Print Placement on Jackets & Outerwear
By The Velocity Wear Team
The reliable placements on a jacket are left chest, upper back, centre back and sleeve. Everything else runs into a zip, a pocket, a seam or a panel change. Left chest is the default for a logo, the back is where a large design goes, and the sleeve is for a secondary mark. Confirm the size in centimetres, not as an adjective, before artwork is approved.
Where can a logo sit on a jacket?
Left chest is the workhorse and suits embroidery on every style we build. The upper back, between the shoulder blades, carries a company name and stays readable when the wearer is bent over. The centre back panel is the largest usable area and is where a full design belongs on a coach jacket or a varsity. Sleeves take a small mark on the upper arm or down the forearm. On a softshell, the chest area available is narrower than it looks because the zip runs down the centre and the panel seams often sit close in. What each style offers is set out on the wholesale jackets page.
What decoration sizes hold up on outerwear?
Bigger than you would use on a shirt, because a jacket is seen from further away and the fabric is busier. A chest logo that works at eight centimetres wide on a polo often needs ten on a softshell to stay legible. A back design on a coach jacket can run most of the panel width without looking shouty, because the cut is loose. Fine detail is where outerwear punishes you: thin strokes vanish into a brushed face, and small text in embroidery on a textured shell fills in. Simplify the mark before the proof rather than arguing with it afterwards.
Which seams and features rule a placement out?
Anything the decoration cannot lie flat across. Zips, chest pockets, hand pockets, panel seams, raglan shoulder seams, quilting lines on a puffer, and the ribbed panels on a varsity. Quilting is the strictest of those: a print across a stitched channel will pucker and an embroidery through a filled panel needs care to avoid catching the wadding. The approach for padded styles is described in custom puffer and padded jackets. Choosing between a large all-over look and a placed mark is covered in all-over print versus placement print.
How is placement confirmed before the run?
On a proof with measurements: distance from the shoulder seam, distance from the centre front, and the finished width of the mark. Approve that, and the 10 to 15 working day build starts from there. If the jacket is unfamiliar, a physical sample at £150, credited against the bulk order, shows whether a placement that looked right on a flat drawing still works on a body. Remember that placement is graded across sizes, so ask how the position shifts between a small and a 2XL.
Hoods are the placement question people forget. A logo across the back of a hood disappears when the hood is down and folds awkwardly when it is up, so it rarely earns its setup cost. If a hood is involved, the upper back below the hood seam is the safer choice, and it stays visible either way. Terms such as registration, stitch count and underlay, which appear on most decoration proofs, are explained in the glossary, and they are worth knowing before you approve a placement rather than after the jackets arrive.
