Whatever the job – we can deliver
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Ground-breaking social entertainment brand Bounce are bringing ping pong to the forefront of nights out. We were contacted and asked us to print some t-shirts for their staff.

We caught up with Bounce’s Marketing Manager Ryan Price to learn more about ping pong, printing and brand identity.

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Brother Cycles was formed in 2010 by brothers Will and James Meyer. The pair design, build and sell bespoke bike frames in their London studio. We were recently asked to print Brother’s new clothing range.

With the brand expanding its offering, we chatted with Will about his brand’s identity, and how he hopes it will stay distinctive in a crowded marketplace.

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Screen printing is just one of many services we offer. As well as t-shirts, the screen printing process is also ideal for producing personalised hoodies and tote bags. But how exactly does it work?

As the name suggests, an important part of this particular process is the screen itself. This is basically a polyester woven mesh that is stretched over an aluminium frame. During a pre-press process, a stencil of your artwork will be made by printing the design onto a sheet of clear film and placing it over the top of the screen, which will be coated with an emulsion or film. The screen is then exposed and cleaned. When this is done, an open area of mesh in the shape of your design will be left on the screen, while the surrounding areas of negative space will be blocked out by the remaining emulsion.

Above: An exposed screen in the press, ready for the next stage of printing

Ink is then pulled across the entire screen using a squeegee. The fine mesh of the screen allows the ink to pass freely through the open areas of the stencil and onto the garment beneath, and the emulsion successfully prevents any excess from getting through.

Unlike other processes, such as DTG Printing which can be used for intricate full colour designs, during screen printing designs are printed one colour at a time. Each colour will require its own screen. For example, a screen printed t-shirt featuring a red, yellow and blue design will need three screens. The more colourful the design, the more screens it will need.

Before any printing takes place, it’s important that you prepare your artwork by separating it into different coloured layers. When setting up the press, we will add registration marks to the screens to ensure the colours remain in the right place and the design is aligned properly during printing. If you’d like your design to be printed onto a coloured garment then an initial base layer will be required to ensure the rest of the colours remain bright.

Above: Inks are carefully mixed to match the colours of your design

We can print up to 10 colours per item and have a number of different inks at our disposal. We are also able to match Pantone PMS colours, so your design will look as vibrant printed as it does on the screen.

We offer a variety of screen printing methods, each of which yield very different results. For example, there is halftone printing, which enables single or multiple coloured designs to be printed in gradients. There is also discharge ink printing, which replaces the colour of the fabric itself with another of your choosing.

If you’d like to find out more, please visit our page about screen printing. Here you will also find some pointers on preparing your artwork for print, as well as a full breakdown of our prices. If you have any other questions about the process, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

It’s the time of month where we stalk the internet and present to you, our favourite things…

1. Splatter Wallpaper by Hinson & Company

Makes the ol’ eyes hurt a tad, but in the best way possible! If you have a three year old, we’re pretty sure they could sort you out some of this awesome splatter wallpaper for free.

2. (Anything by…) Norse Projects

Norse Projects make an array of very attractive garms. Which are indeed, “good for all seasons”.

3. Lazy Oaf “Weirdo” Tote

Yet even more greatness by Lazy Oaf. We love this tote bag for its bold, two colour print – and for its obvious comedy value. On the summer wish list for sure!

4. Trophy “Wild Bicycle Holders”

Icon Printing Boss Man Alex, had just about enough of his bicycle getting in his way. He purchased one of these fancy animal head racks by Trophy. Cool, huh?

5. Print by Anthony Burrill

These typography based, framed screen prints make very wantable objects for the home. We love a good inspirational quote!

6. “Lies I Told And Liked” Note Pad

One of those things that you do not need, but have to have. By Need Supply.

7. Nike Air Max 90 Hyperfuse

Hotel Creative have recently designed graphics to support the redesign of Nike’s 1948 space in east London. Head there for all their “special stuff”.

8. Helvetitee

This has to be our favourite find of the month. Helvetitee is this very clever little site, where you can type whatever takes your fancy onto a plain white tee and then they print it for you. In Helvetica of course! We just love this site, nice work guys!

9. Quiet Life 5 Panel Cap

It is almost festival time and we’re getting into all over print 5 panel caps.

10. Elephant Magazine

Elephant is a beautiful quarterly on contemporary art and visual culture. They’ve got a pretty nice aesthetic going on…

11. Ciccio Sunglasses by Super

London is sunny these days, which is a very nice treat that one should not take for granted! Icon Printing’s Alice immediately dashed out and bought these from Goodhood. *high fives all round!*

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Here’s what we were digging last month.

Icon Printing are a screen printing t-shirt supplier based in Shoreditch. For more an instant quote, please visit our website. Call on: 0207 183 8431

This caught our eye recently at Icon Printing, as we actually print onto sportswear too, if you didn’t know? So this little gem didn’t go a miss.

Inspired by the sports brand PUMA’s – “Make Football Anywhere” DIY campaign, London design studio GBH wanted to capture the “raw, passionate enthusiasm” of grass-roots football. Tape plays a pivotal role in amateur footy, from securing the nets to holding shin pads in place, so it seems appropriate that GBH has created PUMA’s new typeface out of gaffer tape.

“The start point was to order 150 rolls of tape and begin experimenting with folding, ripping and sticking it into shapes, to form a full Roman alphabet and the all-important kit numerals,” GBH’s Jason Gregory.

See the full article here.