Does your company’s outerwear look as good as it works? Is is versatile and yet have that professional, styled look you crave? If not, keep reading- The Glacier Soft-Shell jacket isn’t one of our bestsellers without good reason.

With the New Mexico weather fluctuating from frosty to spring-like in a matter [...]]]>

Even the mannequin looks fantastic!

Does your company’s outerwear look as good as it works? Is is versatile and yet have that professional, styled look you crave? If not, keep reading- The Glacier Soft-Shell jacket isn’t one of our bestsellers without good reason.

With the New Mexico weather fluctuating from frosty to spring-like in a matter of moments, it seems all the more crucial to have a good mid-weight jacket close at hand, and our customers agree that nothing is quite so handy as the Glacier Soft-Shell jacket. Where a traditional windbreaker might fail and a heavy winder jacket may overcompensate, this jacket hits the mark.

This jacket is a personal favorite in my household, and it’s my wife’s approval that spurred me to write this post. You see, she’s a dedicated retail consumer. She’s the first person to pick out the details that a retail garment has that a wholesale blank might not share, and yet, she loves this jacket. From the first moment she saw an Atlantic Blue ladies Glacier Soft-Shell in our showroom, she had to have one. It had the princess seams, awesome pockets, and more importantly it felt and looked amazing. Don’t take it from me, or even from the attached video, take it from her. This jacket meets or exceeds the quality you see in the stores, and for a fair price. With that, back to the details.

It’s constructed from a water and wind resistant stretch polyester, making this jacket ready to take on a variety of conditions, and yet the internal microfleece makes comfortable to wear. This jacket takes embroidery splendidly, and with mens and women’s styles, both sporting a flattering cut, it’s sure to make you look great. Let’s let the video show you the rest.

Combine a great jacket with the matchless quality of Black Duck‘s decoration, and you have corporate logowear that your employees will want to wear, everywhere!  If you want you see yourself in a Soft-shell, Contact us. We’ll make you look great, and the process look easy.

Stitches Magazine - Featuring the work of Black Duck!

I’m happy to announce that the January issue of the matchless [...]]]> (Now that we have author tags enabled for the upcoming addition of new blog contributors from the shop, I’ll be writing this post in the first person, seeing as it’s about my project!  -EC)

Stitches Magazine - Featuring the work of Black Duck!

I’m happy to announce that the January issue of the matchless embroidery industry trade magazine Stitches, is out today! Featured on the cover (viewable here in the digital edition) is the work of none other than your Black Duck Blog author, Erich Campbell. I was honored when in November of 2011, the editor of Stitches Magazine, Nicole Rollender,  contacted me with twofold good news. First, I’d been voted in to their annual Power List as the 60th most influential person in the industry (seen here) and that they were interested in having me create the embroidery for the January cover.

Being that November and December are our busiest time of year, I was concerned, but I would never deny such a great honor. I jumped at the challenge. Not long later, I was staring at a full-color photograph of a carousel, complete with a depth-of-field effects that, though wonderful in photography, aren’t well suited to the clean edges created by thread and needle. I pitched the concept of rendering the background scene in a range of grays and creating a spectacular full-color piece for the lead horse in the photograph. Luckily for me art director Jim Lange was on board. Now the real work started.

Wanting to create  it in secret so as to make for a big reveal, I worked on the project at home. After some 60 hours of art and digitizing (plotting stitch placements and types in specialized machine embroidery software) later, I had a file that would make our embroidery machines spit out a piece measuring over 9.5″ by 10.8″, consisting of 16 colors and 182, 389 stitches. The actual run, when coupled with the necessity of rethreading the machine and prepping the materials, would take over 7 hours to produce. In the end, however, I was very happy with the piece and shipped it off urgently to be photographed, cropped, and styled into the magnificent cover you see here.

I’d like to thank our proprietors, Doug and Dana Bird for the freedom they give their creative staff to do such skill-building projects, as well as the crew at Stitches Magazine for spurring me on to contribute to the industry. Last, but not least, I’d like to thank all of our customers for staying with us, and proving that quality and creativity matter and are worth supporting.

