So, I've become involved in a theater production company called East 23rd Productions, and have been asked to put together a shirt design/logo for it. We're thinking something metro/modern/minimalist, and me and some of my other design inclined friends are working on the design for the shirt, but I was wondering, we are allowed to charge up to $20 for it, where should we get it printed? I really like the print style here at TF, but I don't think TF does custom orders. Anyone have any recommendations of where to get the print done? Also, if anyone has any great design ideas for a logoish shirt, feel free to drop some ideas!
Thanks in advance for the help!
Thanks in advance for the help!
they do good work
I TOTALLY know a guy who will design you a shirt if you guys decide that you want want to job it out. hehe...
Secondly, there are a copious amount of printers available via the internet and in shops around NYC (if that's where you are).
The way a print feels on a shirt is referred to as the prints "hand". To get a soft feeling hand there are two main ways to go about it.
First off would be to use the standard plastisol with a soft hand additive. Plastisol is what most shirts are printed with, it is a form of PVC that is chemically suspended in plastisizer until heated to a certain degree. Once heated the PVC forms a bond with the fabric and the plastisizer goes away.
The second way is to have the shirts printed with discharge ink. Discharge when just off of the press and before the dryer (long conveyor oven) looks like nothing. But when heated the ink bleaches and re-dyes the fabric of the shirt. This allows for there to be zero ink on the shirt and the design becomes part of the actual fabric. Therefor, a VERY soft hand.
Waterbased inks are also an option, however due to some experience i've had with them I wouldn't suggest this if you are trying to work on a darker shirt. They are also generally more expensive to have produced than the standard plastisol (least expensive) or discharge (usually about $1 more than plastisol).
Here is a list of some printers that do a good job.
http://www.mammothprintshop.com/
http://www.acmeprints.com
http://www.bluecollarpress.com/bcp/
I hope this helps.
Discharge inks sound pretty nice, why doesn't everyone use them? are the colors not as good? I've rarely seen anything other than plastoil.
Here is a good article on discharge: http://www.screenweb.com/index.php/channel/6/id/4074
If you chose to go the discharge route, make sure that your printer is experienced and has a high quality standard. There are a lot of shops out there, but only a few that do a great job.