Design tips for promotional T-shirts : Promotional Apparel

By Michael Cornnell

THE COST OF COTTON

One of the biggest issues within the promotional industry this year has been the much higher price of cotton. Anthony Corsano, president and CEO of Anvil Knitwear, New York, New York, shared some of his thoughts on what can be expected from cotton prices in 2011 and beyond.

Promo Marketing: Do you see more cost increases in the future?

Anthony Corsano: “That’s a difficult question to answer because I’m not sure where exactly all the manufacturers like ourselves bought cotton, but I would say that for the most part, we’re either okay where prices are, or in my mind, worst-case scenario we would need another 5 percent if cotton doesn’t come down from where it is today.

“Cotton, if you follow it, trades somewhat quarterly, and I think that whatever one would buy in cotton as yarn in the first three quarters of 2011 is pretty much locked down right now in the $1.40, $1.50 range. So I think we’re pretty much locked in for those quarters. I don’t think there’s going to be much change based on the 2010 harvest representing those purchases of the first three quarters of 2011. The 2011 harvest, which will occur in October, sets prices for the fourth quarter, and then the three quarters of 2012. That seems to be trading less than what’s trading now. So people will have to get their arms around potentially a slight increase, although I’m not sure that’s going to take place. Again, that would be a byproduct of where people have bought those first three quarters of 2011, and then we’ll have to see where the fourth quarter ends and the 2012 price levels out. There’s a possibility that if that was to come down a great deal, you might even see some kind of decrease.”

PM: Are these price increases permanent?

AC: “The talk in the industry is that we won’t see cotton trading ever again in the 50-60 cent range, that unless there was horrible worldwide economic conditions, it’s probably going to trade in the dollar range. I would say if it stays in the dollar range, [we’re] probably at prices that are appropriate.”

We've all seen them. Shirts with huge, thick screenprints, weighing down a shirt that looks like it's cut to fit a refrigerator box. Tees with gaudy, neon designs that would have been embarrassing in 1983. Decorations so poor that not only is the logo unintelligible, to look at it is to stare at the very heart of Comic-Sans, white-text-on-yellow-background madness.

No one likes staring at madness, comic-sans inspired or otherwise. So whether you're intimately involved in the design process or just interested in lending a learned eye on your clients' artwork choices, brushing up on your knowledge of printing and decoration techniques once in a while is a good idea. Below a few design experts share some insights on decoration trends and methods so you remain a lean, mean, imprinting machine.

Color Discharge
A chemical process where the original dye of a shirt is sucked out and replaced with a new color, color discharge sees a lot of use in fashion-forward pieces or designs with fine line work.

WHERE IT SHINES: Decorating light-weight apparel. Steve Kanney, general manager for Target Graphics, Naperville, Ill., explained that because it adds no weight to a tee since it's just swapping dyes, it's a great way to decorate lighter weight tees without compromising their feel and texture.

A HANDY TIP: "You've got to start with a good garment," said Kanney. "If you don't want it to be a car washrag, you've got to spend an extra dollar on the shirt, make it a more fashion-forward garment to start with," he said. "If it's not a good garment, you could give them out, but they're going to be out in the back yard mowing the lawn in it."

Tie-Dye
The famous dye process that helped define the look of a generation, tie-dye is still stylish today and seen many places in the promotional industry.

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