When you send us an email we'll get excited and check for any attachments. We will either be excited by the simplicity of your crest/logo allowing us to make the stich grid easily, or be excited by the complexity and promise of satisfaction when its done (type 1 and type 2 fun).
Once the stitch grid is done, we'll mock it up on the body of a sock, trying our best to match your colours, and designs from your uniform. Generally we can work best from you sending us a picture of your tie, scarf, or sports kit.
What stays, and what doesn't?
Bold enclosed shapes survive: a shield, a chevron, a cross, a key, a lion reduced to its silhouette. Block capitals at a decent size survive, and stripes survive down to a single stitch.
An 8pt motto doesn't, and it isn't a matter of trying harder. At sock scale the cap height of that text is a couple of rows of stitches, and you can't build a lowercase 'a' out of two rows. A founding date under a shield goes the same way, as does a thin outline around fine detail, which merges into a smudge once each part is one stitch wide. Gradients don't exist here at all, as knitted or printed explains.
Why we redraw rather than shrink
Shrinking keeps every element and just makes each one smaller, which is precisely backwards. The marginal bits get worse, and the bits actually carrying the recognition lose room. So it's a process of cutting detail from some bits and emphasising others. We've also found (counter-intuitively) that the more detail the original mark has often the more identifiable it is when redrawn at a smaller size, with an awkward middle ground in the medium stage of low detail but intricate drawings.
Where does the crest go, and what fits?
Each zone is a different size, so where you put it changes what's possible. The outside of the calf is the main panel and takes a full crest, and a long sock gives you more of it than a crew does. The front of the ankle suits a monogram or initials.
What design work do you need from us?
As little or as much as you want. Some schools come to us with a sock they've already had made but want a superior manufacturer, and others come to us with a vague idea. We work with both. We can also work directly with HsMs or House teams to make sure the sock will be loved by those who wear it.
Email us at enquiries@societalsocks.com to see what we can do for your crest at no cost.