Custom Business Logo Shirts
Custom business logo shirts for small business owners putting their logo on the team for the first time. Olive Branch Apparel embroiders and prints polos, tees, hoodies and hats in Fort Collins, Colorado, and ships across the United States.
If you have been searching for shirts for my business and are not sure which file to send or which method to pick, this page walks through it. Design in the studio below and see your price before you commit to anything.
Design Your Logo Shirts Here
Upload your logo, set it on the left chest, and watch the price for custom business logo shirts change as you adjust the quantity. The studio opens on an easy-care polo, a common first shirt for a team that meets customers face to face.
Embroidery vs Print for Custom Business Logo Shirts
The first real decision on a logo shirt is how the logo gets onto the fabric. Both main routes look professional when they are matched to the right garment and the right artwork, and both disappoint when they are not.
When to Embroider Your Logo
Embroidery is thread stitched into the garment, and it reads as permanent and established. It suits polos, hats, beanies and heavier hoodies, where the fabric has enough body to support the stitching. A stitched left chest logo holds its color through wash after wash without cracking.
Its limit is detail. Thread has a physical width, so tiny lettering closes up, thin outlines wobble and gradients cannot be reproduced at all. Logos with a tagline in small type usually need that line enlarged or dropped for the embroidered version.
When to Print Your Logo
Screen printing pushes ink through a stencil, one color at a time. It is the natural choice for t-shirts, for large back prints and for any order with real quantity, because the per-piece price falls as the count rises. Fewer ink colors means less setup.
DTF, short for direct-to-film, prints the whole design in full color and presses it onto the shirt. It handles gradients, photos and many colors on a very small run, which makes it useful for a first order of a handful of shirts in a detailed logo.
Plenty of small businesses end up with both. An embroidered polo for the people who meet customers, and a printed tee with the same logo for the shop floor, the job site or the weekend market, all from the same cleaned-up artwork.
What We Make for Small Business Teams
Embroidered Logo Polos
Company logo shirts with a stitched left chest mark, the standard for front counters, service calls, sales visits and trade show tables.
Printed Logo Tees
Screen printed t-shirts and long sleeve tees with a chest logo and a larger back print, built for working days and easy to reorder.
Hats, Beanies and Hoodies
Embroidered hats and beanies plus hoodies for cold mornings, so the logo stays visible when the weather hides the shirt underneath.
From Logo File to Team Shirts
Six steps, and you approve a proof before anything is stitched or printed.
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1
Pick Your Garment
Three we actually recommend, with the reasons why. Full catalog is one click away.
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2
Drop In Your Art
Upload a logo or start from a sketch. We fix files that will not print.
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3
See Your Price
Per-piece pricing moves as you change quantity and print locations.
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4
Approve A Proof
Nothing runs until you have seen exactly what we are about to make.
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5
We Print It
Screen print, embroidery or DTF, whichever your art and quantity call for.
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6
It Ships
About 14 days from the day you approve the proof, printed and boxed.
Start with One Shirt
There is no minimum order, so a single piece is a fair way to judge the logo size, the fabric and the color before you outfit everyone.
One Shirt Is a Real Order
No minimum means a new hire, a replacement or a single sample is handled like any other order. The per-piece price drops as quantity goes up, so add pieces when it makes sense.
See the Logo in Place
The proof shows your logo on the garment color you chose. If it looks too large, too small or too faint against the fabric, you change it before anything is made.
Know the Cost Before You Call
The studio prices your shirt live as you change quantity and placement. You can compare a polo against a tee, or a small run against a larger one, without waiting on anyone.
Rough Logos Welcome
A blurry file is not a dead end. We clean up or redraw rough logos so they print well, and the cleaned artwork is ready for the hats and hoodies you add later.
What a First Order Looks Like
A first order of business logo shirts is smaller and simpler than most owners expect. It tends to move through four stages, and none of them require you to know anything about printing before you start.
Upload whatever file you have, even a screenshot from your website. If it is too rough to use, we clean it up or redraw it, and that artwork serves every later order.
Choose a single shirt style and one or two colors. A narrow first order is easier to size, easier to reorder and keeps the count per item high enough to help the price.
You see the logo on the shirt in its position. Check spelling, thread or ink colors and placement, then approve. Nothing is made before that.
Live with the shirts for a few weeks. Staff will tell you what fits, what runs warm and what they reach for, which makes the second order far better informed.
Because there is no minimum order, a first run can be a single sample shirt for yourself. Seeing your own logo stitched on real fabric answers more questions than any mockup on a screen.
Logo File Types for Custom Business Logo Shirts
Logo files come in two families, and knowing which one you hold saves a round of emails. Vector files are built from shapes and lines, so they scale to any size without losing sharpness. They usually end in AI, EPS, SVG or PDF, and they are what a designer hands over at the end of a logo project.
