Understanding Mug Printing

A well designed promotional mug can have a lasting effect with your customers. The use of printed mugs as a promotional tool is popular to many business owners. If you want to promote your business through printed mugs, you can easily do it. But it is important that you should print your mugs well. Mug printing is an art, the following article should help you to learn about printing mugs.

Mug printing requires several things. You have to understand the taste and choice of your target audience, the color effects and the latest printing technology.

First comes the understanding of your audience as every business has a particular target audience, you have to keep the taste and choices of your target audience in mind before finalising your printing design. If your target audience is children, it would be worth considering placing emphasis on the use of colors, as children love bright colors. Whereas a business customer, would most likely prefer a plain mug with a meaning business brand and message, not forgetting your all important website and contact details.

Next comes the understanding of the printing technology itself. There are a number of printing techniques that include screen printing, digital printing and transfer printing. You should use the technique according to the effect you want to produce in your audience, however some prints require a transfer, whereas others may be more suited to a screen print for example. The most popular technique to imprint company logos is the screen-printing using the screen-printing method, ink is passed through to re-create an image on the mugs. You can use this fast and simple method for high volume mug printing jobs, however on more detailed printing with numerous colours where there registration problems it would be worth considering a digital or transfer print.

Transfer printing, comprises of a print laid onto a transfer which is applied by hand to each mug, the mugs are then glazed and fired to permanently attach the transfer to the mug.

Digital printing is more suited to producing high-resolution photographic prints and as such is usually only recommended for small print runs. Digital printing is usally limited to white glaze ware only, but you can also use a dye sublimation method for mug printing on other colours. Using this method, you can create bright, vibrant images. Dye sublimation uses special inks, which are printed onto coated paper and released onto the mug when heat is applied. The effect of the dye sublimation method is usually fantastic. Thus, depending on your choices and the audience, you can apply any of the above-mentioned methods.

Apart from the technique, you will also have to give attention to the business message you want to convey to the target audience. You can print the name or logo of your company, but if you are going to launch a new product, you can print its picture on the mugs. You can also print a slogan or a funny quote on the mugs to make them more interesting. Most importantly ensure that your company contact details can be found easily on the mug.