Logo for workwear: the three-inch test
Workwear is the smallest and most repeated version of your logo. It goes on a chest at three inches, a back at ten, and a cap at two. If the mark only works at the largest size, the uniform will carry a version you do not control.
A uniform is also a trust signal. The person at your door is wearing your mark while they do the job, and the logo is read in bad light, through a doorway, at an angle. There is no scrolling past it.
The practical problem is that embroidery, heat transfer and print each have different limits, and the same file is usually sent to all three. The mark needs a small-size version that is designed, not just scaled down.
Two placements, two different jobs
| Placement | What it has to do |
|---|---|
| Left chest | Identify at conversation distance; icon alone is often enough |
| Back | Read across a room or a site; the full lockup belongs here |
| Cap | Work at two inches; simple, high-contrast shapes only |
| Sleeve | A badge, not a billboard; one colour and no fine type |
The constraints
- Fabric moves. A stroke that is 1 mm on a screen can vanish after one wash on a knit.
- Thread and vinyl behave differently. Embroidery needs solid fills and wider strokes; heat transfer can hold finer detail but can peel at the edges.
- Dark garments flip the contrast. A logo designed on white often needs a reverse version, not the same colours on a dark background.
- Small type is the first casualty. Set the name at a size that survives the cap, then check the chest version.
- Colour matching across garments is approximate. The same thread on a navy fleece and a black polo will not look identical, and that is normal.
Worked example: chest and cap
The brief
An electrician has a horizontal lockup: a bolt inside a circle, then the name, then '24 hour call-out' in small type.
On a chest at 3 inches the name is 4 mm high and the tagline is 1.5 mm. Neither stitches. The uniform version drops the tagline, stacks the bolt above the name, and sets the name at 9 mm. On the cap, the bolt alone is used at 2 inches.
The original horizontal lockup remains the website and van version. The point is not that one version is better; it is that the mark has a documented small-size behaviour instead of a digitiser inventing one.
What our pack ships
The Production Pack includes the icon-only, stacked and wordmark-only lockups, a mono version and a reverse version. Those four cover the chest, the back and the cap without scaling a horizontal lockup into a space it was never designed for.
It does not include garment mockups or a thread chart. Your embroiderer supplies both, and the pack gives them clean geometry to work from.
Questions
Should the chest logo include the name?
If the name fits at 8–10 mm cap height, yes. If it does not, use the icon on the chest and put the full lockup on the back. Squeezing the name into a chest placement is how uniforms end up with an unreadable smudge.
Can I use the same file for embroidery and print?
The same brand, different files. Embroidery needs wider strokes, solid fills and fewer colours. Print can hold finer detail. Start from a small-size master and add detail back for print, not the other way round.
Do I need a reverse version?
If any garment is dark, yes. A reverse version is not the same file with the colours changed; contrast and stroke weight often need adjusting so the mark holds on fabric.
If the file is the problem, the pack is the fix.
The Production Pack is $149, one time: true vector masters, six lockups, a print PDF and EPS, one ink per file and unlimited parametric edits.
See the production pack Audit my current file
Free tools: vector check · 12-file audit · 16px legibility · CMYK shift · stitch estimate
For agents
The same pack is available to a machine: a structured brief, a JSON manifest, x402 in USDC on Base, and an MCP tool contract.
Agent access · OpenAPI · llms.txt · MCP
Agent API: the contract, the free endpoints and the paid x402 checkout are live. USDC on Base, no account, no API key.
Related guides
- Logo for embroidery: what actually stitches
Why embroidered logos turn into blobs, the stroke and letter-size limits that matter, and exactly what artwork an embroiderer needs. A practical checklist.
- Logo for screen printing: separations, not a JPEG
Screen printing needs one plate per ink, solid spot colours and no transparency. What to check before your printer quotes, and the file they actually need.
- A dentist's logo: calm at the door, clear on the scrubs
A dental practice sells calm and competence before treatment. How the mark works on a door sign, a scrub top, a referral card and a Google profile.
- An electrician's logo: safety, speed and a mark that does not shock
Electrical work sells competence and safety. How to build a mark that reads on a van, survives embroidery, and avoids the category's stock lightning bolt.