Logo Factory - We Print Shirts!

Beware of Flipping Ink Colors!

2010-06-20T21:08:00.002-04:00

People often bring us great looking logos printed in black ink on white paper. Then they want us to print it on black tees with white ink. No problem, you think. Here’s one that looks great either way.

Well, the reality is that some logos just don’t look right when we flip the colors. We once printed this line drawing of a dog’s face in black on light colored shirts. It looked great. Then we printed the same logo in white on chocolate brown shirts. Very bad. It didn’t even look like the same dog! We now always show our customers what the logo will look like before we print by creating an art file like this one so you can see what your shirts will look like. Just one of those things that you might not think of but is important for great shirts!

Palmyra, NY Tees

2010-04-22T13:29:00.006-04:00

Since moving to a bigger and brighter store, we’ve expanded our Palmyra, NY line of merchandise. Over the next month or so, we plan to add youth hoodies, adult zip hoodies, hats, totes, infant and toddler items and more adult tees. We honestly love the village of Palmyra and love to design tee shirts that promote it. We try to make a good variety of styles for all different tastes.

Our most popular tee so far this spring has been our “I heart Palmyra, NY” tee. I told a customer last week that we don’t particularly love New York, but we sure love Palmyra! The original “ I heart NY” shirt has always reminded me of NYC, which is NOTHING like the beautiful and historic village of Palmyra. We plan to offer this shirt in youth and adult sizes and expect it to continue to be a winner for us.

We also have expanded our ladies’ Palmyra merchandise. Currently we have three different styles of ladies’ tees and some fabulous beach blue zip hoodies. The logos are more feminine and the garments are cut for ladies, so these are quite popular as well.

Another new item we are quite excited about is our line of Palmyra street scene merchandise. This design is a reproduction of the north side of the 200 block of downtown Palmyra. The historic architecture of Palmyra is fantastic, and these tees, sweatshirts, and totes celebrate that! You can literally look out our store’s front windows and see the buildings depicted on your shirt.

Logo Factory is proud to be located in the historic downtown district of Palmyra. We hope our love of our town shines through the merchandise we offer.

Take a Hike!

2010-04-06T15:57:00.004-04:00

If you’ve never been to Palmyra, you may not know that we have some of the best trails and nature areas along the Erie Canal. One of our favorite places to walk is the loop that starts at Aqueduct Park on the west end of the village. Park near the beautifully restored change bridge and walk under it along the trail. This path becomes the original towpath near the old, landlocked section of the original canal. Over the years we’ve seen deer, foxes, geese, beavers, raccoons, woodchucks and muskrats. We’ve seen a huge variety of birds (including a juvenile bald eagle and a white swan) and wildflowers on this stretch of the trail as well. Just before you reach Maple Avenue, take a left through the woods and you’ll emerge by the modern canal. You can walk the distance back to your car with a completely different view.

On your left you’ll see this set of steps that take you to a decked overlook of a portion of the wetlands between the two canals. This is the spot Logo Factory has sponsored. Look for our plaque (but note that our address has changed just a bit to 202 East Main).

As you walk along this part of the trail, you have woods on your left and water on your right. It can be hard to believe that you are so close to one of our county’s busiest routes when you experience the peaceful sounds of nature here. Once you reach the park, you can take a short walk over the bridge to get to the lock. Visit the park in the summer months and chances are you’ll get to see the lock in action! Watching a boat travel through a canal lock is fascinating, and something everyone should see.

Take a hike or two this year along this trail and you’ll be sure to feel refreshed and relaxed. We may see you out there!

Mirroring: The Secret Tool of Great Customer Service

2010-03-30T18:11:00.001-04:00

Have you ever wondered why some people can talk to strangers? Why do some people seem to have the natural ability to create a rapport with others, while others struggle to keep the conversation going? Is it charm or something else?

The secret tool is called mirroring. The basics of this interpersonal tool are simple. When you encounter others, simply try to match your personality as close as you can to theirs. Try to sense the person’s energy level, pace, friendliness, sense of humor, and attitude.

Energy and pace may sound similar, but they are different. Energy can be high but pace may be slow when you browse in a shop. When you don’t feel well, energy is low but the pace may be high in order to get home to bed quickly.

Friendliness is how much you are open to interacting with others. Friendliness can be easily sensed. People usually feel more comfortable with strangers that aren’t overly-friendly, but are willing to acknowledge them. We’ve all been in stores where the friendliness level was so high that it made you a bit anxious and other stores where it was so low that you felt like an intruder. We each have our own set level that feels right to us, and if we pay attention we can tell others’ levels as well.

We all know people that laugh at anything and others that barely crack a smile. Humor is a fleeting thing and we should always take care in this area of mirroring. What you think is funny is not always funny to others. If you think the other person is open to humor, tread carefully. The best thing to joke about is yourself, because you generally won’t offend anyone else!

Attitude is important to identify but not always to mirror. Mirror a happy, excited, positive attitude when you encounter it. Don’t, on the other hand, mirror someone who is aggressive, angry or depressed. Try for a neutral attitude in those cases. Anything too happy might offend them.

