Having branded merchandise is a way for a company to promote itself and create a more cohesive brand. While a blank pen is just as effective at taking notes as a pen bearing its owner’s logo, a branded pen can make its creator’s name and logo stick in potential customers’ minds. Printing logos on pens is a relatively simple, inexpensive way to create effective brand swag.

Design and Mock Up the Logo 

Designing a logo that accurately communicates a company’s persona is important no matter how the logo is destined to be used, such as pad printing or using it across social media platforms. An effective logo is a logo that easily communicates what a company does, its ideal clientele and how it stands out from its competitors. These points can be communicated through stylistic elements like:

  • Color palette
  • Shapes
  • Font choice
  • Imagery

A mock up is an image that shows the final product in use. For a custom-printed pen, this might be a close-up photograph of an employee’s hand using the pen to write notes during a meeting, with the logo digitally added onto the pen in the image. It could also be a 3D rendering of a desktop pen holder containing lots of pens bearing the logo.

The purpose of a mock up is to show how the final product will look and how it will be used. This second point is critical because upon seeing how the product will be used, a company’s leader might opt to change the logo’s design to make it more visible, more streamlined or simply more eye catching to the people who will likely use the product. Once the team is satisfied with how the custom pens will look, they can start the process of making custom pens.

Explore Online Bulk Pen Printing

There are many websites that offer bulk pen printing. These websites include:

  • Pens.com
  • Deluxe.com
  • Totallypromotional.com 

Many websites that offer custom pen printing offer other types of promotional printing, like custom pad printing. These websites all work similarly: The company creates an account, uploads its logo and then has the logo printed on pens and other items. Many websites for making custom pens offer bulk discounts, making the price of the individual pens dependent on how many pens the buyer orders.

Making Custom Pens In House

Another way a company can do bulk pen printing is by moving the printing in house. This is possible with a direct-to-pen printer. A direct-to-pen printer is exactly what it sounds like: a printer built to print images directly onto trays of blank pens. For some companies, like banks that give out hundreds of pens every day, investing in a direct-to-pen printer can be the more economic option for bulk pen printing.

Printing Additional Office Products

A company’s logo is its calling card. Many companies that have custom pens printed also explore pad printing, custom coffee mugs and other office supplies. Other branded office supplies a company can create include:

  • Pencils
  • Sticky note pads
  • Planners
  • Notebooks
  • Keychains
  • Calendars
  • Drinkware
  • Wall clocks
  • Stress balls
  • Stickers
  • Highlighters
  • Permanent markers
  • Magnets
  • Power banks
  • Tote bags
  • Water bottles
  • Flashlights

The ideal customized items to order depend on the company’s brand. For example, a fitness center can promote its brand by having custom water bottles printed, whereas an accounting firm might choose to have calendars made that include quarterly tax deadlines. Companies that choose to promote their brands with custom pens can choose from a variety of pen types, such as gel pens, pens with caps, retractable pens with stylus points and pens in unique colors to match their brand personas.