult are sized for men. Adult Golf-cut styles generally offer a better fit for beefier male builds.

Buying for Ladies: Styles listed as Ladies' are women's sizes. If the women on your team prefer a Men's or Adult style, select one size smaller than what they would wear in Ladies' sizes.

Buying for Groups: Use the charts below for a general percentage to help you determine how many shirts in each size you need when buying for a group.

Most likely, the following special requirements will add to your screenprinting costs:

To calculate your buying quantities by size, simply multiply the number of people in your group by the percentage in the chart for each size.

These are general guidelines only and should only be used as a starting point for determining necessary quantities. Your group sizes may vary greatly.

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