I’m happy to say that we at Black Duck are not just up to industry standards, but as you can see, we influence the standard. When you need something truly amazing, we might not be the only ones who can make it happen, but we have some practice. If you have a spectacular image or brand that you want made into a beautiful embroidered or screenprinted garment, or if you just want an artist’s eye directed toward your company’s uniforms and promotional products, please contact Black Duck. We’ll be happy to go that extra mile for you.

Here in the last week of the year, many of our customers who visit the showroom at Black Duck are raring to get an order underway so it can count as a purchase made on the [...]]]>

Coordinating shirts now come in a range of styles, colors, and fits - perfect for your logo and staff.

Here in the last week of the year, many of our customers who visit the showroom at Black Duck are raring to get an order underway so it can count as a purchase made on the current year’s budget. While we’re not here to debate the merits of fixed-budget spending, we are here to help you make your purchase more than just a way to round out your figures. Here are three ways that you can make that last bit of budget surplus money work for your department in the coming year.

1. Start the new year with a new professional look. Nothing says ‘team spirit’ like coordinated, custom logowear. Buy your key staff new embroidered button-up and polo shirts, complete with your logo, and they’ll start the new year looking and feeling ready for business. Black Duck has selections that combine professional unisex choices with coordinating and flattering women’s styles to make every day a perfect day to wear your logo (and there are at least 3 good reasons why).

2. Stock up on some essentials, with a promotional twist. You know you’ll need office supplies in the coming year- everyone wants new pencils and pens, notepads, and even incidentals like coffee mugs and flash drives, but rather than simply buying up blank goods from your office supply warehouse, why not turn every one of those frequently used and often seen items into a promotional opportunity by adding a custom print with your logo and company information?  Not only is it a great corporate identity builder for your staff, each of these items can be used as a promotional giveaway for customers and friends of your company. Useful, quality items tend to stay around, meaning that every time your customer picks up that favorite pen, they’ll have your logo and info at hand, and on the top of their mind.

The classic Bic Click-Stick is dependable and can easily produced with your company colors and logos

3. Plan for early for your next event. You know that there’s that one tradeshow, that big meeting, that presentation that you always end up scrambling to get ready at the last minute. Why not get your promotional products set up now? Logo-printed tablecloths, banners, and feather flags, giveaway items like t-shirts, hats, water bottles and the like, printed goody bags, and even business cards can all be created and coordinated here at Black Duck! Why scramble at the last minute and pay rush fees for production? Get those things that you won’t have to change up for every event done now, and have them in reserve all year long.

Three short tips aren’t all we have in store for you when it comes to making the most of your budget, but we know that you’ve got no time to waste if you’re looking to place that order- so stop reading and start calling or coming in to our showroom! We’re here to help you get the best value out of your every expenditure. Whether you need company uniforms, custom promotional products, or even a company identity plan built from scratch, we’re ready to help you put your best foot forward. Contact us, and we’ll make it easy.

Impressions Magazine posted their latest gallery of inspirational decorated apparel today, and in this latest MULTIMEDIA and Digitizing Artistry gallery, Black Duck was prominently featured through our one-of-a-kind apron for local favorite, Dion’s Pizza!  Created from a design once used for company reward jackets, this beatiful, but work-sturdy apron features a detailed rendition [...]]]>

Impressions Magazine posted their latest gallery of inspirational decorated apparel today, and in this latest MULTIMEDIA and Digitizing Artistry gallery, Black Duck was prominently featured through our one-of-a-kind apron for local favorite, Dion’s Pizza!  Created from a design once used for company reward jackets, this beatiful, but work-sturdy apron features a detailed rendition of the famous Dion’s logo, complete with all of the wood-cut inspired lines you would expect from this classic piece of logo artistry.

Thanks to the good people of Impressions, and thanks to Dion’s for all the awesome pizza, subs, and salads over the years! (we paid for them all, don’t feel bad, folks! ) We’re happy we’ve been able to help you promote your great products and outfitting your employees with identifiable and professional uniforms and apparel has been a pleasure!

