If you’re looking for a dose of inspiration, you are in for a treat with this Shop Talk with industry legend Dave Gardner, the inventor of simulated process printing, the “underbase” print, creator of the iconic Harley Davidson t-shirts of the 1980s and now Director of Creative Embellishment at Gildan. When he started there were…
It is always very interesting to see what is offered at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for merchandise. The music is the best it could be as is the food, and the merch is no exception, also good stuff. Close to 500,000 people attend over two long weekends and besides seeing everything from…
If you’re looking for a quick Master Class in digital content, we have it for you here in this Shop Talk. Serg Ramirez, Senior Content Creator and Digital Strategist for Supacolor , led the Impressions Expo Long Beach crowd through his awesome 2023 Digital Content Playbook. From the physiological and psychological underpinnings of capturing your audience’s…
Dye migration is when the color in a fabric (usually polyester or a poly blend) “migrates” into the ink you have printed. Just the other day in an airport I saw a group of people all wearing the same red golf shirts and the prints on them all were pink to varying degrees instead of…
Rick interviewed industry veterans Zahir ‘Zach’ Sait, John Rusk, and Adam Walterscheid from Textisle, the company behind the Fairweather Johnson brand, to talk about their new, more effective methods of recycling fabric waste to create apparel. By color sorting and combining post-industrial and post-consumer waste, they create 100% recycled garments in a range of colors…
Hiring people with disabilities can be a great way to improve your company’s culture and bottom line. Studies have shown that companies that employ people with disabilities have higher productivity, lower absenteeism and lower turnover rates. They also have a better reputation with customers and the community. Did you know that there are over 60…
We use Newman Roller Frames and have always had trouble keeping track of what mesh is on them. “Permanent” marker is erased after a few screen washes. You can’t etch the metal as the mesh on any frame might eventually change. A tip of the proverbial cap to Erik at Saati for this trick We…
Ink Kitchen went old school into the future at the Impressions Expo in Atlantic City. We did some great live poster printing, in keeping with analog hand-done artwork being more and more appreciated in a world filling up with digital work. Recent shows indicate how our industry can go into a community and make a…
Heat applied transfer technology has made great strides in the past few years. Now there’s almost nothing that can’t be decorated with a transfer. We gathered a panel of experts- Josh Ellsworth from Stahls ; Jody Mazade from Howard Custom Transfers ; Nathan Anderson from FM Expressions ; and Mark Bailey from SanMar– to share their insights about how transfers…
A visit to Ikonics (Chromaline) illustrates some trends in the screenprinting world: 1. The screenprinting world is splitting into high tech and automation versus DIY, side hustle, small crafty shops. 2. The screenprinting world is consolidating. Kornit bought Tesoma. Alpha bought NES, Broder and other distributors. Gildan bought Comfort Colors, American Apparel and Alstyle.…
