A big hit in The Netherlands this year is the peronalisation of coffeemugs with a company logo. As this market is growing, quality differs. I want to give you some details to think about when you order promotional ceramics:
Is your desired coffeemug made from porcelain or from earthenware? Difference is that porcelain is more white than earthenwear. This can be an advantage for showing your company logo. It’s also more expensive.
Wich printing technique is used for printing on ceramics?
Generally spoken two printing techniques are offered: directprinting and transfer printing. Direct printing is quicker and simple. However details in the artwork are hard to print. With transfer printing, the imprint is made on a special ceramic transfer. After this process, the transfer is placed on a specific place on the mug. This is done by hand so this process is more expensive than direct print.
Porcelein mugs can be printed with much brighter colours than earthenwear. Note that the colour blue can be printed on porcelain but you will probably see the wite of the porcelain through it.
Watch out with red mugs. Always order a mug with a wite surface inside in stead of red. To make the colour red, some toxic ingredients are needed. You don’t want to have toxics in your coffee!
A good ceramic manufacturer will offer you more than one printing technique. Your imprint must be “burned” into the surface. Earthenwear is “baked off” at 600 degrees, Porcelain is done by 800 degrees. This must be done, otherwise your ceramic product will not be dishwasher safe.
Author : Jasper Martens from relatiegeschenken Zintuig in Holland WWW.ZINTUIG.NL