Great gear starts with great design.
Whether you have production-ready artwork, a rough sketch, an AI-generated concept, or an idea you're still developing, VC's design team is here to help bring your vision to life.
We offer professional creative design services, technical artwork preparation, and guidance on making your designs look their best on your chosen products.
Ready to get started? Complete the Design Request Form at the bottom of this page and send any supporting artwork, logos, or reference images to your VC representative or info@vcultimate.com.
Design Services & Pricing
VC offers professional creative design services at $40/hour.
There is no charge for preparing production-ready artwork from an existing design. If your project requires additional creative assistance, complimentary design hours are included with qualifying orders of 15 or more units featuring the same design.
Complimentary design hours:
- 15–49 units: 2 free hours
- 50–99 units: 3 free hours
- 100+ units: 4 free hours
Additional creative design time beyond your complimentary allowance is billed at $40/hour.
Major revisions involving changes to the overall design are considered creative design work. Minor adjustments, such as changing a number font or repositioning a sleeve logo, are generally treated as technical artwork preparation.
Learn more about the difference between creative and technical artwork in our Let's Talk About Art article.
Design Deposit
An $80 design deposit, covering two hours of creative work at $40/hour, is required before we begin a new creative design project.
Your deposit will be credited in full toward your final invoice when you place your order, provided the design work has not exceeded your allotted complimentary design hours.
If design work has been completed and you decide not to proceed with an order, the deposit is non-refundable and will not be credited.
Sublimation Set-up Fees & Reorders
Sublimation orders of 15 or more units have no set-up fees. An initial sublimation order of fewer than 15 units is subject to a $50 set-up fee.
Reorders of the same design and style have a minimum of 1–5 units, depending on the product. Contact your VC representative to confirm the minimum for your specific order.
Bringing Your Ideas to Life
You don't need to be a designer to create great custom apparel.
Our team can work with existing logos, reference images, sketches, and creative concepts to help develop artwork that reflects your team, organization, or event.
The more information you share, the better. Even rough sketches and simple visual references can be incredibly helpful.
Before submitting your request, we recommend discussing your ideas with your team and agreeing on a general direction. This helps make the most of your complimentary design hours and keeps the creative process moving efficiently.
AI-Generated Artwork
Created something amazing with AI? Let's make it real.
AI-generated images can be a great starting point for custom apparel design. Whether you've developed a complete concept or are experimenting with ideas, our design team can help transform your vision into production-ready artwork.
Most AI-generated images require additional work before they can be used in our printing processes. This may include recreating design elements, refining details, adjusting colours, or rebuilding artwork to suit specific garment styles.
This work is considered creative design time and is included in your complimentary design hours where applicable. Additional time is billed at $40/hour.
We accept AI-generated concepts provided they are sufficiently original and distinct from existing copyrighted works. Customers are responsible for ensuring they have the appropriate rights to use submitted artwork.
Learn more about AI Artwork & Copyright.
Preparing Your Artwork
Logos & Vector Artwork
For the best production results, we generally require vector-based logos and artwork.
Don't have a vector file? No problem!
We can arrange to have your logo or artwork vectorized through a trusted supplier for $20 per design element.
More complex artwork, including detailed illustrations, gradients, or low-quality reference images, may require additional redrawing. We'll provide a quote before proceeding.
If you're purchasing logos or illustrations from websites such as Freepik or Vecteezy, please ensure you have the appropriate commercial licence and send us the original purchased files. Screenshots cannot be accepted as production-ready artwork.
Colours
All VC sublimated apparel is printed using Pantone Solid Coated colour values.
If you have specific Pantone references, please include them with your design request.
Not sure which colours you want? Coolors is a useful tool for exploring palettes and communicating your preferred colour scheme.
Fonts
Typography can be an important part of your design.
If you have a specific font in mind, please provide the font name and the appropriate font files, with the necessary usage rights.
Looking for inspiration? Explore resources such as Font Squirrel and DaFont.
VC Design Templates
Prefer to create your own artwork in Adobe Illustrator? Fantastic!
VC offers templates for our custom sublimated products, allowing you to develop your design directly on our garment layouts.
Contact our team to request the templates you need.
Our production design experts will review your completed artwork and provide feedback on any adjustments required for production.
Artwork Ownership & Copyright
External Use of VC Artwork
Our creative team is an important part of VC, and the artwork they develop represents their professional expertise and creative work.
VC-designed artwork and concepts may not be used to place orders with other companies. VC does not provide original working artwork files for external production.
This restriction applies to artwork created by VC and does not change ownership of original artwork supplied by customers.
Copyright & Intellectual Property
We respect the work of artists, designers, and creators, and ask our customers to do the same.
Before submitting artwork, please ensure you have the appropriate rights and permissions to reproduce any logos, illustrations, images, or other creative elements included in your design.
If you're unsure whether your concept may infringe on someone else's intellectual property, we recommend reviewing our articles on the Do's and Don'ts of Fair Use and AI Artwork & Copyright.
Uniform Requirements & VC Branding
Competition Requirements
Does your team compete in events governed by Ultimate Canada, USA Ultimate, WFDF, Dodgeball Canada, or another sporting organization?
Let us know about any specific uniform regulations before we begin your design.
Our team can provide guidance on common uniform requirements, including numbering, names, logos, and placement. However, teams are responsible for confirming that their final uniforms meet the requirements of their governing body or event organizer.
VC Logos
We appreciate the opportunity to include VC branding on the apparel we create.
For jerseys, we offer two standard logo positions:
- Sleeve or bicep
- Back nape of the neck, above the numbers
If you prefer just one VC logo, or no additional VC logos, please let us know during the design process.
Our signature VC rubber logo is always placed on the lower left side of the garment.
Submit Your Design Request
Ready to bring your ideas to life?
Whether you're submitting completed artwork for production review or requesting help with a new design, we're excited to work with you.
Complete the Design Request Form below as thoroughly as possible, then email any supporting artwork, logos, sketches, fonts, or reference images to your VC representative or info@vcultimate.com.
A VC team member will follow up within 1–2 business days to review your project and discuss next steps.