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From single pieces to full crew runs, Empire gets designed from scratch gear with honest pricing and a 5 to 7 day door-to-door timeline.
In-house designers turn napkin sketches and old low-res logos into print-ready vector art. Free with every order, proof in 24 hours. For Empire, that comes with published pack pricing and door delivery in 5 to 7 business days.
With a community of 358 spread over 1.0 square miles, Empire gets the same flat delivery promise as everywhere else we serve: 5 to 7 business days to any door. Nearby crews are already in the coverage circle, with Glen Arbor, MI (7 mi), Honor, MI (10 mi), Maple City, MI (10 mi) sharing the identical pack rates and timelines. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, around 23 miles from Empire, anchors the local military community we print for every week.
The whole process runs remote: rough idea in, free designer-built proof back, written approval, and finished gear delivered to Empire.
A typical week of custom design orders from this corner of Michigan mixes Empire crews with neighbors like Glen Arbor, 7 miles over, all running through the same designer, the same proof cycle, and the same tracked delivery.
A small collection designed to sell, not just to exist. One point of contact owns your order from first proof to delivery confirmation.
A phone photo of a faded shirt becomes clean, print-ready vector art. If a design will not print well at the size you want, you hear that before money changes hands.
Crests and emblems built with correct heraldry and licensing rules observed. The proof comes first and it is free, so what arrives is exactly what you signed off on.
Describe it in a sentence; a designer builds it and proofs it within 24 hours. If a design will not print well at the size you want, you hear that before money changes hands.
The year on the shirt sets the type style, and the team knows the difference. If a design will not print well at the size you want, you hear that before money changes hands.
One design system across shirts, banners, and signs so everything matches. The second order takes two minutes because the first one is archived down to the thread color.
The shop runs on habits borrowed from the people we serve: accountability by name, honest reporting, and deadlines that do not slide. Empire customers feel the difference on the first order.
Honesty runs in both directions here. A doomed timeline or a design that will disappoint gets called out early, with an alternative attached.
Ninety seconds in the Design Lab gets you a complete number: garment, print, sizes, upcharges, and shipping, all before any contact form.
The right blank depends on budget, season, and how hard the gear will be worn. For Empire customers, these three earn their keep.
Put the design on washed heavyweight cotton and it stops being a shirt and starts being merch. Start from a napkin sketch if that is what you have. Turning rough into print ready is the job.
The 7.5oz boxy blank is where streetwear concepts land, oversized front or full back. What you approve in writing is what ships. That rule has no exceptions.
The proving ground for new art, with an 80-color palette to frame it perfectly. Reorders match the first run exactly because we keep your art and specs on file.
Half the orders we take begin as a phone photo of a sketch, an old shirt, or a sentence describing the idea. A designer turns that into print-ready vector art at no charge, sends the proof inside 24 hours, and revises it until you sign off in writing. Nothing is produced before that signature, which is why what shows up matches what you expected.
Prefer hands-on? Build the design yourself in the Design Lab on real product photos, with the running price on screen while you work.
Start the budget from the real numbers: published light cotton tee packs, front print built into every figure Empire customers see.
| Order size | Pack total | Cost per piece | Freight | Back side |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 pack | $180 | $18 ea | $18 | $4 ea |
| 15 pack | $250 | $16.67 ea | $18 | $4 ea |
| 20 pack | $320 | $16 ea | $20.99 | $4 ea |
| 25 pack | $375 | $15 ea | $20.99 | $3 ea |
| 50 pack | $700 | $14 ea | $22.99 | $2 ea |
| 100 pack | $1200 | $12 ea | FREE | $2 ea |
Options price per piece: back prints at the listed rate (falling to $3 at 25 and $2 at 50), oversized full-body fronts at $3 under 25 pieces or $2 above, and 2XL-plus sizes at $6 under 25 pieces or $4 above. Every heavier garment keeps this same pack shape at its own numbers, and the Design Lab totals it live while you build.
The first step is just getting the idea out of your head: type it into the quote form or mock it up in the Design Lab, rough edges and all.
The proof arrives inside a day, drawn at print size on your chosen garment and color. Change anything, as often as needed, at no cost.
The press does not move without your written yes. It is the single checkpoint that makes the no-returns policy fair.
Production and shipping run 5 to 7 business days standard. Rush options exist and get quoted honestly against your date.
Everything about the run gets archived, which turns every future reorder into a one-line email.
Delivery to Empire addresses follows one simple clock: 5 to 7 business days including production, with tracking from the moment it leaves. Hit 100 pieces and the shipping line drops to zero.
Orders ship boxed and counted against your size roster, with tracking sent the day they leave. If anything arrives short or damaged, photograph it and send it over, and we correct it at our cost.
Best case: vector art (AI, SVG, EPS, PDF). Very good case: a 300 DPI transparent PNG. Worst case: a screenshot, which our designers redraw at no charge anyway.
We do, at the same pace as domestic orders. Deployed and overseas service members at APO and FPO addresses are covered alongside all 50 states.
Yes, and without giving up your email: the Design Lab keeps the complete total, packs to shipping, on screen while you design.
Five to seven business days, all in, from approval to arrival. Rush exists for real deadlines and gets an honest yes or no up front.
Design help is included free. Whatever you have, a napkin sketch, a faded shirt photo, a sentence, becomes a print-ready proof from a real designer within 24 hours.
Large runs are the core business: hundreds of pieces, mixed sizes, multiple colors, one named contact who owns it from first proof to the delivery scan.
More answers on the full FAQ page.
See everything we deliver to Empire, browse custom design across Michigan, or read the full custom design service page. Other services in Empire: Screen Printing, Embroidery, DTG and DTF Printing, Sublimation, Banners and Signs.
The sequence never changes: free 24-hour proof, your written sign-off, then production at the price you already saw.