The right mix of fit and vintage finish makes this sport sweatshirt a winner.

We’ve got another gem from the new offerings we’re taking to this year’s Keller Williams Family Reunion that we’d like to show you. We created this show-stopping sweatshirt, complete with extremely distressed applique to get that vintage athletic apparel feeling for all the folks from Keller Williams. Long [...]]]>  

The right mix of fit and vintage finish makes this sport sweatshirt a winner.

We’ve got another gem from the new offerings we’re taking to this year’s Keller Williams Family Reunion that we’d like to show you. We created this show-stopping sweatshirt, complete with extremely distressed applique to get that vintage athletic apparel feeling for all the folks from Keller Williams. Long fans of other athletic-inspired styles on your myredgear.com website, we figure that the people at the show will love this high-end retail look.

We paired the company colors with a frayed twill applique and customized distressed text, digitized to match the piece in style and finish, to create a unique new way for the folks at Keller Williams to brand themselves and promote their business. Place that design on comfortable, softly-shaded crew-neck sweatshirts like these and you’ve got a combination that’s sure to keep their team in high spirits.

With more and more materials and decoration options on the market, you needn’t settle for simple polo-shirts and caps with the same old standard embroidery.  Just ask the people who’ve been shopping at myredgear.com- they’ll tell you: from rhinestone bling to vintage-inspired sweatshirts, to sparkly-printed yoga pants, there’s a new world of corporate identity out there, and we’re here to bring it to you. They’ll be easy to find in their eye-catching custom gear, and you can be too.

Does your company’s outerwear look as good as it works? Is is versatile and yet have that professional, styled look you crave? If not, keep reading- The Glacier Soft-Shell jacket isn’t one of our bestsellers without good reason.

With the New Mexico weather fluctuating from frosty to spring-like in a matter [...]]]>

Even the mannequin looks fantastic!

Does your company’s outerwear look as good as it works? Is is versatile and yet have that professional, styled look you crave? If not, keep reading- The Glacier Soft-Shell jacket isn’t one of our bestsellers without good reason.

With the New Mexico weather fluctuating from frosty to spring-like in a matter of moments, it seems all the more crucial to have a good mid-weight jacket close at hand, and our customers agree that nothing is quite so handy as the Glacier Soft-Shell jacket. Where a traditional windbreaker might fail and a heavy winder jacket may overcompensate, this jacket hits the mark.

This jacket is a personal favorite in my household, and it’s my wife’s approval that spurred me to write this post. You see, she’s a dedicated retail consumer. She’s the first person to pick out the details that a retail garment has that a wholesale blank might not share, and yet, she loves this jacket. From the first moment she saw an Atlantic Blue ladies Glacier Soft-Shell in our showroom, she had to have one. It had the princess seams, awesome pockets, and more importantly it felt and looked amazing. Don’t take it from me, or even from the attached video, take it from her. This jacket meets or exceeds the quality you see in the stores, and for a fair price. With that, back to the details.

It’s constructed from a water and wind resistant stretch polyester, making this jacket ready to take on a variety of conditions, and yet the internal microfleece makes comfortable to wear. This jacket takes embroidery splendidly, and with mens and women’s styles, both sporting a flattering cut, it’s sure to make you look great. Let’s let the video show you the rest.

Combine a great jacket with the matchless quality of Black Duck‘s decoration, and you have corporate logowear that your employees will want to wear, everywhere!  If you want you see yourself in a Soft-shell, Contact us. We’ll make you look great, and the process look easy.

Stitches Magazine - Featuring the work of Black Duck!

I’m happy to announce that the January issue of the matchless [...]]]> (Now that we have author tags enabled for the upcoming addition of new blog contributors from the shop, I’ll be writing this post in the first person, seeing as it’s about my project!  -EC)

Stitches Magazine - Featuring the work of Black Duck!

I’m happy to announce that the January issue of the matchless embroidery industry trade magazine Stitches, is out today! Featured on the cover (viewable here in the digital edition) is the work of none other than your Black Duck Blog author, Erich Campbell. I was honored when in November of 2011, the editor of Stitches Magazine, Nicole Rollender,  contacted me with twofold good news. First, I’d been voted in to their annual Power List as the 60th most influential person in the industry (seen here) and that they were interested in having me create the embroidery for the January cover.

