MUST KNOW TIPS WHEN DESIGNING A LOGO FOR APPLIQUE
Any vector based program would be best, but Illustrator is the best. Below are some tips that you should always think about when working on and finalizing your artwork in Illustrator.
Design tips to consider:
• PDF or EPS. Any vector-based program will work if file output is saved as PDF (preferred) or EPS (saved for a PC).
• Fonts. Convert text fonts to outlines. Consider sans serif fonts (i.e. Thin fonts like Times New Roman are more difficult to appliqué than Arial fonts.)
• Lines. Stroke weights on outlines must be scaled.
• Clean-up. Omit unnecessary elements before saving a final draft.
• Monotone. Convert all gradients to monotone for appliqué or silkscreen. (Gradients are okay for digitally printed flags.)
• Keep it Simple, Silly (KISS)! Simplify complicated logos. Too many details on a logo complicate production. Each method of construction (silkscreen, appliqué, digital and embroidery) have their limitations.
.
Make sure that all text is in outlines:
You can do that by going to Type > Create Outlines, or you can use the shortcut Command+Shift+O (Ctrl+Shift+O on PC).
Expand and merge paths:
Stroke weights can change depending on user settings, so it’s a good idea to expand them and then merge them so they form a nice shape. There are a few ways this can be done depending on if you’re working with a brush stroke or the pen stroke. For the brush stroke go to Object > Expand Appearance to expand the stroke, then open the pathfinder window by going to Window > Pathfinder (Shift+Option+F9). Inside the window you see some fun little icons. If you hover over them you can see what they are. You’ll want to hit the one that says merge. For pen tool paths, you only need to go to Object > Expand and make sure that Fill and Stroke is selected.
Clean up your mess:
All the expanding and merging brush strokes can cause invisible shapes to form in the negative space which group with your colors. Plus with everything you’ve already done, you never know. Just go to Object > Path > Clean Up. If something was cleaned, you won’t see a message, but if there was nothing to clean, you get something that says “no cleanup was necessary."
Gradients are no can do make flat color logos:
It's always a good idea to have simple logos in place of Gradient ones.
Merge 1 color logos:
This keeps things really easy. One click is all it will take to change a logo from black to white. Don’t forget to do the clean up.
Simplify:
After a lot of merging and expanding, you’ll probably see a lot of anchor points. This is easy to remedy. Just go to Object > Path > Simplify and adjust the settings accordingly. You’ll see how many points there are before and after the change in the dialog box. The less points there are, the better.
Group like colors:
Grouping like colors makes color changing a breeze.
Save as an eps:
It's also a good idea to try and save your design as a CS1.
WHAT IS VECTOR?
VECTOR graphics (also called geometric modeling or object-oriented graphics) is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and polygons, which are all based upon mathematical equations to represent images in computer graphics. It is used by contrast to the term raster graphics, which is the representation of images as a collection of pixels (dots).
VECTOR images can be scaled up or down infinitely without the loss of resolution and are much smaller files compared to bitmap files. Vector images also allow you to change color and edit individual elements with ease. Vector artwork is simply comprised of lines (wireframe) that represent the objects. Vector images are usually created with drawing programs such as CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator or Freehand.
Resolution Independent: A vectorised image has no jaggedness, no loss in detail and can be printed at any resolution.
Size Independent: The image can be scaled up or down without any loss in quality.
Can be Updated or Partially Changed: Your files can be upgraded, colors changed and scaled without any loss of detail or quality.
WHY YOU CAN'T USE STROKES:
Stroke weights can change depending on user settings, so it’s a good idea to expand them and then merge them so they form a nice shape. There are a few ways this can be done depending on if you’re working with a brush stroke or the pen stroke. For the brush stroke go to Object > Expand Appearance to expand the stroke, then open the pathfinder window by going to Window > Pathfinder (Shift+Option+F9). Inside the window you see some fun little icons. If you hover over them you can see what they are. You’ll want to hit the one that says merge. For pen tool paths, you only need to go to Object > Expand and make sure that Fill and Stroke is selected.