As we hinted in a previous post, the work of Black Duck’s embroidery digitizer, Erich Campbell, has been featured in Stitches Magazine’s latest fashion shoot, “Bring on the Glam” with his medieval, Anglo-Saxon inspired ethnic embroidery styling. Erich also posted about it on his [...]]]>

This lacy-backed dress made an excellent canvas for Erich's metalwork-inspired designs.

As we hinted in a previous post, the work of Black Duck’s embroidery digitizer, Erich Campbell, has been featured in Stitches Magazine’s latest fashion shoot, “Bring on the Glam” with his medieval, Anglo-Saxon inspired ethnic embroidery styling. Erich also posted about it on his blog for Stitches magazine, describing the artistic process he went through in creating this fashion-ready piece. Reading through his process gives you a window into how Black Duck operates, building great finished garments, with attention to detail from the fabric, to the design, to the embroidery setup, to the decoration materials, and right through to the execution- we approach each piece as a whole, making every step count.

We know that not many of our customers are looking to create something meant for models and mansions, but when you want your corporate logo, team mascot, or even home furnishings done well, why not look to people who can do so much more than the average left-chest logo? Black Duck features experienced artists and designers in-house for free consultation. Whether you need a baseball hat or a ball gown, Black Duck can find a way to make your visions come to life, just like Erich’s did!

What is a visual style guide?

A mock-up of how our visual style guide might look.

Simply put, a visual style guide is a document that contains the details you need to give anyone who will be decorating anything with your logo/brand in order to create a consistent rendition of your [...]]]>

What is a visual style guide?

A mock-up of how our visual style guide might look.

Simply put, a visual style guide is a document that contains the details you need to give anyone who will be decorating anything with your logo/brand in order to create a consistent rendition of your art. It lays out the look of your logo, the fonts that you’ve selected, and the colors you use in a way that’s easy for printers and art departments to understand so that no matter what you are having made, your logo looks the way you want it to look, every time. They can be as simple a single page containing only an image of your logo with some approved color numbers from a standard system like Pantone and a list of the font names used. If you are producing more complicated items, you may want a more detailed style guide, with several color examples made to show the proper way to render your logo when it appears on different backgrounds, multiple versions of your logo for larger and smaller areas to be decorated, or for horizontal and vertical decoration areas, even spacing to be used when adding other logos and text to your logo, font choices for documents on which your logo appears, and sample layouts of documents, apparel, or promotional products.

Why do I need one?

The easy answer is that it allows you to be in control of the way your logo is presented, but there are more benefits than the obvious control over your image. Having a prepared style guide saves you time and money on art preparation. One of the most time-consuming processes undertaken by most artists is the search for fonts used in a logotype. A style guide not only eliminates this search, it can provide a host of answers about proper color usage and sizing that would otherwise cost you more preparation time and might require an artist or decorator to contact you repeatedly. Having a style guide means never having to repeat yourself when describing the look you want to achieve.  Moreover, you will likely find that your entire production time is reduced, seeing that many printers and apparel decorators will favor by necessity a job with complete information over one that requires several rounds of interaction with a customer to set up. The decorator has to keep machines moving to insure profitability, and if you have your designs in order, you may end up with your design approved and slotted into an empty production line while an artist waits for details from a less prepared customer.

How do I create a style guide?

Generally, you would have this created by the artist that designed your logo. If you designed the logo yourself, you may find that your printer or apparel decorator’s art department can help you not only to redraw clean, vector-based art that you will be able to use for all your printing and decorating needs, but to create a professional-looking and information-packed style guide. Most decorators will have access to professional color-matching systems and can help you to pick out the proper color codes to include in the guide. Moreover, if they have already done the work of searching out your fonts and redrawing your logo, they’ll be armed with all of the font names and measurements they need to produce the sample images and font lists.  Common simple logo style guide sheets include at a minimum the full color version of a logo with color numbers, a single-color version of the logo for simple promotional products and paper goods, versions for dark and light backgrounds and/or backgrounds that share a color with the logo, and a list of fonts used. All you’ll have to do is sit down with your decorator’s art department to establish any other information or logo versions you’d like to include. Make sure to get yourself a PDF file, the Adobe document standard for which nearly all computers have a pre-installed viewer, and you’ll be set to send it to anyone who will be reproducing your logo.

