Four Core Logo Methods and Further Finish Options
Starting a brand? The line we know best is inner ceramic coating — and we are leading the groundwork to get an industry standard written for it.
Our four core logo methods are silk screen, laser engraving, heat transfer and UV. Spray colours, electroplating and embossing offer further finish options. Send the artwork, model and quantity and we’ll help choose the combination for your order.
Silk screen
One to three solid colours, each with its own screen and pass. We review the artwork and sample before the run.
Laser engraving
A single-tone mark in the stainless surface. We show your artwork on a sample so you can confirm the colour and placement.
A textured black tumbler with a laser-marked brand name. Laser suits this body because the texture would break up a printed edge, while an engraved mark sits in the surface rather than on it. Note the mark is the only logo application — on a body this dark, laser is often the whole brief.
Same method on a heavily textured black tumbler. The finish under the coating differs, so the mark reads slightly brighter here than on the smooth matte body above — but it is still one tone, still the colour of the steel underneath, and still not adjustable. If two products in one range need to look identical, tell us at enquiry: the body finish, not the laser setting, is what changes the result.
UV digital
Full colour with no screen setup. Two things to know: the dark-body white base, and the raised feel.
Close up, UV ink has a slight raised relief you can feel with a fingertip. On most programmes that is a bonus — it reads as a quality cue in the hand. It matters when the artwork butts up against a moulded edge or a lid seat, where a raised layer can interfere with fit. Send the model with the artwork and we will flag it before tooling if the print area is too close to a mating surface.
Heat transfer
Full-wrap artwork, with the seam and body shape agreed on a proof.
Electroplating
A body finish rather than a logo method — and the most expensive of them.
Mirror and gradient metallic finishes on the body itself — a colour effect, not a printed layer. It works on both stainless steel and plastic bodies, which surprises buyers who assume plating is a metal-only process. What it cannot do: plating covers the whole body, so it is not a way to apply a logo — there is no masking and no partial plating. Choose the finish for the bottle, then add the logo by one of the other four methods on top. Gradient transitions are set by the plating jig, not by artwork. And the real constraint is cost: plating is the most expensive of the body finishes, well above spray painting for the same bottle. It earns its price on gift and retail programmes where the finish is the selling point, and rarely on a promotional giveaway where unit price decides the order. Ask for a plated sample alongside a sprayed one before you commit — the difference is easier to judge in the hand than in a photograph.
The four printing methods, side by side
| Method | Best at | The constraint buyers miss |
|---|---|---|
| Silk screen | One to three solid colours, each with its own screen and pass. | One to three colours only. Each colour is a separate screen and a separate pass, so a four-colour logo is not an upcharge — it is a different method. Gradients or photographs mean UV or heat transfer. |
| Laser engraving | A single-tone mark in the stainless surface, with the appearance shown on a sample. | One tone rather than printed colour. Silicone folding bodies use a suitable printing method; confirm the chosen material and artwork with us. |
| UV digital | Full colour and photographic artwork with no screen setup. The practical choice for short runs and for programmes with many artwork variants — one bottle, forty different school or club logos. | Dark bodies need a white base layer laid down first, which adds a pass. |
| Heat transfer | When the design wraps the whole body or fades between colours. The most complete coverage of the four. | The most sensitive to the surface underneath. If your bottle has a matte or soft-touch finish, tell us at quoting stage rather than after approval — matte surfaces and transfer film need to be matched deliberately, and that is a conversation better had before tooling than after. |
Colour-changing finishes — and the one constraint nobody mentions
Colour change is a coating, not a separate product line, so it is not limited to one shape. But it is limited by construction, and this is where most briefs go wrong.
| Effect | Reacts to | Suits | Construction limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thermochromic | Heat — the artwork appears when a hot drink goes in and fades as it cools | Coffee and tea programmes where the reveal is the point | The body must be single-wall. Not negotiable — see below. |
| Photochromic | UV — the colour shifts outdoors in sunlight and returns indoors | Sports bottles, festivals, outdoor events | Confirm the effect on the chosen construction and sample. |
Thermochromic cannot be used on a vacuum bottle — it needs a single-wall body. The whole point of a double-wall vacuum bottle is that heat does not reach the outer wall — that is what keeps your drink hot and the outside comfortable to hold. It is also exactly what stops the paint from reaching the temperature it needs to change. Put thermochromic paint on a vacuum flask and you get a weak, patchy, unreliable effect, or nothing at all.
So the choice is explicit: if the reveal is the point of the product, specify a single-wall body and accept that it will not insulate. If insulation is the point, choose photochromic instead, or drop the colour change. We would rather have this conversation at quoting stage than after 1,000 pieces are painted.
| Material | How the colour change is achieved |
|---|---|
| Stainless steel | A sprayed coating. |
| Ceramic | The same sprayed approach — though ceramic mugs are not a product we make ourselves. |
| Plastic | The pigment can be compounded into the resin; the material, base colour and effect are confirmed before moulding. |
Any of the three can still take a printed or engraved logo. As a custom run, the minimum is 1,000 pieces.
Specialty finishes — what each one actually is
These finish options change the look of the body. Send a reference image and we’ll help identify the effect and confirm a sample plan.
| Finish | What it actually is | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Electroplating | A plated layer on the stainless surface that produces an iridescent, shifting lustre — the finish people usually describe as “holographic” or “oil-slick”. | The colour genuinely moves as the bottle turns in the light. A premium finish that photographs extremely well, which is why it keeps appearing on retail shelves and in influencer listings. It is also the most expensive finish we offer. |
| MOPA laser colour gradient titanium only | A MOPA laser heats the titanium surface to grow an oxide layer; the thickness of that layer decides the colour. | This is the one most often confused with electroplating, so be precise about which you are asking for. The gradient is fixed — it does not shift as the bottle turns. Titanium only; it cannot be done on stainless. |