Company
Our Approach
One brief, one person answering for it, and one path from artwork to delivery, whether the order is a single item or a whole event kit.
This page follows the work from the first message to the goods arriving: what each stage needs from you, and what is confirmed before anything is produced in bulk.
One project, one contact
- A project starts as A fixed list we execute, or a situation we plan a product mix around
- Six stages Brief, product recommendation, artwork and sample, production, quality check, delivery
- One contact A single sales owner for the project, from the first email to the reorder
- Confirmed before bulk production Specification, quantity, colour, artwork, packaging and the delivery date, in writing
Where a project starts
Two ways a project arrives, one way it is run.
Most buyers come with one of two things: a list, or a situation. What we do with it is different in each case.
You already have the list
Quantities for the T-shirts, caps, drinkware and bags, the date the goods are needed, and what has to happen to the logo. We take the list as it stands and work through it: sourcing, quote, sample where one is needed, production, delivery. Items are not added to it to make the order look bigger than the project is.
You have the situation, not the list
An occasion or an audience, a headcount, a budget, the date the goods have to be there, and a rough direction. The product mix is then ours to plan, and the reply is usually one recommended option with one or two alternatives beside it — an economical route and an upgraded one where the budget can carry it.
If the specification is already fixed, we quote it as specified. Several options are how an open brief gets answered, not a formality applied to every enquiry.
The order, stage by stage
Six stages from brief to delivery.
The same six stages run whether the order is one product or a whole event kit. What changes is how much planning happens before the first quote.
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Stage 01
Brief
What comes in: the occasion, the audience, the items and quantities, the logo requirement, the delivery country and the date the goods are needed. We read it and come back with whatever is missing before a number is put on it. You decide how firm the quantities are at this point.
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Stage 02
Product recommendation
Each item is matched to our own production or to a supplier, and the cost and the minimum quantity that the chosen product and decoration actually carry are confirmed. A multi-item project is put together as one picture instead of a stack of separate quotes. You decide which option, or which mix, goes forward.
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Stage 03
Artwork and sample
The file is checked against the decoration method, the colour is set to a Pantone reference, and a sample is arranged where the product, the colour or the file needs one. You approve the artwork and the colour reference before anything is produced in bulk.
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Stage 04
Production and coordination
Own production and supplier orders are run as one project: suppliers coordinated, costs consolidated, logo and colour held consistent across the items. Progress reaches you at set points through the run rather than having to be asked for.
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Stage 05
Quality check
The goods are inspected and the quantities counted before anything is packed, item by item against the order as you confirmed it.
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Stage 06
Delivery planning
Packing, kitting, consolidation and the shipping documents are arranged for the delivery address. The default on a multi-item order is that everything is gathered, checked, packed and shipped as one consignment, and you confirm the goods on arrival.
What we need from you
The information that lets us quote you.
Two of these can arrive later: artwork can follow by email once we have replied, and the quantities can be approximate in the first message.
- Your name, and the company you are buying for.
- A business email address — the one address we answer to.
- The country the goods are delivered to.
- The products and quantities you have in mind, item by item.
- A logo or artwork file, if you have one. If you do not, it can follow by email after we reply.
- The date you need the goods in hand.
- Anything else worth knowing: packaging, a budget, a deadline that has moved.
Two numbers that depend on the order
Nothing here is quoted from a table.
Minimum quantity and a short lead time are both real, and both depend on the item you have chosen rather than on a rule we could print once.
Minimum quantities
Many products can be run at 100, 500 or 1,000 pieces, but the minimum that really applies depends on the product, the decoration and the supplier. We confirm it for the item you choose rather than publishing one figure for the whole range.
Rush orders
A short lead time is possible when production, the transit and your delivery date can be made to fit. They are checked before we answer, and a date we cannot meet is not promised.
One contact
One person on the project, start to reorder.
A project with several items, several suppliers and a design file in the middle is exactly where a buyer ends up chasing five people. It does not have to work that way. The salesperson who answers your first email owns the project: the brief, the recommendation, the quote, the progress updates, the delivery and the question that comes up after it.
Purchasing, the factory and the designers work behind that person rather than in front of you. What you will not get is a weekly "any update?" message: if your project is paused, the likely restart date is noted and left alone, and when we do come back it is with something to look at.
Sampling and confirmation
The points where an order is stopped and checked.
An order moves forward on a written confirmation at each of these, not on the momentum of the conversation.
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Artwork approval before production
Every item goes through an artwork check against the decoration method and the agreed sizes, and no order is released to bulk production without an explicit confirmation node from you. A verbal yes on a call is a step in the conversation, not that release.
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Colour, on a Pantone reference
Where a colour matters, the Pantone reference is what is confirmed. On a colour-critical project the colour is settled before the run starts, not after it.
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When a sample is needed
A physical sample is arranged where the risk sits in the product, the supplier, the colour, the material, the size or the logo. On a repeat order of a product and a file we already know, that can be simplified or skipped. A stock sample and a made-to-order sample are not the same thing: both the sample cost and the carriage are settled item by item in your quote.
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What the confirmation covers
Before production, the specification, material, size, quantity, colour, artwork, decoration, packaging, price, shipping terms, delivery date and the payment terms are confirmed. Each line is something a buyer would otherwise find out after the goods were made.
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Updates while it runs
Progress reaches you at set points rather than having to be asked for: order released, pre-production confirmation, production running, bulk complete, quality check, packing, shipment, receipt. Anything abnormal is raised as soon as it appears.
Design support
Artwork work that exists to make a product makeable.
The design team works on the file that goes to a machine. That boundary is worth stating before a brief arrives rather than after.
What the designers take on
- Logo layout and placement on the product.
- Size adjustments so the artwork fits the item.
- Product visuals for approval.
- Pantone colour confirmation.
- Print and embroidery file adjustments.
- Packaging layout.
- Artwork that keeps a multi-item project looking like one set.
- A concept you already have, made ready for production.
What it does not cover
- A complete brand identity programme.
- Large original creative work.
- Complex design work with no direct connection to production.
Keep reading
The pages behind this one.
This page is the path an order takes. The company itself, the production, and a direct question each have a page of their own.
Bring it to us as it stands.
A list you have already fixed, or a project that is still only an occasion, a headcount and a date: either one is enough to start.