From Standard Umbrellas to Custom Umbrellas

Huifeng Umbrella started making umbrellas in Guangzhou in the early 1990s.

At that time, the business was quite different from today. Most of our products were standard umbrellas sold in the domestic market. Mr. Tan, the founder of Huifeng Umbrella, spent much of his time travelling to cities such as Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang to meet customers and sell umbrellas.

Business grew, but so did the number of umbrella factories.

By the late 1990s, price competition had become increasingly common. More factories were entering the market with cheaper products, and it was becoming difficult to compete by making the same umbrellas at similar prices.

Around 1999, we started looking in a different direction.

From Ordinary Umbrellas to Advertising Umbrellas

More companies were beginning to use promotional products for advertising. An umbrella had one obvious advantage: it had a large surface that could carry a company name, logo or message.

Mr. Tan discussed the idea with one of his customers, who was looking for a promotional product at the time. The customer decided to try it, and we produced one of our first advertising umbrella orders.

More similar orders followed.

Printing also became a larger part of our work. Instead of producing the same umbrella for different customers, we had to deal with different logos, colors and designs.

This was the beginning of our move into custom umbrellas.

Customization Became More Detailed

At first, customization usually meant printing a logo on one or two panels.

Customers gradually started asking for more.

They wanted special canopy colors, artwork across several panels, different handles, straps, sleeves and packaging.

Printing technology was changing too.

As digital printing improved, we could produce designs that had previously been difficult to print on umbrella fabric. Photographs, illustrations and full-canopy artwork started appearing on umbrellas.

This also made production more complicated.

A design can look very good on a computer but behave differently when we divide it into eight panels, print it onto fabric, cut the fabric and sew it onto a curved frame.

We learned many of these details simply by doing the work, making mistakes, solving problems and doing the next project better.

Then the Customers Changed

Another important change came with the internet.

Previously, most of our business depended on traditional trading channels and face-to-face sales. As we started receiving enquiries online, more customers began coming from outside China.

Orders arrived from the United States, Europe, Australia, Korea and other markets.

Working with overseas customers was different.

They could not visit the factory every time we made a sample or started production. We had to communicate more through artwork, specifications, emails, photographs, samples and, later, videos.

The products also became more varied.

A promotional company might care mainly about price and delivery time. A museum might pay more attention to artwork and color. A golf customer might focus on size and frame strength. A hotel might prefer a wooden handle and a more traditional appearance.

We were still making umbrellas, but the requirements behind each umbrella were becoming very different.

Custom Umbrellas Today

Today, custom umbrellas account for most of our work.

Many projects are still very straightforward: choose an existing umbrella, select a canopy color and print a logo.

Others involve full-canopy printing, RPET fabrics, UV protection, different frame materials, custom handles, special trims or packaging.

Not every request works.

Certain materials are unsuitable for umbrella production. A design may become too expensive for the intended quantity, while another idea may require new tooling that does not make sense for a small first order.

In these cases, we normally discuss what can be changed rather than simply producing the original idea.

The manufacturing process itself has also changed over the years. We have replaced machines, improved printing methods and started working with new materials. At the same time, many of our customers have moved from nearby cities to markets thousands of kilometers away.

But much of the basic work remains the same.

We still print, cut and sew the fabric. The production team assembles the frames, checks the colors and tests the samples. Before shipping, we inspect and pack the finished umbrellas.

More than thirty years after we started, it is interesting to look back at how a fairly ordinary umbrella business gradually became a custom umbrella business.

It was not one big decision.

It happened one customer, one order and one change at a time.

Have a Custom Umbrella Project?

Tell us what you’re working on.

Discuss Your Project →