Four Steps for Ordering Custom Hats

Looking to make a statement about your brand with custom apparel? What about a prime way to get your logo out there while combining functionality with style? Custom hats are the way to go—they’re flexible, fun, and fashionable, and, as it turns out, easy to order and get sent right to your door.

New to ordering swag and not sure how to get started with custom hats? We’ve narrowed the process down to four easy steps.

Step 1: Choose the right type of hat

The first thing you must do when ordering promotional hats is determine what type of hat is right for your needs. There are four types of hats that work well as branded headwear:

• • Baseball caps

• • Beanies

• Visors and Bucket Hats

So how do you know which to go with? Consider the environment in which you expect them to be worn. Cold weather? Go with the choice that will keep your recipients’ heads warm—a beanie. Need a type that’s suited for wear during sports and other athletic activities? Go with a baseball cap or a visor. And, if you’re looking for a branded hat to be worn as a casual accessory, choose a highly-customizable trucker hat.

Here are some more details on each style to help guide your decision:

Custom Baseball Caps

​There are a lot of options to choose from when looking for a promotional baseball cap.  Do want more of a fashion or casual cap, something that people will were in everyday life? Or are you looking for a cap to wear to the gym or other exercise activities? Or maybe a hat for your employees to wear while working or out in the field? Here are a few different styles of baseball caps to choose from:

– Dad Hats – A dad hat is usually an unstructured baseball hat with six-panels and an adjustable snapback hat closure. One of our best sellers is our Cotton Dad Hat, it is made of a soft, washed cotton twill, comes in a variety of colors. It can be customized with your logo via embroidery or screen printing on the front, back or sides.  This twill cap is a great option for an everyday hat and it is not just for dads.

– Performance and Flexfit – If you are looking for a cap that is good for the gym or other physical activities, you’ll want to look for a Performance sports hat. These hats are usually polyester or a poly-blend and help with moisture wicking and are more breathable than other hats. The closures tend to be flexfit (elastic) or Velcro adjustable straps.  Our most popular option is this FlexFit Pro-formacne hat. But we have many options including this Nike Dri-fit or the Adidas Performance Relaxed Cap. 

– Fashion Caps – Baseball caps can be their own fashion statement. So you will want to consider your audience when choosing a hat. Some people may prefer a flat bill hat, like our 6-panel snapback. Or others may prefer a more low profile cap like our New Era Adjustable. 

– Trucker Hats – Instead of being made of one fabric like a typical baseball cap, the front section of a trucker cap above the bill is usually a polyester or cotton or traditionally foam and the back half  is a mesh for breathability. The front of the hat is usually structured and stands up stiffer than an unstuctured hat like the dad hat, this makes the custom trucker hat taller than most baseball caps and a great place to advertise your brand. These hats were traditionally worn by truckers (hence the name), farmers and other rural workers, but became more popular with younger and urban groups.

The most important thing to consider when selecting a custom baseball cap is what would the people you are choosing it for actually like to wear. Are they a younger demographic? Are they active?  Do they like bright colors or something more subtle or muted. If you have a mixed audience, maybe mix and match a few styles. Luckily, unlike other apparel, most baseball caps are considered unisex, so they are great options to giveaway to everyone. 

Custom Beanies

When choosing a beanie or knit cap there are different things to consider than baseball caps. Here are a few questions you will want to answer.

-If you want a beanie that fully customized to your brand, you will want to go with our Fully Custom Beanie, which can be created especially for you, incorporating your own specific brand colors and design, a custom pom–pom. This option is a great gift for your team members or a giveaway. Note that this since this is a fully custom item, the turnaround time might be longer, so you should give yourself at least 30-40 business days for production. If you need it quicker, the stripe pom pom beanie is a great and fun option. 

– If you are looking for something that is standard, comes in a lot of fun colors and appeals to everyone, we recommend the more basic Knit Beanie or if you want something 100% cotton, our cotton beanie is the way to go. Or if you are looking for an eco-friendly option, this econscious beanie, made from recycled cotton is the perfect choice.

– If you want something more fashion-forward, we have a lot of great premium options. This TOPO Ragga cap is heavy-duty, sturdy and warm and made in the USA or the TOPO Watch cap is a classic. We also have some great beanie options from Roots73. Including the U-Fenelon Beanie which is a double-layered knit and soft inner lining. Or their Peaceriver Toque, which has a unique, stylish fit and is sure to stand out from the standard beanie.

Other Custom Hat Options: Visors, Bucket Hats, Golf Hats and More

While the most standard options for promotional hats are baseball caps and beanies there a lot of other options. For summer events, things like visors or bucket hats can be fun options for brim hats that keep the sun out of your eyes. Or if you are having a golf outing or tournament, certain caps or visors are good options. Particular brands like Under Armour, Nike or Adidas are also popular options in these occasions. 

Step 2: Design your custom hats

Now that you’re familiar with the types of custom hats available and have chosen the one that’s best suited for your recipients, it’s time to design the hat.

The design you select will depend heavily on which item you select. If you’re looking for something you can really make your own, our Fully Custom Beanie, which allows you to print up to eight colors, is the clear winner. If you’re wanting something that’s on-trend but comes in a range of colors on which you can have your design either printed or embroidered, our 6-panel Snapback fits the bill (pun absolutely intended).

Before you fully commit to a style of hat, check what colors it’s available in and make sure there’s a selection that you like and that matches the design you’re going to upload so that the colors don’t clash with one another. Don’t worry—you can easily preview your design as it looks situated on the hat so that you know whether or not the colors are complementary.

Step 3: Upload your design and order your hats

Once you’ve settled on a type of hat and chosen the design or logo you’re going to have printed, it’s time to upload the design and place your order for the hats. Depending on the type of hat you select, you could have the options to upload a front and back design, so if that’s the case, know what you’d like to have in both locations. And for best results when uploading designs, use an EPS file.

Once your file is uploaded, situate it on the hat in the way that you’d like it to be printed or embroidered. Don’t worry if it doesn’t feel exactly right; all design mock-ups are reviewed by humans to make sure things are centered neatly and error-free. Choose the quantity you’d like to receive, and click add to cart, and proceed to check out to order your branded hats.

If you are choosing something specific or fully custom, reach out and we can help you with specs or provide a design template. 

Step 4: Printing and packaging

Now that you’ve selected your type of branded hat, uploaded your design, and placed your order, it’s time for our work to begin. We print or embroider your high-quality design on the hats you chose and then neatly package them to be shipped directly to you. Or, if you prefer, we can store them in our Swag Inventory so that we’re responsible for inventory storage and distribution. This way, you can sit back, relax, and let us hold on to your swag while you tell us when to send out your promotional hats and where to ship them to, including one-offs to individuals or as part of a swag giveaway.

Enjoy your branded hats

Now that you’re familiar with the process of ordering promotional headwear and custom hats, what will you design? A hat can be more than just a fun fashion accessory—with the right design, it becomes a statement piece that reflects your brand and style. Check out Swag.com’s assortment of customizable hats, beanies, and other headwear and get started designing your statement today.

Custom hats are also a great addition to a custom tote swag bag or swag box. Or pair them up with some custom t-shirts, branded sweatshirts or hoodies or other promotional giveaways to make a lasting impression for your brand.