Being that November and December are our busiest time of year, I was concerned, but I would never deny such a great honor. I jumped at the challenge. Not long later, I was staring at a full-color photograph of a carousel, complete with a depth-of-field effects that, though wonderful in photography, aren’t well suited to the clean edges created by thread and needle. I pitched the concept of rendering the background scene in a range of grays and creating a spectacular full-color piece for the lead horse in the photograph. Luckily for me art director Jim Lange was on board. Now the real work started.

Wanting to create  it in secret so as to make for a big reveal, I worked on the project at home. After some 60 hours of art and digitizing (plotting stitch placements and types in specialized machine embroidery software) later, I had a file that would make our embroidery machines spit out a piece measuring over 9.5″ by 10.8″, consisting of 16 colors and 182, 389 stitches. The actual run, when coupled with the necessity of rethreading the machine and prepping the materials, would take over 7 hours to produce. In the end, however, I was very happy with the piece and shipped it off urgently to be photographed, cropped, and styled into the magnificent cover you see here.

I’d like to thank our proprietors, Doug and Dana Bird for the freedom they give their creative staff to do such skill-building projects, as well as the crew at Stitches Magazine for spurring me on to contribute to the industry. Last, but not least, I’d like to thank all of our customers for staying with us, and proving that quality and creativity matter and are worth supporting.

I’m happy to say that we at Black Duck are not just up to industry standards, but as you can see, we influence the standard. When you need something truly amazing, we might not be the only ones who can make it happen, but we have some practice. If you have a spectacular image or brand that you want made into a beautiful embroidered or screenprinted garment, or if you just want an artist’s eye directed toward your company’s uniforms and promotional products, please contact Black Duck. We’ll be happy to go that extra mile for you.

Here in the last week of the year, many of our customers who visit the showroom at Black Duck are raring to get an order underway so it can count as a purchase made on the [...]]]>

Coordinating shirts now come in a range of styles, colors, and fits - perfect for your logo and staff.

Here in the last week of the year, many of our customers who visit the showroom at Black Duck are raring to get an order underway so it can count as a purchase made on the current year’s budget. While we’re not here to debate the merits of fixed-budget spending, we are here to help you make your purchase more than just a way to round out your figures. Here are three ways that you can make that last bit of budget surplus money work for your department in the coming year.

1. Start the new year with a new professional look. Nothing says ‘team spirit’ like coordinated, custom logowear. Buy your key staff new embroidered button-up and polo shirts, complete with your logo, and they’ll start the new year looking and feeling ready for business. Black Duck has selections that combine professional unisex choices with coordinating and flattering women’s styles to make every day a perfect day to wear your logo (and there are at least 3 good reasons why).

2. Stock up on some essentials, with a promotional twist. You know you’ll need office supplies in the coming year- everyone wants new pencils and pens, notepads, and even incidentals like coffee mugs and flash drives, but rather than simply buying up blank goods from your office supply warehouse, why not turn every one of those frequently used and often seen items into a promotional opportunity by adding a custom print with your logo and company information?  Not only is it a great corporate identity builder for your staff, each of these items can be used as a promotional giveaway for customers and friends of your company. Useful, quality items tend to stay around, meaning that every time your customer picks up that favorite pen, they’ll have your logo and info at hand, and on the top of their mind.

The classic Bic Click-Stick is dependable and can easily produced with your company colors and logos

3. Plan for early for your next event. You know that there’s that one tradeshow, that big meeting, that presentation that you always end up scrambling to get ready at the last minute. Why not get your promotional products set up now? Logo-printed tablecloths, banners, and feather flags, giveaway items like t-shirts, hats, water bottles and the like, printed goody bags, and even business cards can all be created and coordinated here at Black Duck! Why scramble at the last minute and pay rush fees for production? Get those things that you won’t have to change up for every event done now, and have them in reserve all year long.

Three short tips aren’t all we have in store for you when it comes to making the most of your budget, but we know that you’ve got no time to waste if you’re looking to place that order- so stop reading and start calling or coming in to our showroom! We’re here to help you get the best value out of your every expenditure. Whether you need company uniforms, custom promotional products, or even a company identity plan built from scratch, we’re ready to help you put your best foot forward. Contact us, and we’ll make it easy.

