One of our favourite bookstores around London, IDEA Books, is well known not only for its publishing, but also its well designed merch.

Here’s a look into the company and some designs we’ve recently printed for them.

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Alongside promotional and corporate clothing, we also print garments for established and up ‘n’ coming clothing labels. Much of this artwork is fashion lead graphics or hand drawn illustrations. Bold, one or two colour designs print really well and can make very desirable items of clothing.

At Icon Printing, we are really passionate about what we do and we’re always on the look out for inspirational printed clothing to post up on our blog. So, check out these bad boys. Syndicate Original is a clothing label from Ukraine, who are inspired by “American heritage and also by the simplicity and minimalism of Scandinavian aesthetics.” Their focus is combining the aesthetics of classic menswear and enhancing cuts and concepts with up-to-date elements. They often collaborate with well-known artists, illustrators and designers which allows them to treat street style in such a unique and fresh way.

If you’ve got a favourite clothing line you think we should shout about, get in touch! We’d love to hear from you. Check out this link for t-shirt printing london information.

email: sales@iconprinting.com

phone: 0207 183 8431

1. How long will my order take?

Our standard turnaround time is 7 working days (including production and delivery). We also offer an express service – which is 3 working days. For express turnaround we charge a markup of 20% of your order total. If you need your items sooner, please contact us so we can check your quote and artwork details; additional charges may apply. Once your order has dispatched we’ll email you a dispatch notification.

2. Do you offer an artwork service?

If you need your artwork converting into a print ready format we can help with this. Just upload the files you have so we can check them over. Most of the time converting artwork formats is free of charge however if it’s a complex design, there is an artwork charge which is usually £14.95 per hour.

3. Do I receive a visual proof before my job goes to print?

Yes, once your order is confirmed we’ll email you a visual proof PDF for you to approve before we start production. This allows you to see exactly what you have ordered and check the artwork dimensions, colours, layout and text. We won’t go ahead with production until you have signed the proof off. We’ll also send you an email confirmation with the full order details.

4. How much do you charge for delivery?

Standard delivery (9am to 6pm on weekdays) are free to mainland UK address.

We can deliver on a Saturday and additional charges apply:
Saturday pre 10am @ £40.50 per box and Saturday pre noon @ £30.50 per box.

5. Can I collect my order from your London office?

Sorry, it’s not possible to collect your items from our London office as the production takes place at one of our specialist print houses outside London. We always deliver the printed or embroidered items to your door via courier companies on a next day delivery. We use DPD or APC couriers who deliver next day, we’ll send you a dispatch notification when your items have been sent so you can track your order.

6. What artwork formats do you accept?

Before we start printing or embroidery, we always need your artwork in a print ready format. Depending on which customisation method we use we need the artwork in one of the following formats:

Vector Format for screen printing, embroidery or transfer printing:

– Adobe Illustrator, EPS or PDF files

– All fonts and strokes should be created to outlines

High res PNG files for DTG printing:

– PNG files saved with a transparent background

– Must be saved to at least 150 dpi and at least 100% of intended print size

If you’re not sure or unable how to supply any of these artwork files, please just upload whatever you have and we can recommend any changes if necessary.

7. Do you have a minimum order?

We have no minimum order for DTG or Transfer Printing. We have a minimum order of 20 items for Screen Printing and 6 items for Embroidery due to the set up, screen or digitisation costs involved. If you are supplying your own garments, we have a minimum order of 10 items.

8. Can you print over seams or zips?

No, we’re not able to.

9. If screen printing, can I change the colour of the print on some t-shirts?

Yes, as long as the design remains the same we can change the print colour. There is an additional colour change fee of £15.00 + VAT.

10. Do you deliver outside of the UK?

Yes we can deliver to mainland Europe but delivery costs will be higher and turnaround times can be longer. Please contact us if you wish to get your items sent to an address outside of the UK and we can provide full details for the cost and delivery timescales.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any other queries you may have…need express t-shirt printing? We can help!

email: sales@iconprinting.com
phone: 0207 183 8431

This post is a bit geek chic, but we just couldn’t help ourselves! Dodge & Burn have created an awesome line of photo/camera inspired tees that are hand screen printed on American Apparel. This statement on their website couldn’t be more true…

“We’re neck-deep into the digital age and more people than ever are taking photos. I believe that regardless of whether you use your iPhone or an old Leica screw mount camera to capture your decisive moment, you are part of the history of photography. Dodge & Burn is here to remind you of this.”

You may not use or even recognise these particular cameras that are intricately illustrated as their t-shirt artwork, but that doesn’t matter. Like Dodge & Burn stated, these days everyone and anyone can be a photographer and can appreciate this medium on any level.

Another nice detail these tees have is a screen printed tagless label in the neckline of the shirt. This is a post production service we offer at Icon Printing. In this case it would involve removing the existing American Apparel label and printing in that spot or even attaching your own custom label. If it’s a small run of tees we recommend the heat seal transfer version of tagless label – to keep costs down, otherwise screen printing (like the one by D&B) looks fantastic, is long lasting and is more comfortable to wear.

If you would like any more information on tagless printing or t-shirt printing london, please get in touch.

email: sales@iconprinting.com

phone: 0207 183 8431

Last year, bimonthly visual culture and design magazine Print, invited 12 leading visual artists to choose a cause they would like to support and create a design for tote bags that would then be sold on MyDesignShop.com. One hundred percent of the profits from these bags went to the causes chosen by the artists.

