How to Specify Custom Tote Bags
Your 4-step help guide to custom tote bag styles, processes, closures and pockets.
Step 1:
Choose a tote bag style
Custom tote bags have become the ubiquitous ‘must-have’ promotional item for brands the world over. Their ability to cut-through across the fashion, beauty and lifestyle sectors in particular has seen them become as popular as more traditional branded merchandise – making them a perfect platform to promote your brand name or message in style.
Creating the right impression with a custom tote bag for your brand is important, and Progress have years of experience producing branded tote bags for design-led, creative brands of all kinds. When planning and designing your custom tote bags you’ll firstly need to decide on the style of bag you need, based on how it’s going to be used.
Personalised tote bags are great promotional products suitable for almost any type of brand. In larger sizes such as a personalised shopper bag with a more generous internal capacity, they can be used for carrying bigger or more items, whereas a slimmer, standard tote bag is great for promoting your brand at an event. However your tote bag is going to be used, the demands put upon its performance should be considered carefully at the early stages to ensure it is engineered perfectly for its purpose.
Getting started
Before looking more closely at the design details, you’ll need to make measurements to define the ideal size of bespoke tote bags you need and also asses the importance of its eco-friendly credentials, as this will relate to the material you specify for manufacturing (there’s more info about this in Step 2). Progress can make every aspect of your tote bag customised to your requirements by altering the shape, the handle lengths or the number of handles added etc.
Standard Tote
Base Gusset Tote
Full Gusset Tote
Tote Bag Handles
Progress manufacture branded tote bag handles in a variety of materials, lengths and widths. You can even mix and match material colours to create a design that truly expresses the uniqueness of your brand. Handles are such an integral but versatile element of a tote bag and they offer the opportunity to be completely customised to your brand. We produce short handle tote bags, long handle tote bags, or double handle tote bags (long and short together) – just let us know your preference when sharing your spec / requirements with us.
Reversibile standard style tote bag for Design Miami.
Base gusset style tote bag with with long handles for J. Adams & Co.
Double handle tote bag (long and short together) with full gusset capacity for Brawn.
Double handle tote bag (long and short together) with full gusset capacity for Natalino.
Step 2:
Specify a Material
Our most popular custom tote bag material is cotton canvas which comes in a range of stock colours and weights depending on the durability required. A cotton lining can also be added to give a more luxury look and feel to your tote bag in a complimenting colour, which can be either be plain or printed in your branding style.
Cotton twill, linen and washable kraft are alternative materials options, but should only be considered if suited to the style of your brand. For more creative / unique alternatives, we can use two different materials to give each side of the bag a contrasting aesthetic. We have a large range of stock colours but can also custom colour match to your brand on minimum order quantities of 1,000.
Canvas
Denim
Tyvek
Polycotton
Polyester
Nylon
Custom denim tote bag with screen printed branding for Commission.
Natural organic cotton custom canvas tote bag with long and short handles for Natalino.
Custom tote bag made using 16oz black organic cotton canvas for Rough Trade.
Custom Tyvek tote bag with standard handles for The Number 4.
Step 3:
Select a print / branding process
When thinking about the design of your custom custom tote bags, one of the most challenging aspects can be deciding on the best printing process to use. Selecting the most appropriate print process largely depends upon your visual branding / design – whether linear, photographic, full colour or single colour in style.
Tote bag Printing
Progress have over 25 years experience producing bespoke tote bags of all types. Here we share two of the most popular printing methods suitable for tote bag printing.
SilkScreen Print
Digital Print
Embroidery
Tote bag branding
To work alongside the design of your custom tote bag, an additional way to add a touch of style is to incorporate your name / identity as a label / tag on the bag. Here we share two of the most popular custom tote bag label styles.
Woven tags / labels
Debossed tags / labels
Custom woven tag sewn into the top seam of a bespoke tote bag for Brawn.
Metallic silver ink screen printed onto a custom coloured bespoke tote bag for ÅBEN.
Custom stitched debossed label on faux leather for Henry Poole.
Full colour digital print onto 12oz polycotton canvas for Design Miami.
Step 4:
Add a Closure / Pocket
Progress can customise your bespoke tote bag with zips, press studs and pockets to enhance the usability of your bag.
Custom tote bag closures such as zips and press studs add function to your bag, while pockets are popular for holding additional items and can be customised to any size you require.
Press Studs
Rivets
Zips
Pockets
Custom tote bag zip closure on an internal pocket for ÅBEN.
Metallic zip pocket closure on a custom garment bag for Henry Poole.
Open top pocket on the front of a custom denim tote bag for Commission.
Press stud closure on a custom Tyvek tote bag for The Number 4.