Raster files are built from pixels. A JPG or PNG looks fine at the size it was saved and turns soft or blocky when enlarged. The small logo in an email signature or copied off a website is nearly always this kind, and nearly always too small to print cleanly as it stands.
A quick test is to open the file and zoom in a long way. If the edges stay crisp, it is probably vector. If they turn into stair steps or blur, it is raster. A PDF can be either, since it may simply wrap a pixel image, so the zoom test is worth doing there too.
If you paid someone for the logo, ask them for the original vector file and a list of the brand colors. If the logo was made in an online tool, look for a download option marked vector or print. A PNG with a transparent background at the largest size offered is the next best thing.
And if all you have is a photo of your sign or an old business card, send it anyway. We clean up or redraw rough logos so they print well, and you see the rebuilt version on your proof before anything is produced.
Outfitting the Whole Team
Send the logo, the headcount and the garments you have in mind. A person answers the phone on weekdays, 9am to 5pm Mountain, if you would rather talk it through.
Left Chest Sizing and Placement
The left chest is where the mark sits on most employee shirts with logo embroidery, and it is a smaller space than people picture. Think of an area roughly the width of your palm, high on the chest and off toward the wearer's left. A logo sized on a monitor almost always feels too big once it is on a body.
Shape decides how well a logo fits that spot. Wide, horizontal marks sit comfortably. Tall stacked logos and circular badges still work but end up with smaller lettering, because the height runs out first. If your logo has a symbol and a wordmark, a version with the two side by side is often the better left chest choice.
Small text is the usual casualty. A phone number, a web address or a line such as licensed and insured turns to mush in thread at that size, and is not much better in ink. Move that information to the back of the shirt or a sleeve, where it can be printed large enough to read.
Placement also shifts across sizes. A logo set correctly on a medium can drift toward the armpit on a small or sit oddly on a much larger shirt, so position is judged on the garment, not copied from a fixed measurement. Polos with a placket need the logo clear of the buttons.
Finally, pick thread or ink colors against the actual shirt. A navy logo vanishes on a black polo. Most businesses keep a one color light version of the logo for dark shirts and the regular version for light ones, and both can be set up from the same artwork.
Questions First-Time Buyers Ask
Is there a minimum order for custom business logo shirts?
No. One piece is fine, which is useful when you want to see the logo on a real shirt before outfitting the team. The per-piece price on custom business logo shirts drops as the quantity goes up, so once you are happy with a sample, ordering for everyone at once is the better value.
What file do you need for my logo?
A vector file is best, usually an AI, EPS, SVG or PDF from whoever designed the logo. If you only have a JPG, a PNG or a screenshot, send that. We clean up or redraw rough logos so they print well, and you will see the result on a proof before anything is produced.
Should my logo be embroidered or printed?
For polos, hats and beanies, embroidery gives a finished look that lasts. For t-shirts, larger designs and bigger quantities, screen printing is more economical. Logos with gradients, fine detail or many colors on a small run often suit DTF. On custom business logo shirts, the garment and the artwork usually make the decision for you.
How big should a left chest logo be?
Smaller than it looks on screen. A left chest logo generally fills a space about the width of a palm, and wide logos fit that space better than tall ones. Small type such as a phone number rarely survives at that size, so it belongs on the back or a sleeve instead.
How many shirts should each employee get?
Enough that nobody has to wash a work shirt every night. For people who wear the shirt on every shift, that means several each. For a team that only needs them for events or client visits, one or two is plenty. Start modestly, since more can be added later with no minimum.
Can I put the logo on different garments in one order?
Yes. The same artwork can go on polos, tees, hoodies and hats in one order. Keep in mind that embroidery and printing are set up separately, so custom business logo shirts in one method and one or two styles make the most economical first order. The studio shows the price for each garment as you build it.
Do you make button-up work shirts or jackets?
No. We do not make button-up work shirts with name patches, jackets or aprons. What we do make is t-shirts, long sleeve tees, tank tops, polos, hoodies, hats and beanies, and an embroidered polo or hoodie sits comfortably alongside outerwear and workwear you source elsewhere.
How long does a first order take?
Standard turnaround is about 14 days from the day you approve the proof, and orders ship from Fort Collins, Colorado across the United States. Artwork cleanup happens before the proof, so send your logo early. If you need shirts for a specific date such as a grand opening, ask, sometimes it can be done faster.
Where We Are
Olive Branch Apparel
706 East Stuart Street
Fort Collins, CO 80525
Put Your Logo on the Team
Upload your logo, choose a shirt and see your price in the studio. You approve a proof before anything is made, and standard turnaround is about 14 days from that approval.