Now that we have a logo, I was wondering if anyone here had more experience than me in creating swag. Personally, what I'd like are:

T-shirt
Patch/baseball cap (one can make a cap with a patch if we don't make hats specifically).
Inside the window sticker
License plate frame (though that may be hard to do with the full logo rather than just text).

Any other ideas/requests?

I saw that Vistaprint allows you to create one-off's for the inside window stickers for a few bucks each. I have gone to a local Tshirt place to have a custom T-shirt made (or small batches).

We probably don't have enough people yet to make larger quantities of things... but perhaps someone here knows a way to make small batches for less money.

There are a whole lot of factors that come into the picture for different outputs. The biggest factor by far is how much work can be done before it goes to production.

I can get with Dummo on any output changes needed, but I'm assuming he already has a grasp on it. Vector graphics are almost always more desired as they scale, raster graphics turn into bitmap hell with attempts to scale.

For printing, inside the window stickers will wash out more due to reflection off the windows and/or tint. Outside stickers will give a much better true color. With the detail and fine lines in the logo, printing is the only real possibility for the stickers. Doing that in straight vinyl would make very thin lines that break easy, and would require either a color overlay or converting them to single color.

Screen printing is a no brainer, we could send them color separations and save setup costs. More colors = more money. In the case of this logo printing it on red shirts would produce the same look and be one less color printed. Time and money saver for the output.

Embroidery can be tricky, and many use a proprietary format. This often results in greater setup charges, and depending on output this is probably something Dummo or me couldn't do. Again, the fine lines might make it harder, keep in mind this is thread creating the image. Once they have it set up, doing it straight on hats is the best option. Most get the hats dirt cheap in quantities, so there isn't anything to save by making sew on patches.


As with anything, discounts come with quantities. The big places like Vista Print and such will usually have the best pricing as compared to local, but some local places can give a deal as well.


When it comes to SWAG if you can imagine it, it probably exists. Though I spent most of my time in the industry in the larger sized output formats, I did also do some smaller type stuff, and had a friend in the ad specialty market they did all the little goodies.

Dummo has put some stuff up on cafepress.com which can be found here:

http://www.cafepress.com/saturnclub