Impressions Magazine posted their latest gallery of inspirational decorated apparel today, and in this latest MULTIMEDIA and Digitizing Artistry gallery, Black Duck was prominently featured through our one-of-a-kind apron for local favorite, Dion’s Pizza!  Created from a design once used for company reward jackets, this beatiful, but work-sturdy apron features a detailed rendition [...]]]>

Impressions Magazine posted their latest gallery of inspirational decorated apparel today, and in this latest MULTIMEDIA and Digitizing Artistry gallery, Black Duck was prominently featured through our one-of-a-kind apron for local favorite, Dion’s Pizza!  Created from a design once used for company reward jackets, this beatiful, but work-sturdy apron features a detailed rendition of the famous Dion’s logo, complete with all of the wood-cut inspired lines you would expect from this classic piece of logo artistry.

Thanks to the good people of Impressions, and thanks to Dion’s for all the awesome pizza, subs, and salads over the years! (we paid for them all, don’t feel bad, folks! ) We’re happy we’ve been able to help you promote your great products and outfitting your employees with identifiable and professional uniforms and apparel has been a pleasure!

As we hinted in a previous post, the work of Black Duck’s embroidery digitizer, Erich Campbell, has been featured in Stitches Magazine’s latest fashion shoot, “Bring on the Glam” with his medieval, Anglo-Saxon inspired ethnic embroidery styling. Erich also posted about it on his [...]]]>

This lacy-backed dress made an excellent canvas for Erich's metalwork-inspired designs.

As we hinted in a previous post, the work of Black Duck’s embroidery digitizer, Erich Campbell, has been featured in Stitches Magazine’s latest fashion shoot, “Bring on the Glam” with his medieval, Anglo-Saxon inspired ethnic embroidery styling. Erich also posted about it on his blog for Stitches magazine, describing the artistic process he went through in creating this fashion-ready piece. Reading through his process gives you a window into how Black Duck operates, building great finished garments, with attention to detail from the fabric, to the design, to the embroidery setup, to the decoration materials, and right through to the execution- we approach each piece as a whole, making every step count.

We know that not many of our customers are looking to create something meant for models and mansions, but when you want your corporate logo, team mascot, or even home furnishings done well, why not look to people who can do so much more than the average left-chest logo? Black Duck features experienced artists and designers in-house for free consultation. Whether you need a baseball hat or a ball gown, Black Duck can find a way to make your visions come to life, just like Erich’s did!

Have you ever wanted to place something truly artistic on a T-shirt? If your art is more than the average logo, or if you are promoting truly fine works, there’s no reason why screen printing can’t [...]]]>

Though it looks better in person, you can see the deep level of detail in this initial test print.

Have you ever wanted to place something truly artistic on a T-shirt? If your art is more than the average logo, or if you are promoting truly fine works, there’s no reason why screen printing can’t suit your needs. Black Duck’s staff is skilled in the recreation of fine art pieces, and though we don’t always have such masterworks to contend with, we recently had just such an order that really shows the versatility of the seemingly humble Tee.

Not long ago, the sales staff was surprised to see a customer enter the shop with a rather large piece of art. Measuring feet to a side rather than the normal inches of most source material we see, this panoramic canvas from our turned out to be an amazing Native American painting by skilled New Mexico artist Yellowman; a vibrant, rich, and detailed piece with more than just its size to make it impressive.  No sooner than it was in the door did we hear what we knew would make this job a challenge, this needs to go on a T-shirt.

Immediately we set to work, suggesting how we might crop and arrange it to end up with a selection from the original that would not only capture the spirit of the art, but create  T-shirt that people would want to wear; a shirt with a design that provided good coverage and was visible from a distance, all without compromising the original piece.  One of our skilled artists, Barry Townsend, created the new layout, and tuned the color separations that would become the screens from which the designs would be printed.

In cooperation with our skilled screen-printing supervisor, Mike Adams, the first test prints were created, and under the watchful eye of Yellowman, who was present for proofing of the initial prints, Barry and Mike tweaked and adjusted the print- achieving a final piece that had great fidelity to the vibrant colors of the original art. When they were done, not only was our customer happy with the outcome, we were all more than impressed with what the fine detail and depth of color they had achieved. If the test prints weren’t impressive enough, on every one of the various colors the customer had ordered, the prints looked fantastic, and maintained the overall soft hand that our work is known for.

We’re proud to say that though we love to print your company logos, team-sports names, and all of the simple pieces that are fairly common in our industry, we can achieve that fine-art look that pleases even the most discerning customer, even the painter of the original of a piece himself! If you find yourself curious about promoting your creation through a truly finely printed T-shirt, don’t hesitate to give Black Duck a chance to make your genius into wearable art.