Merch Ideas or client appreciation gifts for small businesses
Hey there, I’m Stephanie Lang, owner of The Lavender Vine in Chattanooga. I spent 10+ years as a wedding florist here in Tennessee before recently switching back to my original career path in graphic design…but this time, on my own terms. Earlier in my career, I worked for other companies. Now, I work for my own business, The Lavender Vine, helping other wedding pros and creatives through branding, web design, and business coaching!
Along the way, I’ve found some excellent merch items for my own business and client appreciate gifts.
1. Branded Floral Aprons
As a business owner and former wedding florist, I’m always looking for an elevated way to wear my brand. These florist aprons with branded leather patches were the perfect fit. Not only did it allow for my team to dress a little nicer in all black (rather than wearing a more casual screen-printed T-shirt, it also gave us a cohesive look while being functional.
Your can find the apron on Amazon, and the custom patches on ETSY. The patches came with options for heat-backing (iron-on) or stitching holes. I chose the iron-on option, which worked perfectly on the apron fabric.
2. Branded Hats
Last Christmas, I ordered custom branded hats as client appreciation gifts, and they were such a hit! Not only did they celebrate my clients’ brands (many of which I had designed for them), but several clients even shared them on social media. It was such a fun way to extend the life of our projects and keep my business top-of-mind long after completion.
I sourced the hats from two different Amazon listings HERE & HERE to get the right colors. And then the patches were custom made on ETSY. The patches came with options for heat-backing (iron-on) or stitching holes. I chose the iron-on option, and it worked beautifully.
I even made one for myself so I could test how it wears, and it’s held up great. That said, if I were only making one or two, I’d probably take the extra time to hand-stitch them on for that elevated, custom look.
4. Color Pallet Cards
I absolutely LOVE these Pallet Scout Color Cards, and they’re great for any designer or artist. They encourage color play and exploration.
As a Graphic Designer, we typically to use Pantone Color Booklets. The benefit is that Pantone offers exact color matching printer ink for bulk printing and the color values (RGB, CMYK & HEX) are right there on the swatch. The negative is that these booklets are expensive, and they’re bound at the corner, so you can really separate out a swatch.
With Pallet Scout Cards, I love that you can separate out certain cards so you can lay them out for a flat lay or simply brainstorming. Each card has a fully saturated side, and a muted side. You know I love this, because I use a lot of muted colors as a designer who works with wedding vendors a lot (we’re often going for sophistication). Huge perk that they’re much more affordable, and amazon offers a bulk price, perfect for client gifting if you work with a lot of designers.
Plus, there are all kinds of ways Pallet Scout helps you explore different color combinations with their Color Idea Cards.
Pallet Scout also offers a variety of real world color matching PDFs starting at $5 for things like Sherwin Williams Paint, Graphic Design Color Values (RGB, CMYK & HEX), Prismacolor Pencils, & Tombow Markers!
If you need help elevating your brand into something your proud to print on merch, wear around town, and show of online, I’d love to chat. We also do website design, honing on on drawing your ideal client with strategic design and messaging. Check us out here for more info.
