LTD Customs makes the team and client merch for PTNR Production, a full-service print and fabrication shop in Woodbridge, Ontario that designs, builds and installs brand activations, exhibits and festival builds across Canada and the US. Since July 2024 we've made their custom 5-panel snapbacks, black hoodies with Ideas Made Real down the sleeve, scoop tees, crewnecks, long sleeves, toques, a navy full-zip hoodie, a tee for their clients, and numbered pinnies for a Red Bull activation.
PTNR's whole business is turning a brief into something real, on a deadline, that holds up in public. Their merch had to meet the same bar.
Who PTNR is
PTNR is one roof, five minutes from Pearson, with everything in house: technical and graphic designers, account and project managers, a fabrication floor with CNC routers, millwork and metalwork, HP latex printers that print up to 10 feet wide, vinyl, and the installers who put it all up on site. About 50 people, working nationwide for agencies, direct brands and trade show and event clients.
That makes them a one-stop shop for branded activations: large conferences and corporate events, trade show exhibits, festival builds, location and rental installs, and simple print jobs. Their work runs from Osheaga and Boots and Hearts to River Rink in Toronto, Scotiabank and Samsung. A few builds from their portfolio:
The brief
PTNR's line is Ideas Made Real: an idea is only worth something once it's built. Merch for a company like that can't look like an afterthought. It has to be the kind of thing the crew grabs on the way to a 5 a.m. install, and the kind of thing a client is glad to be handed.
So from the first order there were two lists: PTNR Team and Client. The brand system is simple and we kept it strict: the lowercase ptnr. wordmark, a framed version of it for backs, their teal (PMS 3242U) with charcoal and grey, and Ideas Made Real set in a tall condensed face with each word in its own tone. Every piece also carries a TEAMLTD woven label inside, so the gear is finished like a real brand, not a promo order.
The hats
The first hat was a black flat-brim snapback with the wordmark on the left front panel and Ideas Made Real on the side. Since then PTNR's hat has been a fully custom 5-panel snapback in cotton twill, built to their spec:
- Front: the wordmark in 3D embroidery, 3 inches wide. White on black, black on cream.
- Left side: Ideas Made Real in flat embroidery, 3.5 inches wide, in charcoal, grey and teal.
- Back: a folded woven flag tag with the wordmark, next to a closure matched to the crown.
- Inside: printed tape that reads Experiential, Exhibits, Festivals, Events, in teal. Nobody sees it until they take the hat off. That's the point.
The everyday kit
The rule on apparel: small on the front, the statement on the back or the sleeve. A crew that's on a client's site all day should look sharp, not like a billboard.
- Hoodies: medium-weight black, a small white wordmark on the left chest, the framed logo 10 inches wide on the back, Ideas Made Real 13 inches tall down the sleeve in three colours, and a hit on the hood. The navy full-zip in production now carries the same idea in teal across three locations.
- Tees: black and tan tees and grey and black scoop tees, left chest and framed back. The black scoop tee came back this year with the teal logo and Ideas Made Real under the frame.
- Crewnecks and long sleeves: dark heather grey and navy midweight crews in teal, and long sleeves printed in three locations.
- Toques: black ribbed toques with a folded woven tag on the cuff, for the winter installs.
Made for their clients
The client side is where it gets interesting. PTNR's first order included a black tee for clients that reads PTNRS PARTNER across the chest, with the wordmark small on the back. It says what PTNR wants every client to feel: you're on the team.
Then PTNR brought us inside a client job. For Red Bull Four Score, Red Bull's 4-on-4 street soccer series, we made red and white numbered pinnies carrying the Four Score crest and Score When It Matters, split by stop: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and the national final, each with its own ship date so the kits landed before the games did. Same as a PTNR build: the client sees the finished thing, not the schedule behind it.
Why it keeps coming back
Eleven orders since July 2024, and most of them are reorders nobody had to push. The crew wears PTNR every day, on the shop floor, on install and on site, without being asked. When something runs out, the same piece comes back: the scoop tee, the crewneck, the hat in a new colour. That's the test we care about. No dead stock, no box of hoodies in a closet. Merch people actually wear.
Planning an activation?
If you're building a booth, a festival space or a brand moment anywhere in Canada or the US, talk to PTNR: design, fabrication, print and install, all under one roof in Woodbridge. If your crew, your client or your event needs merch to go with it, that's us. More event work on festival merch, more hats on custom hats in Canada, and the agency side in how we built Impulso Media's kit.
Activation photos are PTNR's, from their portfolio. Product images are LTD Customs mockups from each production spec, plus a photo of the finished hats.
Questions
Who is PTNR?
PTNR Production is a full-service print and fabrication shop at 60 Innovation Drive in Woodbridge, Ontario. A team of about 50 designs, builds, prints and installs brand activations, exhibits, festival builds and retail displays for agencies and brands across Canada and the US. LTD Customs makes its team and client merch.
Do you make merch for agencies and production companies?
Yes. For PTNR we make two kinds: gear for their own crew, and pieces they hand to clients or run inside a client's activation, like a client tee and numbered pinnies for Red Bull Four Score. Agency and production work is a big part of what we do.
Can you add a woven tag and printed inside tape to custom hats?
Yes, on fully custom hats. PTNR's 5-panel snapbacks have a 3D embroidered front logo, a flat embroidered side logo, a folded woven flag tag on the back and inside tape printed with Experiential, Exhibits, Festivals, Events. Fully custom hats take longer than stock hats, so the timeline is confirmed with the quote.
Can you print down a hoodie sleeve?
Yes. PTNR's black hoodies carry Ideas Made Real 13 inches tall down the sleeve in three colours, plus a small left chest logo, a framed logo on the back and a print on the hood.
Can you match our brand colour in thread and ink?
Yes. PTNR's teal is PMS 3242U, and we match it in embroidery thread, screen print ink and transfers so the hats, tees and crewnecks read as one colour.
What is LTD Customs' minimum order?
Our minimum is 50 pieces. Stock hats and apparel take 2 to 3 weeks from mockup approval, and we ship anywhere in Canada.