If you make a conscious effort to mirror the next person you encounter, the results may surprise you. Your efforts to match the other person’s personality will make him more comfortable and willing to interact with you. You can train yourself to assess people’s moods within seconds and adapt to them, giving you the advantage of a more natural rapport with customers. Your customers won’t be able to tell you are trying to be more like them, but they will like you a little bit more!

Product Showcase March 2010

2010-03-23T16:55:00.001-04:00

Every month we’ll showcase a new product on our blog, and this month’s item is this Color-Spliced Hoodie. The sharp details on this hoodie include contrasting color hood lining and contrasting details on the shoulders and cuffs. Sometimes, you may just want a nice upgrade from our basic, sold color hoodie and this one fits the bill. It’s a 9 oz 60/40 blend, so it has a nice weight and comfortable feel. It comes in black/gold, navy/gold, red/black (shown here), heather/forest, heather/navy, and heather/black. These hoodies would be fantastic for a sports team, a club, or a business. The nice thing about this new style is that it also comes in youth sizes. It is available in youth XS-XL and adult XS-4X, so it will fit almost anyone on your list.

Organizing a Group Tee Shirt Order

2010-03-09T15:16:00.002-05:00

Did you ever want to have shirts made for your club or organization? When we are part of a special group, we like to show our unity and pride by wearing clothing that promotes our group. If you’d like to organize a group order for your organization, we have a few suggestions to make it go smoother.

Simply speaking, you would need to provide your logo (or your idea) and decide on what garments to offer in order to establish prices for your order form. Then you would distribute the forms, set a deadline, collect orders and money, and give the compiled order with a deposit to us. There are a bit more things to consider, however, and I’ll try to address those things here.

First you’ll need to decide if your order is a fundraiser or just an order. A fundraiser is usually created by taking the cost of the printed garments from us and adding a few dollars to those prices. The new prices go onto your order form and all order payments go directly into your organization. When you order the items, your organization pays for the garments and keeps the extra funds for your group’s needs. One advantage is that if you sell a higher quantity than anticipated, your printing cost may go down and you may raise a bit more funds.

A non-fundraising order can simply use the quoted shirt price. You can choose to collect the money or have each person write a check to us. Since prices are based on quantity, we work with you to estimate the total order ahead of time to get the right price for your order form.

The design and color of the shirt is often dictated by the logo of the organization. If your group agrees, your logo may be printed on more than one color tee. The more variety you offer, the more people will enjoy the buying process. For example, a navy logo would look great on both ash and light blue tees.

Order forms are more effective if they have more than one item for people to order. You may start by thinking your group wants tee shirts, but consider offering polos, hoodies, zip hoodies, sweatpants, jackets, hats, shorts or tote bags to your order form. If you keep the logo the same throughout, your quantities may be combined to meet the next price break (depending on the items). While you personally only may want a tee shirt, others may want to buy more than one item to show their support for your group. It takes very little time to add a few more items to the order form and the results may surprise you!

Deadlines are very important when working with people. Your order form should have a deadline and a delivery date on it. I suggest that you create a second, personal deadline to place the order with us, generally a week or so later, but don’t tell anyone! This will give you time to compile the order, double-check all payments and accept those late orders that straggle in. In certain circumstances I have even suggested having two order dates, with the second order’s deadline after the first order’s delivery date. Once people see what others purchased, non-buyers turn into buyers quickly. Special arrangements for two orders should be made with us when you start planning your order.

Another thing to consider when ordering for a group is offering custom names on shirts. For a few dollars more, members of your group can add their names to the back of their tees or hoodies. This can be an optional line on the order form.

Organizing a group order isn’t as difficult or confusing as it may first seem. If your group wants shirts, you can be the one who organizes the order with help from us at Logo Factory. Let us help your organization show its pride and unity with new shirts! Call us at 315-597-4640 or visit us at www.WePrintShirtsUSA.com.

It’s Easy Being Green: Part 1

2010-03-02T16:48:00.000-05:00

Here at Logo Factory, we are trying to work in an environment that is good for us and good for the earth. For us, going green falls into two categories. The first category is Frugal Green, which I’ll talk about today. “Frugal Green” simply means don’t waste what you have.

We receive hundreds of cardboard boxes a year from our suppliers and we recycle all of them. When you pick up your printed shirts, you get them in these boxes. They might not be pretty on the outside, but they are clean on the inside and still have useful life in them. Boxes not reused for shirts go to the recycling center or get used for other projects around the shop.

Another thing that we accumulate is misprinted shirts. No matter how hard you try, ink can and will get on things it shouldn’t. We recycle these garments by cutting them up into rags that we use for test prints and for cleaning equipment and tools.

Our shop has a mini-kitchen that is helping us go frugally green. We make our own coffee which we drink out of ceramic mugs, instead of stopping for take-out coffee every morning. We bring our lunches from home in reusable containers. We waste less food and money with our new break area and contribute to less waste of disposable take-out containers. With four of us here most days, this is a very frugal use of shop space!

