BigScreen!

We have two fairly big screens here that make banners, flags, totally oversize tshirts, big posters and artwork all decidedly possible. One is a nice wide 43 mesh for printing on fabric, and the other is a yellowed 120 for paper prints. They're pretty big. This big:

Did we mention we like oversize prints? Probably. Well these screens have a maximum print area of 80cm x 45cm, and it's hard to help yourself from playing with them.

So, to burn a big screen you need a big acetate. Or, three acetates, some patience, and some cellotape.

Obviously when it comes to printing with this thing, the carousel is out of the question. We did our test-run just laid on a tabletop. No clamps or anything. Pure gnarly living-on-the-edge stuff, innit.

 And there you have it. Go big or go home.

Printing with Fire

We printed merch recently for Cork City Firebirds, Cork's roller derby league.
The logo (designed by Holly Burgess Graphic Design) presented a problem in terms of traditional screen printing. Screen printing is generally a flat, colour-separated printing process - where each colour is printed as a separate layer, using a separate screen.
The Firebirds logo however, has this whole fiery, fuzzy, blended-colours thing going on:

So, we decided to mess around with it. We burned a nice fat, oversized logo onto one screen. After that, it was just a matter of dolloping (technical term) some yellow, orange, and red inks on, and having some fun.

The result was some that were just like the logo, with the hazy mix of colours blending out gradually from red to yellow. 

And then some with this really great flame effect from the mixing of inks. 

Sure, we could've made them all look the same, but the Firebirds liked the variety, and so did we.

They also had a different shirt printed too, with their team motto 'A Little Violence Never Hurt Anybody' printed in a custom-mixed red/orange ink.

These oversize prints really eat up the ink, especially when you're blending colours, but it's worth it. As your mother used to say, Go Big or Go Home.

Check out Cork City Firebirds on Facebook or on Twitter at #FirebirdsDerby