The artists included in this project were:
Spin for Bone Cancer Research UK
Laurent Fetis for The World Wildlife Fund
James Joyce for Save the Children
Geoff McFetridge for Gabriella Charter School
Atélier Telescopique for Fondation de France
Sawdust for the British Heart Foundation

One design we found resonated with us in particular was created by Atélier Telescopique for Fondation de France. This organisation helps individuals and companies who wish to be involved in philanthropy by enabling them to create their own foundations under its aegis. They set up action programs in many areas – including education, medical and scientific research, culture, and the environment.

The tote bag design concept –

“This design is directly inspired by the tote-bag material. We called this model ‘Wild Canvas,’ and we chose to use an embroidery technique to print the pattern on the canvas. We do not really know why, but the tiger is certainly one of the most re-produced patterns on embroidered canvas! This tiger is a symbol for the environment and ecology.”

It’s nice see a concept for an embroidery based tote, as opposed to a typical screen print. Both these processes are just as impactful, but embroidery often denotes a slightly more professional, corporate feel.

If you’d like information on any of the print processes we offer or have any questions about custom tshirt printing, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
email: sales@iconprinting.com
phone: 0207 183 8431

twitter: iconprinting

American label Make Believe Clothing have some awesome screen printed items for sale on their website. Their “thang” is classically inspired designs with a modern twist. Up on the Make Believe blog they have photo documented festivals they have attended – for which they’ve created a line of specifically “made for” tees and totes.

Their prints are inspired by the aesthetic appeal of the 1950s simplicity, composing designs that are both timeless and appealing to all generations. They’re into one colour prints – two at most, keeping things clean and unfussy. Some of their designs are pre-distressed at the artwork stage, which adds to the retro feel.

If you have an event coming up, and need some printed merch – get in touch! We’re good with short notice and quick turnarounds too…

email: sales@iconprinting.com

phone: 0207 183 8431

Check out this great promotional video by British fashion designer Hannah Casson for her label Casson. This little visual treat shows off the Casson Vest that we screen printed for her on a Continental racer style tank.

This semi-sheer low cut racer back tunic vest features the Casson Logo on both front and back. Made from the new and exciting fabric Tencel, known for its silky softness and luxurious drape.

Here is our women’s range of garments that we have available for printing your artwork on to. Something that’s a little bit different is this tunic style tee, that’s slightly more fitted with a scoop neck, available in both white and black organic cotton.

Any questions? Feel free to get in touch.

email: sales@iconprinting.com

phone: 0207 183 8431

Here are a few important pointers on what not to do when creating your artwork. By following these guidelines it will maximise the quality of your screen printed garment.

1. Web Images

Using images from the web can be handy, but note that most of the time these images are very small and set to only 72 dpi (very low image quality). Web designers use the lowest resolution and size possible so that their pages load fast while keeping the images looking good. Due to this, the image downloaded is designed to look good at the relatively small size it appears on screen and not printed out here in the real world. When it comes to screen printing, these forms of photo images should be avoided altogether – but vector based images are absolutely fine.

As shown above, many internet images are very pixelated and blurred.

2. Details

Try to avoid very small negative spaces as they can fill in or “bleed”. Ink is a fluid and therefore spreads a little bit by nature. So a very small negative space (such as the words “Screen Printing” – shown in the image below) can be filled in by the ink that surrounds it pretty easily. However, there is no hard and fast rule for avoiding bleed on small type/detailing, so every piece of artwork will be evaluated on a case by case basis. However, a good general guideline is to use fonts at or above 12 points and lines or outlines stroke size larger than 0.3 pt.

The fine or “light” version of this typeface is not a good choice, the hairline box detail also wouldn’t print.

3. Illustrator Effects

Illustrator has some cool effect options, but you’ve got to be careful when using them – especially when creating artwork for screen printing. Try to avoid drop shadow or gradient effects. These often look good (at first glance) and add dimension, but they complicate your file by mixing image types and this type of effect doesn’t translate to the screen successfully. If you do want a slight shaded area effect or gradient within your design or logo, it will need to be made up of a series of very small dots (when viewed close-up) that from a distance, create the look of a gradient or difference in tone. It is more time consuming, but the outcome is a much better print.

4. Transparencies

In Illustrator, when two shapes overlap and the one on top has opacity set lower than 100%, the color of the shape below it will affect its color. For example (see below), when the circle on the bottom is red and the one on top is blue with 50% opacity, the overlapping portion is violet. But when it comes down to printing, it almost never works out like that due to unpredictable ink transparencies and intermingling pigments. If you’ve got a red + blue = violet type scenario, use a spot color violet instead of transparencies.

5. Problem Colours

Inks have varying degrees of transparency. A few color ranges are very transparent and do not look good when printed on a particular colour under base – whether that’s another ink layer or your actual garment colour. This can leave areas looking splotchy, washed out and generally poor. Darker blues tend to be one of these and, unless you’re printing on to white garments, avoid using them. Another one to look out for, is bright fluorescent inks, they too are very transparent and tend to lighten up and lose brightness when printed on an under base.

If you have any questions about your artwork, we are here to help! Drop us an email or just give us a ring –

sales@iconprinting.com or on 0207 183 8431