Here's a classic topic we figured we'd cover for those new to promotional merchandise. Pens are some of the most popular items in our catalogue and it's easy to see why. Cheap, useful, and easily tailored to meet your needs, the promotional pens from Cubic Promote are second-to-none when it comes to functional custom gifts. Learn more about how we brand these nifty items below.

Classic Pad Printing on Pens

Pad printing is one of the most common methods for branding promotional pens owing to its cost-effectiveness. Pad printing involves cutting a plate into the shape of your unique logo design, then adding ink to the plate before pressing it directly onto the surface of the pens. Your logo is then left on the pen, clearly printed in a bold single colour.

The downside to using pad printing is that it isn't very suitable to multi-coloured prints and because each colour requires a new setup cost, the cheapness is easily negated if you add multiple colours. The other downside is that because pens are frequently used, rubbing against hands and surfaces regularly, the logo will rub off over time. Generally, however, a logo lasts the regular lifespan of a pen but it is worth keeping this in mind if you expect your promotional plastic pens to get a heavy-duty workout.

Digital Logo Prints on Pens

A more modern take on pen branding is digital printing, which uses the latest technology to add your design in full-colour to bulk pens. What clearly sets digital printing apart from pad printing is the fact that digital printing caters to full-colour decoration (meaning you only need to pay one setup fee for a multi-coloured logo). 

Digital printing can also provide clarity to small details that may be lost when pad printing. Best of all, digital printing is a much faster process and allows us to cater to express orders in ways that pad printing cannot. The downside of digital printing is that the price per unit is higher than pad printing and often the branding area (where we can actually print on the pens) is smaller. However, if you have a multi-coloured logo you really can't beat digital printing for representing your design on a pen the way it was intended to be viewed.

Laser Etching on Metal or Wooden Pens

Finally, we have a technique that cannot be applied to plastic pens, laser engraving. Because laser etching involves removing a thin layer of the pen's surface to add your design to the product, it can only be used on hard surfaces such as metal pens and wooden pens. The key advantage to this branding technique is that it is permanent, once your design is etched into the pen it can't be rubbed off so you can be confident about it lasting a long time.

Laser engraving also gives your product a sophisticated look for an affordable price -- often you'll see laser engraved metal pens used as corporate gifts or end-of-school presents. The downside to laser engraving is that it cannot add colour so your design will reflect the colour of the material underneath the surface of your pen (usually a silver or champagne metal colour or light wooden colour). It also, as mention above, cannot be used on lightweight plastic pens so it won't be a suitable technique for every order.

What do you think? There's a lot more to making the best promotional pens than you might think! If you're keen to learn more, contact our friendly sales team today.