THE SHED OF DRAEMS

So to be able to scrennprint my designs and get my brand LIVRID set up  I have got my old screenprinting equipment back together. This will able me to screenprint as and when i need to and to produce products which has been a aim of mine. I want to be able to put my designs n to sellable products such as T-shirts, Prints, Stickers and many other products to try help bring in the pennys. 

This det up is just very basic its set up to be able to print 2 colours but can be easily upgraded to 6 colours but my tiny shed only allows two. To keep this as simple  set up and process as possible keeping the colours to a minimum is vital. Also the images im creating in recent months has manly been black and white so to this is going to help.

This is my high tech printing shed of dreams, rumors have it NASA poached they 1960s space program on this shed ?? Screen printer is set to go.

JImbo Phillips Graphix - Emailed

I have emailed Jimbo Phillips who creates graphics and illustrations for Santacruz Skateboards  http://santacruzskateboards.com/, and is son to Jim Phillips who designed all the artwork for Santa Cruz Skateboards in the 70’s and 80’s and was the creator of the iconic “Screaming Hand” logo.

Product development - BRAND - Supplies

I have just ordered the very basic bits to be able to begin printing. I will be taking my new screen into the print rooms to expose my screens as i need to order some new bulbs for my exposure light. With only getting two screens to start with I intend to keep my logos and designs smallish in size so i can fit multiple designs on a screen, so more designs can be tested and see how they translate when put on a t-shirt.

I used the Art 2 Silkscreen mainly down to the fact that the Air dry catalyst was about £20 cheaper then the other company.
Black and White water based ink are the only colours I want to use at present to get back into the feel of printing and Black and white is the colour scheme im going to work with on the start up of the brand.

I did call up the other company to speak to them about the Air dry catalyst just to ask what the recommended me to use.

When buying the t-shirts I have ordered a selection of different brands from wholesale side of manufacturing. This is down to when I have printed  and bought t-shirts from small businesses
in the past you can tell when say fruit of the looms cheaper average shirts have been used as the quality of the material and cut of the shirt are not very appealing. I have looked at a few different blogs that are out they on this subject and have taken they advice and ordered a selection of  what is said to be the better quality shirts, looking at the material used, its weight 0thickness feel0, price, and see if i can find reviews on the shirts to see what others have to say and if other bigger brands have used similar ones.
Again like with the inks to start with i have only ordered White, Black and a few Green shirts to start with. The white is for the black ink as this is the simplest way to start out and get my illustrations onto the shirt and for sale. The black have been got to see if the waterbased white ink will take to the material without been over powered by the black material, as in the past when i have used water-based white ink on black material its just absorbed into the fabric and not been very visible. I could over come this by using  Plastisol ink or hybrid ink by I currently don't have a flash dryer that these inks need to cure them to the material it is the next bit of kit i want to purchase to expand on my printing abilites and product range.
Then the green shirts are to see if i can find a nice green that can be aimed at a different crowd but i will see if i can find what im looking for first.
So Im currently waiting on these items to be delivered so i can conduct "comfort, fit, wearability" field test of the first batch of t-shirts to see if i could sell these knowing they are going to help enhance my chances of selling a quality product.  

Meeting Clients

So as part of my other unit OUIL603 i am embarking on some freelance work for a couple who have approached me to do some decals for they camper van. At first this was very daunting for me but once I got into it it was good. It was strange as i continually question my work and have only a certain level of confidence init, but when someone comes to you and ask you to do some of my work for them it turns out they already like the work i already produces and have alot of confidence im my abilities.

VW Camper Van

I was asked to do one of my skulls that featured the name GRUNHILDA and a yorkshire rose somewhere in the design. One for each side of the van, different designs but as a pair.   They wanted these as subtle stickets/decals on the side back panel, just black and white.
I had a meeting wit them once i had put a few different ideas and designs together so they could pick with direction the final designs went in. The meeting went great and between us we came up wit the final idea they want for the van.

Red Beard food and drink

This a recently new project I've been asked to do, Its a guy who is wanting to start up his own food and drinks business selling chutneys, gins and other food products that sound absolutely amazing and i cant wait to help put my stamp on them.
As the products and ingredients are quite unique and seen more as a adults food and drink brand he is wanting some lables for his products to reflect that, none of the over advertised bland crap in jars thats suitable for the whole family stuff, more like skulls and fire and fun with face melting flavours.

Product development - BRAND

LOGO Ideas Development 

TSHIRT design and setting up a brand is why  I  decided to come back to the education system and embark on a hellish journey for 5 years. Now im in the end stages of the start of this journey the reasons I came have taken a back seat and now im moving them back to sit in shotgun.
THe whole reason i'm obsessed with learning to draw skulls was to put them on T-shirts and merchandise but for some reason now im happy with my skull drawing abilities im ignoring it and leaving it behind. So I need to start applying my Skullablibity to areas im wanting to go.

• I need to set my screen printing studio ( my garden shed) back up, )add Images of work done to shed and screen print set up)

Look at how much materials are Inks,Emulsions, cleaning products and Garments. (wicked screen print, Art2 screen)

Screen printing products companies iv used in the past.

http://silkscreeningprintsupplies.co.uk/
https://www.wickedprintingstuff.com/

Prices to get equipment to get printing again :

• Wooden Screen 65T- £20 
• Squeegee Aluminium handle with square blade -£25
• Emulsion Water based -1kilo- £10
• Inks Water Based - 1 litre- £7
• Cleaning Chemicals - 1 Liter each -£40
• Retarder - £10

Just need to get some black t-shirts sorted in the past i have used Fruit of the Loom and Gildan brands as theses can be bought in bulk at good prices if you shop around online but a lot of online merchants do start them from about £1.50p.
With a quick Google search for wholesale tshirts brings up numerous retailers.

www.buytshirtsonline.co.uk/
www.firelabel.co.uk

Im going to set up a very basic print operation with just black and white designs this is too try keep cost down and start the brand off with a B+W theme.

• When looking at wholesale tshirts get samples as the quality of the t-shirt the design is printed on is just as important as the end design, people like a nice quality shirt if they are paying for a product. 
• Designs can be used on garment to advertising, web,print,buisness cards, digital - versatile 

 Theme of brand Transgressive death but with humor, Hidden meaning, social SKULLS SKULLS SKULLS
Audience - Heavy Metal, trash and all the other sub genres  music fans, alternative people who like skulls ha, Board culture

http://www.firelabel.co.uk/starting-a-t-shirt-business.html

Web Page/Store

So i have got round to setting up my online presence with a online store to try sell my images as products. I have used Big Cartel as i have used this site before to sell products on and know how to use it.
I did look round at the different platforms and services that can be used to set up a website like Wix, Squarspace, ...... but they just dint seem as simple as Big Cartel is to use.

http://livrid.bigcartel.com/

So I have just selected the basic package to start off with as this is free and  can afford free. This lets me sell 5 products. I can upgrade the site when i need more space and need the use other features and services it offers, such as additional images of products, the use of a personal web domain and what i want most been able to set what stock you have and not sell over that amount.

I like how easy it is to set the webpage to suit me, adding images and headers so it is set to advertise who i am for the moment you click on the page. The page is going to change as I play around with the look and layout until I'm happy.

The header has been my first little challenge getting it to look right on the page. As the image sits in front of my background image I spent some time playing around with adding a black outline to the type and skulls that would almost appear as a shadow on the background.

The background image is my next task as i feel this could look alot better with some time spent swooping and changing things around until it looks better.