Branding methods
How your logo goes onto the product
The method matters as much as the item itself. The same logo can be printed, engraved, pressed or foiled, and each one changes how the piece reads in the hand when someone across the desk opens it. Here is what each method does, where it works and where it does not.
Seven methods
Pick the finish, not just the product
Most items can take more than one method. The right one depends on the surface, the number of colours in your logo and how the piece will be used.
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01
Screen printing
Ink pressed through a mesh stencil, one colour at a time.
A stencil is cut for each colour, then ink is pushed through it onto the product. The colour sits on the surface as a solid layer, so it stays even from the first piece to the last and the cost per unit drops as the quantity climbs. It is the method behind most conference totes and event bottles.
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02
Digital UV printing
Full colour printed straight onto the item and cured as it goes down.
The artwork is printed directly onto the surface and hardened under ultraviolet light on contact. It holds gradients, fine detail and photographic images without a separate screen for every colour, and it can be built up in layers to leave a slightly raised finish you can feel with a fingertip.
Products that take this well See all -
03
UV transfer printing
A printed film wrapped onto the product with heat and pressure.
Artwork is printed onto a thin film and then pressed on, so it follows curves, ridges and narrow round bodies that a flat printer cannot reach. It is how a full colour design ends up wrapping the whole side of a tumbler rather than sitting in a small panel.
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04
Laser engraving
The mark is cut into the material instead of laid on top.
A focused laser lifts a thin layer from the surface and exposes the material underneath. There is no ink, so nothing peels or fades on a piece that is handled every day. On stainless steel it reads as a soft grey, and on wood or leather it burns darker than the surface around it.
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05
Deboss and emboss
Your logo pressed into the surface with a metal die.
A die is cut for the logo and pressed into the material. Debossing pushes the shape down, embossing lifts it up. No ink is involved at all, so the branding is felt before it is seen. It suits leather folders and heavier paper stock, the kind of piece that is handed across a table at a meeting.
Products that take this well See all -
06
Heat transfer printing
A printed design bonded into fabric with a heat press.
The artwork is printed onto a transfer sheet, then pressed into the garment so it bonds with the fibres. Because it is printed first, it carries full colour and fine detail that screen printing cannot reach, and it behaves the same way for a single sample as for a full staff order.
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07
Foil stamping
A mirror finish in gold, silver, rose gold or holographic.
A heated die presses metallic foil onto the surface and leaves a clean, solid mark with a mirror sheen. It moves with the light, so it is usually kept for the logo alone rather than for large areas of artwork. It is a common choice for Ramadan and Eid gift boxes, where the packaging is part of the gift.
Before you send artwork
What we need from your file
A clean file saves a round of corrections later. If you only have a logo pulled from a website or a presentation, send it anyway and we will tell you what is workable.
Vector artwork
AI, EPS, SVG or PDF with the type outlined gives the cleanest edge at any size. Keep lines above 0.3 mm and text above 5 pt.
Raster files
PNG or JPG can work for full colour printing at 300 dpi or better at the size it will be printed. We check the file before anything goes into production.
Colour matching
Send Pantone references if you have them. Screen printing matches closely, while engraving and deboss carry no colour at all.
Arabic and bilingual logos
Send Arabic lock ups as outlined vector. Arabic letterforms join up, so live text can break apart if the font is missing on our side.
Size and position
Tell us where the logo should sit and how wide it should be in millimetres. If you are not sure, we mark a position on the proof and you move it from there.
Proofs
You approve a digital proof of every branding position before a single piece is produced.
Not sure which one you need
Send us the product and the logo
Tell us what you are branding, share the artwork and let us know roughly how many you need. We will come back with the method we would use and why.