What if I don’t think I need a style guide or can’t afford to create one?

No matter if you have a style guide or not, be aware of the basic needs of any printer or decorator, and you’ll still come out ahead. Know your fonts, have a good idea about the colors you want to use, and be prepared to answer questions about what you want. Check out my previous post on saving art and setup costs, and you’ll be prepared.

So, there you have it. Visual style guides are useful tools for keeping your logo’s look consistent and your printing and decorating worry-free. If you need a style guide, the art department at Black Duck is ready to help- either as an additional service on your next decorated apparel or promotional products order, or any time you want to create this logo life-saver, we’ve got the staff to help you tell the world how to handle your brand.

Machine embroidery is not what you think… « StitchPunk.

You may be familiar with our work from [...]]]> Niamh, representing our favorite stock design site, Urban Threads, has honored us by singling out the work of our embroidery digitizer, Erich Campbell, in her latest post on their fun and funky blog, Stitchpunk. Check it out here:

Machine embroidery is not what you think… « StitchPunk.

You may be familiar with our work from Stitches Magazine but you probably haven’t seen all the awesome placements, spectacular color palettes, and yes, embroidered skulls, that Niamh serves up in this post about all the modern fashion and fun there is to be had with machine embroidery.

In case you thought we were falling off, this is a great time to announce that Erich is working with the fine folks at Stitches Magazine for an upcoming fashion shoot in the next couple of months, so we’ll have more of his extravagant embroidery stylings to share with you in the very near future.

Thanks again to Niamh for thinking of our work, and to Stitches Magazine for trusting Erich to design and execute something special! Remember, if you want cool embroidery like the samples you’ve seen at StitchPunk, Black Duck is here with our needles threaded and our design staff ready to rock!

Though there are many trends we’ve seen rise and fall in the garment decoration industry, some of the processes, applications, and types of decoration that came through our doors this year seem destined either to dovetail into the next fashion-forward craze on the [...]]]>

This multimedia print and rough-cut appliqué was a hit for Sandia Prep

Though there are many trends we’ve seen rise and fall in the garment decoration industry, some of the processes, applications, and types of decoration that came through our doors this year seem destined either to dovetail into the next fashion-forward craze on the horizon or to stubbornly buck the popular wave due to the large number of fans that have stayed true to their favorite gear. The first trend that seems to cut across the new movement toward minimalism in Spring 2011 fashion is Distressed Applique. Though it is rough, high-contrast, and everything that the current movement towards smooth, neutral fashion, this technique has become a major part of decoration for schools, teams, and resortwear and doesn’t show any sign of dropping off just yet. The next style of embroidery that we saw become more and more popular this was Tonal Embroidery. Though we’ve seen tone-on-tone embroidery (think a black or dark gray logo on a black shirt) in high-end corporate decoration before, this year it seemed to be the choice of many designers and even businesses who wanted to achieve a retail, designer look. It was most popular in our shop as a treatment for caps, and often came with 3D Puff Foam to create a tail, relief version of the tone on tone logos to increase the contrast and visual impact. This style falls right in line with th latest trend toward understated decoration.

This Laser Etched Blanket photo is courtesy of mhaithaca - Beam us up one of those!

The last and most surprising decoration technique that really picked up speed in our shop was Laser-Etched Polar Fleece.  Also a tone-on-tone treatment, laser etching cuts off the fibers of the high nap (think fuzz) on polar fleece jackets, blankets, and the like.  Due to the ability to create impressively large and yet tonally-understated images, it became a favorite treatment for companies that wanted to give logo-emblazoned accessories that didn’t scream ‘giveaway‘.