The Secrets of Long Sleeve Design

Few things capture the attention and imagination like a customized long sleeve. Although more organizations and brands are gradually recognizing the sheer awesomeness of custom long sleeve designs, the fact that they're still relatively rare means custom sleeves instantly grab people's attention and sometimes even start conversations. 

Whether ordering custom long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, or hoodies, you'll get a lot of value from custom sleeves. In fact, you might even say custom sleeves are brandtastic. 

When it comes to customizing long sleeve t-shirts, there are a few HUGE benefits to decorating the sleeves.

First, it's a long design space. This means it's perfect for slogans, messages, your website, a phone number, or other information. Want a whole sentence? It'll look great on your custom shirts' sleeves. Want a whole novel? I'd suggest using paper instead of long sleeved shirts. 

Second, it's visually appealing and a person's eye is often drawn to it. After all, people's arms tend to a move a lot (even if they're just swaying while walking) so anybody who watches an arm move will notice the design -- and often stare. 

Third, customized sleeves are eye-catching because the design placement is heavily overlooked when it comes to custom long sleeve tees. 

Fourth, the placement is really, really cool. 

Could your organization benefit from customizing sleeves on a long sleeve t-shirt? Probably. Considering the benefits are far-reaching, they're great for a wide variety of people. 

Yes, certain groups might love custom long sleeved shirts more than others -- for instance, they're popular among surfers and skaters. Trendier businesses like breweries (who resell custom long sleeve shirts and hoodies with their logo) like them, too. However, any organization can choose to customize their sleeves. After all, being awesome is a choice. 

Before you start designing the sleeve(s) on your custom long sleeve t-shirts, you may want to consider designing, the rest the shirt, too. 

There are many places a design can go on long sleeve t shirts (as you'll see in our logo placement guide), but typically customers will design at least the front of a shirt in addition to the sleeve. 

As for sleeve design, the placement is 3-6" from the top seam (where the sleeve and body connect at the shoulder). The space itself is 3" tall by 14" long, which gives you a lot of room to play around with. 

Again, popular sleeve design choices include slogans, messages, web addresses, and phone numbers. A long logo also works very well. 

Did you know adding a design to a sleeve is as easy as going into our online design studio, uploading an image (or artwork), and placing it on the sleeve? Or, if you don't have an image, you can add text (from a wide variety of font choices) directly from within our online design studio? 

Basically, we make the process as easy as possible because nothing should stand between somebody and amazing custom long sleeve t-shirts. 

At Bolt Printing, we -- like many other custom clothing companies -- will screen print sleeves. Because of the preparation and labor that goes into screen printing, this means there's a minimum quantity (which is 12). 

And, as with most screen printing, the price comes down on bulk orders. This allows us to offer super-affordable custom long sleeve shirts. Other than that, your price will vary depending on the number of colors in your design. One of the easiest ways to save money on a sleeve design is to opt for fewer colors -- and this can also help a sleeve design stand out a little better at times, too. 

But what about embroidery, you ask? Yes, you can ALSO choose custom embroidery. However, because embroidery is priced by the stitch count (as well as logistical issues), designs tend to be smaller and less flashy -- such as maybe just going with a small logo. 

So, hyped about custom sleeve design yet? It's a super cool, super underutilized space that command attention. 

Anyway, it's definitely something worth considering. In the meantime, be sure to check our long sleeve t-shirt collection where you might find the perfect long sleeve shirts for you.