How We Design for Screen Printing (So You Don’t Have To)

Custom merchandise gives businesses the opportunity to showcase their brand personality through fashion and design while advertising their business each time the product is worn or used. One of the most popular decoration techniques for branded merch is screen printing, which requires special tools and skills to manage and produce high-volume production orders. That’s where we come in. Imprint Engine simplifies branded merchandise from start to finish. Not only does our global operation maintain consistent quality and timeliness, our design experts are there to help on the front end to create merch worth showing off.

Table of Contents

• What makes a great screen print design?
• How are screen print designs created?
• Tips for screen printed graphics
• How we integrate sustainable practices
• Create your perfect design with help from Imprint Engine

What Goes Into a Great Screen Printing Design?

As nice as it would be for great designs to appear from thin air, thorough planning is required to craft a design that aligns every detail of your vision and results in a cohesive, impactful brand story. We’re going to focus on screen printing, but we design merchandise with countless decoration methods in mind. Read our full run-down of our in-house production capabilities.

Purpose

Of course you’ll want to consider the preferences of your audience and those who will be wearing your merchandise when you begin your design process. You also may want your design to serve a different function based on what it’s promoting or the event where the merchandise will be worn. For example, you might choose bold, loud colors to stand out at a conference or a design that includes specific information pertaining to a fundraiser or the business itself.

Printing techniques

It’s likely that you chose screen printing as your decoration method because of its ability to layer bold, vibrant colors. Screen printers employ three different techniques based on how they want colors to overlap and interact on the surface. The “trap” technique creates a small overlap between colors to prevent gaps. The “knockout” technique cuts one color out completely from another to cleanly separate the two. And the “overprint” technique prints one color directly over another, which can potentially create a new color depending on ink opacity. 

Customization

A design created for a t-shirt might not work as well on a coffee cup or ballpoint pen. It’s important to adapt and tailor your designs to fit each product’s unique shape and material. 

Simplification

You don’t want to overwhelm your audience with a design that is hard to decipher or read. Good screen print designs are clean and digestible at a glance. Don’t overcomplicate things! 

Tips for Screen Printed Graphics

Screen printing has its own nuances for achieving the best possible physical result from your ideas and designs. We screen print a lot of high-volume merchandise orders, so here are a few of our expert tips for designing the best graphics for screen printing…

Want to know more about the actual screen printing process? Read How Screen Printing Actually Works. Link to “How Screen Printing Actually Works” article once published

Buy the right equipment

In order to get high-quality results, you must have high-quality equipment, especially when producing high quantities of merchandise. A top-of-the-line screen printer can automate the entire process so that all you have to handle is the initial set-up. 

Limit the amount of colors used

Designs with too many colors can be overwhelming to look at, and even more overwhelming for the screen printer to create. By keeping colors to a minimum, the process runs smoother and results in a cleaner, more vibrant finished product. 

Limit the small details

Simple designs work best in screen printing because the quality, vibrance, and texture of colors can really shine. Plus, with too many details, your branding and message can easily get lost in the chaos. A simpler design is a reliable choice for large orders because it comes out sharper and more consistent across various types of products, like hats, bags, shirts, drinkware, and accessories.

How Do We Bring Your Design to Life?

Pre-production proofs

Before anything goes to print, we send and confirm pre-production proofs with your designs and brand assets mocked up on merchandise. We have our clients fill out our IE brand assets onboarding form so we can get a feel for the company’s style and achieve true creative collaboration. Get an idea of which design elements are necessary to tell a cohesive brand story using our Imprint Engine brand guidelines deck.

Adding a creative edge to your merch

Our team of designers are trendy, original, and up to speed on what the world’s top brands are doing. We infuse originality to merchandise so that even on a simple t-shirt, your brand stands out.

Navigating the limits

While the sky is the limit in a lot of ways, we know practical measures must be taken. We balance creativity with practicality so that your merchandise is as innovative as it is durable, well made, and easily packaged.

How Long Does it Take to Complete an Order?

While timelines vary depending on the scale of the project, I can walk you through a rough overview of the process. After project kickoff, the client will come to our creative service team for design needs that the art department will then fulfill. This may involve using the client’s existing designs or creating something entirely new for them. In either case, we try to gather as much information from the client before proceeding so we can adequately achieve their design goals. Afterward, we present the final design and continue to communicate with the client on how to best produce and decorate. For screen printing specifically, we create a template of the design to the correct size of the product and fire up our automated screen printing machines.

The “in hands” date ultimately depends on the quantity of products, if the art is provided or if our creative team is needed to create new art, and how many revisions the project requires. Once production is complete, we develop and manage custom company stores where customers can easily place, track, and exchange or return orders in one, seamless portal. 

How We Integrate Sustainable Practices

We’re constantly working to be better; be better for our clients, our teammates, and especially our world. The promotional industry has a reputation for circulating a lot of junk, so we’ve made a commitment to leaving a positive impact on our community and environment through our Imprint Impact program. Here are other ways we promote sustainability: 

We make stuff you’ll want to use

This one is simple: We make good looking, high-quality products that people want to keep. The best way not to contribute to the abundant textile waste is by designing and producing products that stay out of the garbage.

Eco-friendly collaboration

We collaborate with vendors, suppliers, and manufacturers that share our sustainability practices and values. Over 100 of our vendors and suppliers are eco-friendly in their offerings and practices with a focus on sustainable production methods and materials. Check out our list of 9 sustainability initiatives to use in your workplace.

Sustainable products

In today’s age of increased eco-consciousness, there are more biodegradable and compostable products than ever to choose from. It’d be dumb not to opt for eco-friendly products when you can! Read our list of sustainable merchandise ideas for eco-friendly businesses or learn more about how to improve sustainability in your company.

Regionally made

Not only is shipping stuff globally insanely tedious and expensive, it takes a toll on our environment. We have production facilities around the world so that Imprint Engine products can be made regionally, reducing transport time and majorly cutting down on emissions.

Recycled and Upcycled

As part of our Imprint Impact program, our products are made primarily of post-consumer recycled materials or are upcycled from scraps of previous projects. We also continue the cycle of reducing waste by donating extra products to organizations in need.

Start Your Design Process With Imprint Engine

Successfully bringing your screen print design to life requires thorough planning and sharp attention to detail. Our designers and doers at Imprint Engine can fulfill your merch vision with practicality, efficient budgeting, and a serious creative edge. Contact a brand expert today to get started.