Branding & Design
Screen Printing vs. Embroidery for Custom Sweatshirts: Which Method Is Right for You?
No one wants to open a box of custom sweatshirts only to find that the finished product looks cheap. In fact, a recent Custom Ink survey found that this is the single biggest fear for 30% of custom swag organizers, ranking way ahead of late deliveries or going over budget. Most of that anxiety comes down to selecting the right decoration [...]
How to Design Your Own Hoodie: Ideas, Inspiration, and Tools for Beginners
You don’t need a massive budget or creative expertise to design a custom hoodie from scratch. In fact, all it takes is a rough concept and a few minutes in our online Design Lab — no special software or freelance designers required. Personalization is what turns basic apparel into a keepsake. Our 2025 Custom Ink Employee Holiday Gift [...]
Logo Printing on Promotional Products: How to Adapt Your Logo for Hoodies, Mugs, and Pens
Your logo looks exactly right on your website. Full color, crisp edges, every detail intact. On a pen barrel with 1.5 inches of pad-printed real estate, that same file turns into a blur. According to the Custom Ink 2026 Swag Trends Survey, 67% of buyers consider branded merch successful only when recipients voluntarily use it. A logo [...]
Image Resolution 101: Raster vs. Vector and DPI vs. PPI, Explained for Non-Designers
Nearly 50% of swag organizers are forced into accidental graphic designer roles, according to our 2026 Unsung Heroes Survey. Usually, the chaos begins with a “low resolution” error message or an “unsupported file” rejection. Instead of lost hours googling image file formats, use this breakdown to master the [...]
7 Logo Types Explained & When To Use Them: Which Designs Print Best on Apparel, Uniforms, and Merch
Choosing the right logo style can make or break your custom apparel project. Whether you’re ordering team uniforms, fundraising shirts, or company merch, understanding how different logo types print on fabric helps you avoid surprises and create gear your group will actually be proud to wear. If you already have a logo and [...]
Wearable Marketing for Small Businesses: How to Design Custom Hats & Apparel
A branded hat delivers high-impact advertising. It’s worn for an average of 10 months and generates about 3,400 impressions over its lifetime, at a cost-per-impression of just 3/10 of a cent, according to ASI’s Ad Impressions research. That ROI is unbeatable for small business owners who need every marketing dollar to count. [...]
How to Customize Pens for Business: Printing Methods, Product Types, and What Actually Gets Used
According to ASI’s 2023 Ad Impressions Study, a single branded pen generates 2,436 impressions over its lifetime at a cost-per-impression of less than 1/10 of a cent. Custom pens are the most cost-efficient branded product you can buy, and nearly 90% of American consumers already own at least one. The problem isn’t that pens [...]
Do Promotional Pens Actually Work? The ROI of Branded Pens, by the Numbers
Promotional pens have been the #1 searched item among promotional product buyers on the ASI ESP platform for nearly 30 consecutive months — and the underlying data explains why. A single branded pen costing under a dollar generates an average of 2,436 impressions over its lifetime, at a cost per impression that beats most digital [...]