Choosing Images for Promotional Mugs

Your club, school or organization can sell them as fund raisers, or you can use them as incentives to gather contact information from potential customers. Promotional mugs can serve as souvenirs of events or locales, as a reminder of a special meal or as a takeaway gift after a trade show or conference.

With all the styles and types of promotional mugs available, it’s not difficult to design unique and unusual mugs that will get attention for your business or event. Of course, it’s the image that you choose to put on promotional mugs that will really capture attention. What factors go into choosing the image that you’ll use on the promotional mugs that you offer? Here are some tips that will help you choose the perfect image to make sure that your promotional mugs attract attention – and keep it as long as they’re used.

1. Always check with your promotional products supplier about any restrictions and recommendations for the mugs that you have chosen.

Promotional mugs have many different finishes, and some are more appropriate for one kind of printing than another. If you already know what you want printed on your mug, share the image with your supplier and ask for recommendations. The account rep working with you will have a good idea of which promotional mugs will show off your art work at its best.

1. For promotional mugs that will be screen printed, choose simple designs with few colours and no half tones.

Screen printing is the easiest and usually the least expensive method of printing your mugs. It’s a good choice for simple designs and logos, or for printing that is strictly text. The results will be clear, crisp and professional. On the other hand, screen printing doesn’t handle half tones and more complex shadings well. If your chosen artwork is more complex, has half-tones, or is photo-realistic, ask about four colour process printing, or foto-smart printing.

1. For text, choose a colour that contrasts well with the background colour and a font that is easily readable.

If you are using simple text and not trying to reproduce a logo, choose a sans serif font for best readability. Always ask to see a virtual sample of the text in the colour that you’ve chosen against the background colour that you’ve chosen. If you have time to see an actual sample, make a point of it, since monitors can display the colours that you see differently than on the actual object or item.

1. Consider four colour process printing for complex designs or photo realistic artwork.

The art department at the promotional products supplier can advise you about artwork and colours that will work best with different finishes and colours, as they have a great deal of experience working with the items you’ve ordered.

1. If you’re ordering promotional mugs with special finishes, like the WOW heat changing finish, pay special attention to the cautions and advice of the supplier’s art department.

Special finishes may make a difference in how particular colours are displayed or show up on the finished mug. This can be especially true of dark colored mugs with light artwork or of metallic finish mugs.

Your best course of action is always to consult with the art department of the company that will be printing your promotional mugs, as they have the experience to understand how the different colors will work or not work with the various finishes and styles available to you.