T-shirts, Brochures, Business Cards

AAPaint

Hey guys. I'm looking to have t-shirts, brochures, and business cards made professionally, and possibly looking at having my logo re-worked. Since these are some basic marketing/promotional items I figured it'd be good to have one thread with links to some related places. Maybe there is a one stop shop for all of these things?? Any links to places with good prices will be appreciated!

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

sage

I'm in CT and I get my T-shirts from Texas. The name of the place Is Texas-T and the owner's name is Kim 903-896-3301. I don't know if the have a site, I did all my stuff by phone.

They did nice work for me and the shirts came out to be a lot cheaper $$ than if I had them done up here, same shirts and all. They were cheaper even after I paid shipping. But that's CT market, I would'nt know what you pay down there in FL.

By the way, I'm not affiliated with the company, I just buy stuff from'em.

The rest of the stuff you will probably find fairly easily on the net.

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-Lead from the front, or dont lead at all-

Eric K

Where did everyone get their logos and stuff done at?

mdshunk

I guess a few guys have had their logos done at designoutpost.com

Different designers/artists submit sample logos, and you pick one you like and pay. Pretty decent prices, considering the local print shop near me wants about a grand to give me some logo ideas.

George Z

You can make your own logo here.
It looks simple enough to at least play with.

http://www.logomaker.com/

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realpurty2

We submitted our logo "requirements" to elance.com and several designers sent us mock-ups until we decided on one we liked. (Some were stingy with the mockups so we simply avoided any who were not willing to send a sample) The revisions were done until we were satisfied and we received the logo in both formats for web and for print. The total cost... $50 and you determine how much you are willing to spend when submitting the required info. I'm sure there are other groups on the internet, designgroup even sounds the same, so just shop around online. The rates are almost always better than local due to little or no overhead for someone to work from home but the end result is the same.

RobertCDF

I did my logo myself, get my shirts at CNS Tees a local company, and still print my cards as I need them. But this will all change soon I will be having some flyers or door hangers made and I will be getting cards printed at the same time. And I am going to get new shirts too with the new logo. I will probably get everything done local. I am just like that I like to be able to get the stuff as soon as possible and not have to wait for it to be delivered and what if they send you the wrong package. Then you go to send it back and wait longer.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

Mike Finley

I'll tell you the one problem I ran into with using the online guys to design a logo for me. Most of the guys doing this seem to be designing for the web itself, plus they post them on the web. Web graphics for web sites and logos for print are really very different in style. The problem I had was the stuff looked great viewed on the web and would be great for a website but it didn't usually translate well to the majority of the uses of the artwork which is print. Just my experience going that route. I ended up hiring a local designer to work one-on-one with afterwards to re do it.

hatchet

I've had most of mine done on sitepoint.com - much like designoutpost and elance. A bit cheaper I believe.. and the quality lately has gone up. When requesting printed items - make sure to have at least 300dpi.. web graphics are typically 72dpi.

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Rich
WIT Construction Co.
Superior MT Contractor

DecksEtc

Logo: A graphic designer friend of mine did mine for me for free. I bought him a case of beer and round of golf to thank him.

Business Cards: Designed my own with the logo through Vista Print (link from here). Quality was top notch and price was awsome.

T-shirts: Well, still haven't gotten around to that yet. It's on the top of my To-Do list for 2006. My problem is that I don't want large quantities - 10 or so t-shirts, 10 or so sleeveless tees, 10 or so long sleeve tees, 5 golf shirts, so I'm still searching for a local place that will do what I want without charging a small fortune. I can't seem to find any good on-line places that ship to Canada for a reasonable price.

donb1959

I get all my shirts from customink.com....very nice quality and screen printing at affordable prices. My business cards are done locally....actually my pastor owns a print shop, and I deal with him, the quality of the cards is the best I've seen and the prices are very good.

Yard signs= "fast signs" I believe fast signs is nationwide.

Magnetic signs= magsigns.com

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Greg Di

For silk screened shirts, I've ordered from

www.brokenarrowear.com

Ask for Val.

High Quality all around.

ChuckEA

I'd suggest getting a marketing pro or graphics designer to help with creating your "image". It's important to have a consistent message on all your materials (ads, signs, uniforms, brochures, business forms, etc) to maximize your investment and impact. My first choice would be to have someone local for this, but it is possible to work with someone remotely as long as you can establish a direct 2 way dialogue to discuss your business needs. Avoid a full service agency or marketing services company since they will mark up everything by 10-20%. Try to get someone that will just handle the design so you can shop the production part. Also, get someone with experince with businesses like yours so they can relate. Figure on spending $500-1500 for a quality job. That may sound expensive but consider it an investment. After all, most of this wouldn't think twice on spending that on a quality tool if it would pay off in the long run.

DecksEtc

You're mising a "w" Greg. www.brokenarrowwear.com

hauoli63

We used NEBS to design our logo and also order our T-shirts, sweat shirts, invoices, business cards, and checks from them ..... http://www.nebs.com/

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~~ Lisa ~~

www.chantillyplumbing.com

AAPaint

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Good post Chuck...that's our goal is to re-work our entire image. I have talked to a local sign shop that does custom design that I may end up using for all of the printing I need. These online resources have widened my options greatly. It may turn out cheaper to split it up between a few different sources at least for the final printing processes.

So, before I talk to these guys, gimme your opinions on our current logo? The good, the bad, the ugly...

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

sage

The one thing that I've found is that you want your logo to be easy to read at a distance, couple of car lengths or so. If you have that and you like your logo go for it I think it's cool, Different. I like different.

Make sure you like it, really like it, because you don't want to change something like your logo often or ever. The purpose of the logo is to build brand recognition. You can't do that if you put out a new one every couple of years. Think of it as a tattoo, your gonna be stuck with forever and all the applications you are going to use it for. Trucks, shirts, jackets, signage etc.
Also what market are you trying to appeal to and how will it translate to them? If you have the opportunity ask people outside of your organization and inside your target market.

And do everything that everyone else said.

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-Lead from the front, or dont lead at all-

AAPaint

Thanks, sage. Not to worry, we're only going into our second year in business, and we're ready to build a much more professonal image now. If I change the logo, it will be the last time ever. I do like the way my logo is now, but I always wonder if someone else could do it better. Unfortunately, my company name is long, but it's stayin that way because it says what we do.

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

sage

AA, Congrats on making it to the second year. I know a lot of guy's who lit like a firecracker and burned out like a candle.

I don't think the name is too long, if someone can read the whole thing passing by at 40mph I think your good in my opinion. I'm no expert but I have had the chance to pick the brains of some marketing people .

Since it seems you have a good grasp on what you like and want, I would try local artists. Usually they charge a lot less and are easier and more willing to work with you until you have a finished product that you are happy with.

I think it looks good already, so maybe you just want to fine tune it?

__________________
-Lead from the front, or dont lead at all-

AAPaint

Well, the website work is under way. I have seen a proof of the home page and it looks awesome allready. I can't wait to see it finished.

I went with a local guy for the signs and stuff. Ordered 25 yard signs, 24 shirts, 1000 2 color raised letter biz cards, little custom work on the logo, not much..all for about $460! Much less than I budgeted for....Should have all of that within a week. I'm looking into getting a truck instead of my van, and having that lettered so I'm waiting a very brief minute while I look for a truck before I decide whether to letter the van now or not. However, I could letter it anyway and let the wife drive it around, heh. Quoted around $200 to letter both sides and put the logo on the back of either.

__________________
-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.