Yahoo!!!

Be careful not to smear

O.k  I was going to title this new post all professional and what not, but dang I am so excited.  I just got back from New York from a masterful instruction thanx to Greg and Chris at Montage; Bigups to the NY.  Wow!!! I had know idea that screenprinting would be so easy, let alone inventive.  I attached some pics but they do not do the class justice.  To be brief the first day of class was all about fundamentals   and very informative but what wasn’t said said the most.    The setup was easier than expected we learned the difference between low count and high count mesh screens as well as how to burn an image using a register template and light box; these tools made aligning a project very easy.  Since I drove in from Ohio and was a little late… I got to stay after and actually have input on the images created using illustrator and the pretty cool inkjet printer (shameless plug).  We also had an opportunity to coat and clean screens.  

"Clean your screens" said Chris

  Now I have a four color press as you all know I acquired for $15 however its nothing like the four color tabletop press or the six color press from Ryonet that we got to use. 

six color press and Greg

 Learning how to bill a client is just as important as finding a new process to print. 

Blend!

We did a three color blend print with two screens and plastisol,  we used a water based ink, made a discharge print, and a foil print.  Bling Bling Baby Babaaaay!  Along with the kool class we recieved an instruction manual as well as instructional dvd‘s.  The best thing about this trip was gettin away from Ohio I love NY.

Thanks 4 lunch

What do you think

Look at this mess

ok I finally got my studio set up after cleaning up the basement which you can see in my before picture.  I have been painting down there for a while. 

 I was shocked at all the stuff I had accumalated.  Well anyways I bought the machine you see pictured here for $15.  Good buy huh?  I have not recieved anything from Ryonet yet so I purchased this

TaDaaa!!!

and found some tutorils on building silk screen frames if you have any suggestions on where to start you know what to do.  Oh by the way thanks to all for the clipart comments. 

 Peace

Clipart sucks!!

O.K where do I find interesting artwork to begin building a unique design for a t-shirt. I have my own ideas, but don’t most screen printers use clip art.  Since this is my very first time even designing how a t-shirt should look what should I have to create my very first design.  Do i need a computer like an expensive beautiful apple or can I use my waste of a netbook?  Do I need clip art?  Where do I begin?  Someone, anyone, everyone reading I can not afford to pay another graphic designer that simply will not due.  So tell me tell me how to improve!

Why and how

our first t-shirt thanx Karl Marx

We had no idea what we where in store for.  we wanted to start screen printing to make some extra money as well as make a fashion statement.  However we didn’t have the space to build a work station to do our own t-shirts nor the equipment or the know how.  Luckily one of the guys got married to the daughter of a graphic designer who had a 4 color press we immediately jumped into action and persuaded the “old man” to work with us.  (Even though he didn’t want to work with us) He decide that if we could land a contract and get a deposit he would design and print the t-shirts.  We immediately assumed he would use his own equipment wich would give us an opportunity to actually learn how to silk screen.  With great excitement we rushed out into the world and within two days we had a meeting with the University of Akron.  The “old man” was not impressed he took his time designing the t-shirt but the design was well worth it.  the university ordered 100 4 color t-shirts along with 300 bottles of water with a custom design.  We had landed a contract for $1,600 or first time out of which $600 was given as a deposit.  BOOM!! the floor fell in the “old man” didn’t want to print the shirts nor teach us how  instead he said “you should consider outsourcing its cheaper and less time-consuming”.  Our mouths fell to the floor just like in the cartoons (if we would have estimated outsourcing we would have charged more).   our profit margin fell from supplies and know how down to about $300 which was still good however we wanted to learn how to print ourselves.  being college students meant in two years we would need jobs so we thought this was a great opportunity to be ourselves and possible make a living.  Needless to say after we paid him for the designs he made for the event as well as the two t-shirts we wanted to sell we lost close to 400$ because the outsourcing cost more.  we ended up paying 1,500 for three orders of three different t-shirts this included setup fees we paid the shameless “old man” 300$ for designing the shirts and we paid $175 for the water.   Aghhhhhhhhh the frustration set in and everyone being discouraged and all kind of felt like school was more important and decided to wait until graduation to fully invest in the business.  So after graduation there was only me left and the hopes that I could get some equipment so that I could teach myself how to screen print.  Then I had another baby and pushed the business further behind the shelf.  And one night I was watching YouTube and a Ryonet silk scree video came up and my interest was there.  Now I’m a firm believer in karma as well as the idea that your passion will find you if you begin to seek it out.  So i sent in a video  (I didn’t win),  then We created this Blog and the “old man” sold us his 4 color press (minus two arms) for $15 and now we’re here.  This is our why and how we started frat house.  We don’t know anything about the buisness except the sales part but now we are dedicated to learning the design aspect to be as successful as possible we signed up for Ryonet‘s class in NY in August.  Hope to see you there.

Hello world!

We are here world.  Get ready to experience a new style of creation.  Taking  silk screening to a whole new level.  Thanks to Ryonet frat house now has a blog and a little support.  So get ready cause the train is coming!