Wasting energy is another thing we’ve cut down on. We are able to walk to work, which saves gas. We keep the heat down in the winter and schedule heavy cleaning in the colder months to get us moving. We shut down all our equipment when we don’t need it and often unplug things not in use.

These are just some of the simple ways we try to go Frugal Green in our business. Nothing here is rocket science; anyone can reduce wasting resources, energy and money. It seems silly mentioning these things as part of our going green efforts, but all these things over time are making a tangible difference in our business’ waste.

How to Design a Great Tee

2010-03-01T13:41:00.000-05:00

The elements of a great tee shirt are simple- color, logo, font, and placement.

Color is the first thing you notice about a tee shirt. Color choices must be made for both the shirt and the ink. The color of the shirt and ink may be monochromatic, such as a denim blue tee with navy ink. Contrasting colors work together to pop the message of the shirt, like a black tee with safety green ink.

The cool factor of the logo is in the eyes of the beholder. Some logos’ messages are unrecognizable, while others give a bold and clear message. Both can make a great tee. Sometimes more confusing is better, because it gets the shirt more attention. When it comes to shirts that promote a business, it is usually better to be simple and clear.

The font choice can be considered part of the logo, but it actually can make or break a great tee design. The entire feel of the shirt can be changed by switching fonts. I have seen very unique fonts that absolutely made the shirt, and I have also printed very cool shirts with simple block font.

What often sets a great tee apart from average tees is the design placement. A sleeve print and a lower hem print can completely change the feel of a tee shirt.

The ink can be applied to any spot on the shirt, so creative print locations are often what set the shirt apart. The left chest/full back combination works well for traditional businesses, but consider a more unique print placement to catch the eye and get attention for your message.

Creative and well-designed tee shirts are powerful. They are worn more often, read more often and discussed more often. The next time you need to plan a tee shirt design, be creative in your color choices, logo design, font choices, and ink placement. Just a bit more thought can turn your average tee into a great one!

Small Business, Big Look

2010-02-17T16:12:00.002-05:00

What distinguishes a large, national business from a small business? Often it starts with appearances. What do we expect to see? Small businesses should take stock of what the big guys do visually.

Big companies invest in their visual brand. They choose colors that evoke a response. They create simple, graphic logos which they then plaster everywhere. They commit to their logo as if their lives depend on it, because they do. These logos get updated over the years, but rarely stray from the original concept. Big companies understand the power that images have on the memory. Small companies can look bigger by designing (or paying someone to design) a simple, quality logo that can stand the test of time, and then sticking with that logo for the long haul.

Brand consistency is another thing big companies do well. Imagine a famous brand of soda. Do you immediately see their logo color in your mind? Their shipping trucks have the same visual effect as their website, their commercials and their bottles. Small businesses can use this same technique to visually imprint themselves on the world. The logo and company colors need to be on everything, from the vehicle to the business cards to the tee shirts to the website. If you commit to navy and white, make sure EVERYTHING is navy and white. If the small business has an office or storefront, this is even more powerful. Customers will respond when everything is branded consistently.

Small businesses benefit from appearing bigger and more successful. By investing time and effort into your business brand, you will gain consumer confidence. People like to do business with companies that treat them well and make them feel smart for choosing them. Great branding is a smart thing to do and makes your company look smart. When you look smart, people will feel confident in doing business with you. When they are confident, you're business will grow. And soon you'll be one of the big businesses you modeled your branding after. Now that's smart!

2010-02-17T16:02:00.000-05:00

Color: Does it Really Matter for Business Logos?

There have been many studies on the effect of color on emotions and attitude. Navy, burgundy and silver all evoke a sense of quality. Red and yellow excite us, while greens and light blues calm us. Your company colors help establish your image and are a vital part of what people recognize as they look at your business logo.

Choose your colors carefully, but don’t be afraid to be unique. Purple and orange have been successfully combined for donut selling, although most people would never use those colors together. Many popular combinations are opposites on the color wheel, like gold and purple, green and red, or orange and blue. Others are adjacent colors, like green and yellow or blue and red. Metallic gold or silver can often be used as a neutral color within a logo. Black is always crisp and easy to read and works with any color. Monochromatic logos can also be very effective.

Remember that your company colors will be used on your website, business cards, signs, apparel, promotional products and more. Be sure your colors project the right image for your business. Whatever you decide, stick to it. Can you imagine if Coke didn’t like red anymore?

Welcome to Logo Factory!

2010-02-17T15:50:00.004-05:00

We've been very busy over the last few months. We moved our shop and expanded our space. Our storefront is now about three times the size it was. Our production area is much larger and we are really enjoying the fabulous visibility our new location offers.

We are also working on our social networking, with new accounts on Twitter and Facebook to make it easier to communicate with you. Please forgive my lack of skill in these areas, but I think we'll get it rolling over the next few weeks.

We also want to share longer thoughts with you here at our blog. Hopefully, the posts will be informative, entertaining, and useful to you. If I can't pull this all off, I'll hire our daughters to do it for us!

Thanks for reading!

Linda at Logo Factory