Military Logo Rug Project - Case Study
by Russell Webb

Last year we had an opportunity to build a few rugs for the Air Force. We usually produce dozens of rugs for the armed forces every year. This project was just a cut above because, I'll admit it, it's a damn cool logo. Not only that, it was being installed in some hot-shot generals office in a well known facility known as the Pentagon...

We decided to break out the video camara and film some of the production. You can see it on Youtube if you're interested in that sort of thing. We summarized a portion of the production into two 5 minute clips.

The process of ordering a military logo rug is the same as any of our logo rugs. It starts with a quote request. I need to see a logo before I can come up with pricing. You wouldn't believe how many times I get requests to go in blind and GUESS how much a design is going to cost. I just can't do it... here's the reason why:

We're producing most of these rugs by hand - yes we automate some of the processes but there's still a ton of work involved with the more complex logos. Often, as in this rug there's a nesting of colors within colors, doubling the workload and increasing labor costs.

An example would be 'outlines' around the lettering, or design details. This simply adds more time to the project.

A basic text logo can be produced efficiently and at less cost. If you visit our pricing page, you'll see a range of pricing for standard sizes, round sizes, and larger scale tradeshow sizes. You can expect to pay the lower range for a basic logo - maybe even less if it's really simple. If our pricing is too high for your tastes and you have a simple, basic layout, I would urge you to submit a request anyway. Let us know your concerns and we'll do our best to take care of your needs.

Moving on to this project...when we received the artwork from the flooring contractor on this Air Force rug, it was in the ideal format - .EPS. This is an adobe illustrator file that allows us to 'scale up' the logo to any size without loss of quality. It's a vector based format that graphic designers, sign manufacturers, and textile designers are familiar with using.

After receiving the file, we may or may not create layouts to show the client, it depends on your needs. In most instances we'll play around with a few layout options - showing different colorways and logo sizes within the field of the rug. We may add a border or two which acts like a frame. We might place the logo within a circle or an oval if that's requested. It's easy enough to create a variety of layouts at this stage. I will point out that we don't want to be wasting our time producing artwork if you're not planning to move forward with the project. Our time is valuable, and we ask that you respect our time. This is why we get into pricing FIRST.

Our next step with this client was to send him a few color samples, actual physical swatches. We have a ton of carpet samples to choose from. We'll start by looking for exact matches in the style of carpet that you need. Usually it's a commercial grade, short pile, high quality nylon fiber that we're working with. It's dense, durable, and has more colors to choose from than a thicker residential grade. These advanced generation nylons are superb, especially from a maintenance perspective.

If you want thicker plush carpet then let us know. It costs more, but it sure looks good when it's done right.

Are you in the design trade? You may have a Pantone swatch book to help with your color selections. If you specify Pantone colors, we'll do our best to match them and send you those matching carpet colors for a final confirmation.

Once we identified the exact carpet colors for this Air Force project, we were ready to roll. We emailed the client an invoice, we requested the 50% deposit to initiate the order, all the materials were ordered and within a few days we had the materials in hand. We always have a collection of rugs in production simultaneously. As a new project enters the pipeline it takes time to see it through to completion. Production times are generally 4-6 weeks.

Rush orders are accepted, however rush fees and expedited shipping can add up (easily $300-500 or more). Rushing a project through can get you a completed rug in 7-14 days. There's no way it's going to happen in under a week. It still takes time for us to receive materials and produce the rug then get it shipped out to you.

After the production cycle is completed, we'll take digital pictures of the rug and email to you. We ask for final payment prior to shipping. If you're working for a large company, we'll work with you on billing.

We'll ship 9' rugs and under via UPS. Larger rugs require freight transport. Air freight is always an option but it ain't cheap.

So that's how the system works... and it works very well! You can request a quote any time. A simple form is on most of the pages on this site. For general pricing check out this page.

Take care.... and I DO hope we can work together on your next project.

Russell Webb