What is Origination?

One question we are often asked at UK Corporate Gifts is what origination is. It is also referred to as a set up cost and involves creating your custom screens for branding on the particular item. Below I explain the details for each of our branding techniques.

Printing

For printing, we use screens to transfer ink onto your chosen item. Each ink colour is transferred separately and screens must be specifically created in the right size to match the print area. This is why we need to create individual screens for each colour and also on each item, even if you use the same logo to print on two items.

Embossing / Debossing / Foil Blocking / Engraving

For any of these branding methods, the artwork needs to be one colour only and a custom screen is created to reproduce your design, similarly to screen printing.

Embroidery

Your artwork needs to be transformed using special software into a stitched version. This is so that the embroidery machine can understand how to read the design and reproduce it with threads and needle. Because the difficulty depends on the size and complexity of the design, it is calculated based on that, rather than the number of colours in the design.

Origination vs. Artwork

At UK Corporate Gifts we provide a full artwork service when required. This, however, is different to origination. While artwork services are to do with making your design print ready (so it can be read by printers), origination deals with the physical production of screens and other setting up of the machines used in your branding. Whichever branding method you choose, always make sure you request a free quote before placing the order. We always include the full breakdown of the costs so that you know where your money is going, as well as the total, so you can easily compare our prices with competition. We are confident UK Corporate Gifts always deliver great value and we're always happy to clarify any origination questions you may have.