The Helium Filled Pasta Company markets a variety of gravity-resistant noodles to fine restaurants around the country.

At least, that's what we had in mind when we invented it.

We did so to show you what goes into logos embroidered at Lands' End, and how those logos can change when sewn on different products and fabrics.

Our embroidery experts' goal is to produce logos that are attractive and faithful to customers' original artwork. Along the way, they strive to keep stitch count down, which saves customers money. Here's the short list of questions they have in mind when logo art is submitted.

• What fabrics will the logo be applied to?
  A logo can look very different on a Supplex jacket than it does on a Drifter sweater. We take that into consideration when designing in thread. We even design to ensure that a logo will still look good 20 washings later.
• What size should the logo be?
  We look at this from the perspectives of legibility and embroidery equipment constraints. In general, large, simple logos reproduce better than small, detailed ones. We'll change a logo's size when it goes from, for example, a cap to a piece of luggage, to keep it in perspective.
• How many colors does the logo have?
  Your logo may include up to nine. We match thread color to logo colors as accurately as possible.
• What color garments will the logo appear on?
  It makes quite a difference. We'll be glad to suggest color changes if need be.
• What fonts does the logo use?
  We take into account letter size, shape, kerning (the space between letters), shadows, italics, and so on. Some fonts reproduce beautifully in thread, while others, well, don't. We're happy to advise on this.

Let's follow the changes to The Helium Filled Pasta Co. logo as it's used on different products for different purposes:

October
The company needs shirts for a trade show. Here's the logo embroidered on a Mesh Polo. On knit fabrics like mesh, letters must be 1/4 inch high or greater.

December
The company wants to give favorite customers outerwear for the holidays. Here's how the logo looks on a swatch of Polartec. We've added what's called "fill" stitches behind the letters , to support them and keep them legible. On Polartec, letters must be 3/8 inch high or greater to be legible.

May
Time for the annual company softball game! To fit on caps, some logos are divided up, front and back. (Many customers put their web addresses on the back of caps, too.) To be legible, logo text on caps must be 1/4 inch high or greater.

September
The Board of Directors is off to its annual strategic planning conference in (!) Las Vegas. This is the company logo embroidered in a larger size on luggage fabric. We've also shown you how the logo would look had we NOT increased its size from the mesh polo version. As you can see, it wouldn't have the same impact without being enlarged for the attach???. For luggage and sweaters, the letters in a logo must be 3/8 inch high or greater. (Hint: luggage can really give a logo exposure.)

What's the timeline?
Once you authorize us to recreate your logo, you'll receive an actual embroidery swatch in about a week.

Embroidery Pricing

Roughly 75% of the logos we produce have less than 8,000 stitches. You'll be charged the set-up fee when we ship your logo sample. If you add to or change an approved logo design, there may be a revision fee of $45 depending upon the complexity of the change.

Questions on embroidery, or how to submit your artwork?
Please call 1-800-587-1541, or e-mail businessoutfitters@landsend.com.

We think the quality of our embroidery is unsurpassed. And to back that up, our merchandise is still Guaranteed. Period® after it's been embroidered. This concludes Embroidery 101. Thanks for coming!