Where you put your logo matters as much as the logo itself. Bad placement makes even a great design look like an afterthought. Good placement makes the product look intentional — like it came from a brand that knows what it's doing, not a committee that settled on "somewhere on the front."

Here's a practical guide to standard placement by product type, with the reasoning behind each convention.

T-shirts and hoodies

Left chest: The most common placement for a branded tee or polo. The logo sits approximately 7–10cm from the left shoulder seam and 5–7cm down from the collar. This is where the eye naturally goes when meeting someone — it's the business card position. Best for logos that work at small sizes (8–10cm wide). Clean, professional, versatile across all audiences.

Centre chest: Centred horizontally, in the same vertical position as a left chest. Works well for symmetrical logos or wordmarks. Slightly more casual than left chest — common in streetwear and youth apparel. Also used when the logo or design doesn't work well at the small size required for a left chest hit.

Full front: A large print that covers most of the front of the garment. High visual impact. Best for event tees, band merch, and creative designs where the print IS the product. Not appropriate for corporate or professional applications. Requires artwork that works at large scale — fine detail gets lost.

Back centre: Often used as a secondary placement alongside a front logo. Common applications: event tees with sponsor names on the back, club tees with player numbers, fundraiser hoodies with year group or names. A back print on its own (no front logo) is unusual and generally only works with very strong, deliberate graphic design.

Back yoke: A smaller print positioned at the top of the back, between the shoulder blades. Feels considered and editorial — less common, more distinctive. Works well for lifestyle and creator brands that want a subtle secondary mark.

Sleeve: Either upper sleeve (above the elbow) or lower sleeve (below). A small logo or text on the sleeve is a contemporary placement that's popular in premium streetwear. Works as a secondary hit alongside a chest print, or occasionally as the only placement on a very graphic garment where the primary design is elsewhere.

Hem: A small logo or text at the hem (usually left side) is a subtle, quality-signalling placement popular in premium basics. More brand-building than immediately visible.

Caps

Front panel centre: The standard. Your logo goes here. On structured caps, this is the firm front panel. On 5-panel caps, the flat front. Embroidery or puff embroidery is the standard method. Size typically 6–8cm wide for most logos.

Side panel: A secondary or alternate logo on the left or right panel. Common in sports caps and military-style headwear. Less common in casual branded caps.

Back strap: A small text or logo on the back closure strap. A detail that signals quality to people who look closely.

Underbrim: The underside of the brim, often in a contrast colour on quality caps. Some brands embroider a small detail here — a location, a year, a tagline. Appreciated by cap enthusiasts, invisible to casual wearers.

Tote bags

Full front panel: Totes have generous real estate. A design that uses the full width of the front panel looks far more considered than a small logo dropped in the centre of a large blank surface. Think of the front of a tote bag as a canvas — fill it purposefully.

Centre hit: A medium-sized logo centred on the front. Works for clean, strong logos but can look small and lost on a large bag. Consider sizing up relative to what you'd put on a tee.

Bottom corner: A small logo in the lower left or right corner of the front panel. A subtle, brand-literate placement that works well alongside a larger illustrative design on the rest of the bag.

Polos

Left chest: Standard and correct for polos. Same position as on a tee. Embroidery is almost always the right method here — it looks professional on the structured woven fabric of a polo in a way that screen printing doesn't always achieve.

Sleeve: A secondary logo on the upper left sleeve is common on sporting and corporate polos — useful for adding a secondary brand, sponsor logo, or location detail.

The rule that ties it all together

Placement should feel inevitable — like the logo could only go in that spot. If you look at your mockup and the logo feels like it was dropped on without much thought, try a different position or a different size. The right placement is one where the design and the garment feel like they were made for each other.

When in doubt, ask your decorator to show you two or three placement options on a digital mockup before you commit. It's a five-minute conversation that prevents the "it's not quite what I pictured" feeling on delivery.

Want practical merch guidance every week? Subscribe to Merch Smarter — Printwear's newsletter for clubs, businesses, and event organisers across Australia and New Zealand.