Sometimes however, being seen and standing out is not the desired effect. Have you ever heard the quote, “If you want to get someone’s attention, whisper”?
There is a technique in embroidery called “tone-on-tone” embroidery. The tone on tone effect is the embroidery equivalent of a whisper. It uses color to create subtlety. Tone on tone effects are used by customers where the branding may be less important but still necessary.
Tone on tone embroidery involves using a logo color that is a tone or color similar to the tone of the shirt. Therefore it blends with the color of the shirt and doesn’t “stick out” as much if the logo color contrasted the shirt color. A logo done in a tone on tone effect blends in with the shirt color to create a more subtle appearance.
Yes, it is still visible on a shirt, but just more subtle and less obvious.
Really good tone-on-tone images are usually just one shade darker or lighter than the shirt color similar to these examples in this post.
Tone on tone embroidery is very classy looking because of the subtle nature of the effect. It offers a good mix of branding and identity for your logo apparel. It also presents your logo in a classy and subtle way that does not create a distraction of any kind.
The best tone on tone effects are achieved with logos that are just one or maybe two colors. The more colors in your logo, the harder it is to achieve a great tone on tone effect. Some logos that are two or even three colors can be converted to one color logos and look really good in tone on tone effects.So next time you are looking to do something different with your logo embroidered apparel, consider a tone on tone effect.
In a future post we will discuss what colors work best for tone on tone embroidery.
