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Tote bags, with their long, parallel handles protruding from their pouches, have become a fashion staple for many reasons – like their versatility and usefulness, to name just two. But if you have something to promote, your corporate, designer or social media brand, for example, you have an even more compelling reason to sell or give them away.
With top-quality tote bags featuring expert commercial screen printing of your logo, design or event, the benefits are as numerous as each pair of eyes that see your custom-designed tote bag.
History of the Tote Bag
The name “tote bag” is believed to have first appeared around the beginning of the 20th century. Naming them “tote” bags is based on the English word “tote,” which means to carry around.
The modern tote bag hasn’t changed much since it was first manufactured and sold by L.L. Bean in 1944 as a bag for carrying heavy blocks of ice. Its versatility and ability to carry several different items of varying weights and sizes were instantly obvious, and tote bags became a necessity in every household.
The Benefits of Custom-Branding Tote Bags
Think of the many use cases there are for a tote bag. An eco-friendly shopping bag, book bag, laptop case, the perfect beach and/or picnic carry-all, the list goes on and on.
And those are just of few of the public places where there are guaranteed to be dozens, if not a couple of hundred people. Add travelling by public transportation to those spaces, and you’ve exponentially increased the number of people who have consciously or unknowingly become aware of whatever you’ve promoted on that tote bag. Over the lifetime of the tote, that’s an uncountable number of impressions.
A Quick How-To for Designing Custom Tote Bags
To make the right impressions, however, how you design a custom tote bag is key.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Less is usually more when it comes to the number of colours you use in your logo or design. That said, contrast is crucial. Use a neutral-coloured garment with colourful designs and a more vibrant-coloured tote bag for less colourful designs/logos.
- If you’re using a digital image, make sure it’s at least 300 dpi and retains its quality when scaled up or down.
Also, when designing anything from tote bags to t-shirts, it’s also essential to consider the size and dimensions of the garment’s displayable area. In other words, your design has to be centred on that area, not the garment itself. Consider the collar of a shirt or sweater or the external area of a tote bag around the handles. If part of your design lands in those areas, you need to either resize or re-centre it.
You also might not want to line up the centre of your design with the centre of the garment’s displayable area. Including an image in your design, for example, can change the area of focus of your print, and that should be as close to the centre of the garment as possible.
One last tip, partner with a one-stop printing house that has everything you need, including durable, high-quality tote bags and prints, guaranteed low prices and experts ready on standby in case you need help.
