Quick answer
A £129 clothing brand logo from us is drawn to be stitched and printed, not just shown on a screen: it has to weave into a neck label, embroider on a cap within the machine’s limits, screen print in one ink on a tee and sit on a swing tag. All three layouts are included, plus a one-colour version for fabric.
This page is for people starting or growing an apparel range: streetwear and t-shirt brands, small fashion labels, activewear, kidswear and print-on-demand stores that want to move to their own blanks. Selling clothes is retail, but making them is a different design problem, because the logo becomes part of the product. If you resell other people’s brands, our ecommerce logo guide fits better. Here we work through the label, the stitch, the print, the tag, the mailer and the market stall.
Your logo is part of the garment
In most businesses the logo goes on the packaging. In clothing it goes on the product, and the customer wears it in public. That raises the bar: people only wear a mark they like the look of, so the logo has to be good enough to be the design, not just a signature in the corner. Before any print goes on the outside, though, a garment carries the brand on its labels and tags, and those set the tightest limits.
| Label or tag | Where it sits | What breaks | What the logo needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woven damask label | Inside neck, premium pieces | Tiny text and hairlines, since detail is limited by thread thickness | A compact wordmark or icon with open spaces |
| Woven taffeta label | Budget runs, side seams | Anything but bold shapes, because the weave is coarser | The simplest one-colour version |
| Printed neck label | Inside the neck of tees and hoodies | Heavy solid areas that feel stiff on skin | A light, open mark with size and care details beside it |
| Hem or sleeve tab | Outside seam, on show | Long names that will not fit a narrow tab | The monogram or icon alone |
| Composition and care label | Side seam, required information | A logo squeezing out the fibre content | Usually no logo at all, or a very small wordmark |
| Swing tag | Attached at the point of sale | Clutter | The stacked logo with room for price and size |
Screen print, embroidery and heat transfers go on the outside of the garment, and each is covered below: the one-ink version handles screens and transfers, and a simple icon handles thread.
A first drop, before and after
Take a new streetwear label called Corvel whose first logo is a detailed illustration of a crow with a gradient and the name in script. The screen printer quotes four screens for the chest print, the label maker says the script cannot be woven at neck size, and the embroiderer asks to redraw the cap version. Rebuilt as a heavy CORVEL wordmark with a CV monogram whose V opens like a folded wing, the same brand prints in one ink on three blank colours, weaves cleanly in damask and stitches on a cap without changes. Same name, same idea, three suppliers who can now say yes.
The woven label and the neck print
The label is where a clothing brand becomes real. A woven label is made from thread, so it cannot hold the detail of a printed logo; small letters and thin strokes cannot be reproduced at that scale. Ask your label maker for their minimum text size and line thickness before you finalise the label version, and test the mark at the actual label width.
Printed neck labels have become common on tees and hoodies because they are soft. They usually carry the logo, the size and the care information together. Keep the logo version for the neck light and open, because large solid areas print as a stiff patch against the skin.
The fibre content label is a separate legal matter. For Great Britain, GOV.UK’s textile labelling guidance says the label must show the fibre content, including any fur or other animal parts, and that manufacturers and retailers are responsible for complying. Design your brand label and your composition label as a pair so neither crowds the other.
Embroidery and the stitch limits
Embroidery is the most unforgiving method. Thread has a minimum width, so lettering below a certain height turns into a blur, and small gaps inside letters fill in completely. Every colour change adds thread changes and cost, and the embroiderer converts your logo into a stitch file (digitising) before anything is sewn. A logo that is already simple embroiders well without the digitiser having to redraw it for you.
- Keep an icon or monogram that works on a cap front or a chest at a few centimetres wide.
- Avoid gradients, shadows and outlines thinner than the main strokes.
- Expect to use one to three thread colours on most pieces, so plan which colours carry the logo.
Our guide to logos that embroider well explains what to send the embroiderer.
