How to choose the right branding method for your logo

Most people choose the product first and think about the branding afterwards. That is backwards more often than not, because the method decides how the finished piece actually reads in someone's hand. The same logo can look sharp and modern engraved into steel and slightly cheap screen printed onto the wrong plastic. Five questions will get you to the right method without needing to know anything technical.

1. How many colours are in your logo?

This is the fastest filter. A logo in one or two flat colours opens up screen printing, which is the most economical method once quantities climb, and it holds a solid, even colour across a long run. A logo with a gradient, a photograph or more than about three colours rules screen printing out, because every colour needs its own screen.

For those, digital UV printing or heat transfer printing are the answer. Both lay the whole image down at once, so the number of colours stops mattering.

2. Is the surface flat or curved?

A flat panel takes almost anything. A curve is where methods start dropping away. Digital UV printing needs a reasonably flat surface to print onto, so it works on the side of a notebook but not around the body of a bottle.

For curved and uneven surfaces, UV transfer printing is the one that solves it. The artwork is printed onto a thin film first and then pressed on, so it follows the shape underneath. It is how a design ends up wrapping the whole side of a tumbler rather than sitting in a small flat panel.

3. What is the material?

Material narrows things quickly. Metal, wood and glass take laser engraving, which removes a thin layer of the surface rather than adding anything to it. Leather and heavier paper stock take deboss and emboss beautifully, where the logo is pressed in with a metal die and there is no ink at all. Fabric and apparel take heat transfer printing, which bonds into the fibres rather than sitting on top of them.

Plastic is the one that depends most on the specific item. A hard smooth plastic takes digital UV printing well; a soft or textured one often does not.

4. How will the piece actually be used?

This is the question people skip, and it is the one that decides whether the branding survives the first month. A bottle goes in a bag and gets knocked against things, then goes in a dishwasher. A travel adaptor is gripped and pulled out of sockets. A notebook sits on a desk.

For anything handled hard or washed often, engraving or deboss win, because there is no ink to lift at the edges. For a desk piece or a gift box that will be looked at more than it is handled, foil stamping or full colour printing can carry far more of the brand.

5. How many are you ordering?

Quantity changes the economics rather than the look. Screen printing carries a setup cost per colour, because a screen has to be made, so the cost per piece falls sharply as the run gets longer. Digital UV printing has no screen to set up, so small quantities stay sensible.

If you are producing a small batch of high value gifts, the per piece cost of a richer method is usually easy to absorb. If you are producing a few thousand giveaways for an exhibition stand, a single flat colour screen printed is almost always the right answer.

A quick way to narrow it down

One or two flat colours on a large order: screen printing. Full colour on a flat surface: digital UV printing. Full colour on a curve: UV transfer printing. A mark that must never wear off: laser engraving. Quiet, tactile branding on leather or paper: deboss. Full colour on fabric: heat transfer. A metallic finish on packaging: foil stamping.

The thing worth doing before you commit

Ask for a sample. This matters most on engraving and deboss, because the finish depends on the material and no screen mockup shows you what the light does to a pressed mark. It is the cheapest insurance on an order you are going to hand to clients.

The branding methods page has all seven methods in more detail, including what each one can and cannot hold and which products they suit. If you would rather just describe what you are branding, send the item and the logo over and we will come back with the method we would use and why.