One ink on a tee, many colourways in the range
Screen printing charges by the screen, and each colour in the design needs its own. A logo that only works in three colours makes every print run more expensive. Design it to be complete in one ink, then use colour through the garments themselves: the same white print on black, sand and forest-green blanks gives a range three colourways for one screen. That one-ink version is also what goes on heat transfers, labels and packaging tape.
Streetwear brands and fashion labels: wordmark or monogram?
Clothing brands tend to need two marks: a wordmark for the label, the website and the big back print, and a short symbol or monogram for the cap, the chest and the sleeve. The monogram is often the piece customers come to love and recognise from across a street. Decide early which one leads. Streetwear usually leads with a bold wordmark or a graphic symbol; a tailored or minimal label leads with a refined wordmark and keeps the symbol small. Our Brand Identity Design (£299) builds the colours, type and graphic rules around both if you are planning a full range.
Swing tags, hang tags and the first impression
The tag is the first piece of your brand a customer touches in a shop or at a stall. It carries the stacked logo, the price, the size and sometimes a line about the brand on the back. Heavy card, a simple string and plenty of white space look more premium than a full-colour tag crammed with text. Our Packaging Design (£99) covers labels and mailers; send us your tag size and we will confirm whether a swing tag fits within it.
Mailers, pop-ups and the market stall
Many new clothing brands sell online first, then at pop-ups, markets and fairs. The logo moves onto mailer bags, tissue paper, stickers, a tablecloth front and a banner behind the rail. Branded mailer bags are usually printed in one colour, so the one-ink logo pays off again. For the stall, a horizontal banner with the name large is read from across a busy hall, and a rail sign with the icon holds it together. Our guide to packaging for small brands covers mailers and the unboxing, and Poster and Banner Design (£89) handles the stall banner.
Protecting a mark that gets copied
Clothing logos are easy to copy, because a good mark can be printed on cheap blanks by anyone. Before you invest in stock, check yourself that the name and the mark are not already in use for clothing (the GOV.UK trade mark search lets you look for similar UK marks by keyword, phrase or image), and consider registering a trade mark. GOV.UK says registering a trade mark costs at least £205, and more depending on how many types of goods you want to cover. The copyright in the logo artwork passes to you when our files are delivered, which gives you clear ownership of the design itself.
What each supplier needs from your files
Clothing brands deal with a lot of suppliers, and each one asks for the logo differently. Sending the right file first time saves days.
| Supplier | What they usually ask for | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Woven label maker | Vector artwork and the finished label size | Send the simplest version and ask for a proof at actual size |
| Embroiderer | Vector artwork, the stitch width and thread colours | Expect a digitising fee for the first run |
| Screen printer | Vector artwork with each ink colour separated | The one-ink version keeps setup costs down |
| DTF (direct-to-film) or heat-transfer printer | A high-resolution PNG with a transparent background | Avoid very thin lines that can peel |
| Tag and packaging printer | A print-ready PDF with bleed | Check the hole position on swing tags |
Our guide to logo file formats explains the difference between vector and PNG files, and why a printer may reject a JPEG.
What £129 covers for a clothing brand
For £129 our clothing brand logo design gives you every layout: horizontal for the website, banner and back print, stacked for tags and labels, and icon-only for caps, chests and sleeves. Concepts are unlimited, revisions within your brief are unlimited, and the files include a one-colour version for screens, thread and woven labels, a 3D mockup and every format a printer, embroiderer and label maker will ask for. See our pricing page for the other design fees, and if you are building a shop, read our comparison of Etsy versus your own website first.
From first sample to first drop
Order the logo before you order labels, because label makers need final artwork and often run minimum quantities. Then make one sample of each garment with the label, the print and the embroidery, wear it and wash it a few times, and only then order the full run, the tags and the mailers. First concepts reach you within 48 hours, so the logo is rarely what holds up a launch. Customers rate us 4.8/5 Excellent. When the first blanks are on order, order the logo for your label and tell us how you plan to decorate the range.
