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Designer Profiles, Features

Ben Tallon’s New Tees

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We recently printed a limited number of t shirts for London-based illustrator Ben Tallon.

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Designer Profiles, Features

Matthew Swan’s Magical Tees

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At Icon Printing HQ in London, we recently printed a new series of t shirts for artist and illustrator Matthew Swan.

We used DTG printing (which is ideal for accurately reproducing intricate, illustrative artwork) to put Matthew’s fantastic, full-colour design onto plain white SOL’S t shirts. Matthew very kindly took the time to have a chat with us about the t shirts, as well as his interest in visual storytelling and how he approaches making such impressive images.

Q. Who’s this on your t shirt?

A. He’s a wizard. He’s wearing a large pot and riding a hoverboard. He’s a really cool guy.

Q. What’s the first thing you do – even before your pencil touches a piece of paper – when you start a new project?

A. I don’t do anything before putting pencil to paper. Every project starts as sketches and notes. I can’t work much out without scribbling things down. However, before I begin I will most likely have a cup of tea. Maybe a biscuit too.

Above: ‘Harbour master and glorious dog’, acrylic on paper by Matthew Swan.

Q. How do you go about making your images?

A. Each image starts as a thumbnail sketched out in my notebook, then it’s right on to the final piece. Sometimes, I forsake the thumbnails entirely and just start making marks on paper. I enjoy working with a range of materials from pencils, pens and collage to acrylics and gouache.

I can get bored if I work on the same image or project for a long time. Then things start becoming forced and not very fun. I need to switch around a lot to keep up momentum and a degree of spontaneity in my work. Since January, I have been making a zine every month with my pal John Brown. We take it turns to choose a topic and medium. It’s been a really good way of experimenting.

Above: A pirate car, taken from Matthew and John Brown’s self-published zine ‘Crazy Cars’

Q. A lot of your work seems to be inspired by comic books and graphic novels, and you also write, illustrate and publish your own stories. When did your interest in comic books begin?

A. The first comic I read was Hellboy when I was 16 and it has remained one of my favourites. Mike Mignola’s drawings are just phenomenal and the character of Lobster Johnson is an excellent creation. In my second year of art college, I picked up The New Avengers on a whim after seeing an issue in my flatmate’s room. I have been a Marvel fan ever since – I’m totally hooked! At the moment, my favourite reads are Black Science and Saga from Image Comics. They are both brilliant.

Above: ‘The Jungle Temple’, acrylic on paper by Matthew Swan

Q. What do you enjoy most about making narrative-based work?

A. I have only recently started making sequential images and I find the process hugely time consuming – particularly the initial planning and reference gathering. But the best thing, aside from drawing intense, fantastical double-page spreads, is being able to make tiny, subtle changes from panel to panel.

Q. Where do you look for inspiration?

A. Folk tales, things in my room, things on the Internet, things in books and things in museums. All of the regular places.

Q. What would be your dream project?

A. A cover or some interior pages for a Marvel book. Any Marvel book. That would be so incredible!

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Designer Profiles, Features

New T-shirts for Eleni Kalorkoti

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We used a combination of DTG printing and white SOL’S tees to produce a number of new t-shirts for London-based illustrator Eleni Kalorkoti.

We’ve admired Eleni’s work for some time now, and are particularly fond of the pieces she’s produced for The New York Times. So it was great to have the chance to talk to her about her inspirations and working processes, as well as the freshly printed t-shirts we produced for her at Icon Printing HQ in London.

Q. What can you tell us about your new t-shirt design?

A. It’s taken from a series of drawings I’ve been working on for a zine entitled Glitch. The images are about things feeling a bit off or on the fritz. Here I wanted to illustrate what it’s like to go for a stroll, to feel yourself moving through the world and music moving through you.

Above: Eleni’s glitchy new t-shirt design printed by Icon Printing

Q. Looking back, can you remember what inspired your decision to become an illustrator?

A. In retrospect, I think the artists that had most of an impression on me when I was growing up were illustrators – from reading Janet and Allen Ahlberg’s The Jolly Postman as a wee kid to Daniel Clowes’ Ghost World as a grumpy and confused teenager. When the time came to go to art college and choose a subject, it had become clear that illustration was right for me. It seemed to encompass everything I was interested in and enjoyed doing, and had far less potential to drive me insane than painting!

Above: Illustration for The New York Times, which accompanied an article about the US government spying on itself

Q. How do you approach promoting yourself as an illustrator?

A. I try to be good at the Twitter / Instagram / Tumblr thing and put out regular and interesting updates. I’m also trying to get better at sending actual mail outs to art directors too. Nobody can ever remember how they found out about your work though! The best approach seems to be to make the best work you can, and share it with people whatever way you can.

Above: A piece produced for the ‘Textile Illustration’ exhibition at Kalopsia Gallery, Edinburgh

Q. You mentioned earlier that you’re working on a new zine, which will be one of many self-published titles you’ve made. How did your interest in self-publishing begin?

A. I’ve been buying zines since I was a teenager and have always loved their DIY ethos and immediacy. But it took me a while to get into making my own, mainly because I would sit around waiting for the perfect idea to come along, which of course it never does. Now I just dive in whenever I have somewhere to start, however vague it may seem.

Q. Which of your recent projects have you been the most proud of?

A. Probably my Good Witch / Bad Witch zine. I actually managed to have (mostly) good time while making it, and I still like a lot of the images in it.

Above: An image taken from Eleni’s ‘Good Witch / Bad Witch’ zine

Q. Talk us through your working process.

A. I generally begin by scribbling in my sketchbook until I accidentally draw something that I like enough to work up into a proper illustration. I mostly work with ink washes nowadays, so I’ll lightly draw the image in pencil on watercolour paper before filling in the areas I know will be black, after which I add the grey areas one shade at a time.

Q. What would be your dream project?

A. It’s a fairly small dream but, as I’m a big film fan, illustrating a Criterion Collection DVD cover would be pretty great.

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Competitions, Designer Profiles, Features

Catching up with Dominic Kesterton

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Last year, we ran the Graduate Design T-Shirt Contest – a competition designed to give one emerging illustrator the resources required to set up their own t-shirt label.

The contest was won by Dominic Kesterton, a then recent graduate from Edinburgh College of Art, who impressed the judges with his colourful and kinetic design. He won himself a bumper crop of prizes, including £1,000 worth of DTG printed t-shirts courtesy of ICON Printing and Continental Clothing, a one year subscription to Shopify, an ASOS Marketplace boutique, business cards from MOO.com, in addition to exposure from It’s Nice That and Glug.

Dominic put all his winnings towards setting up his own clothing brand – half joyed. One year on from his victory, we caught up with him to hear how business has been going, as well as his plans for the future.

Q. What was the first thing you did when you found out you’d won the competition?

A. I think the first thing I did was have a big sip of orange juice. I found out I’d won while was in France, using the Wi-Fi at a McDonald’s.

Q. What have you found to be the biggest challenge in setting up your own t-shirt label?

A. For me, the biggest challenge was just finishing stuff. I entered a really cyclical phase of refinement and second-guessing myself. I really wanted to come up with some good stuff and put loads of pressure on myself to do so. I’m glad it’s out there now.

Above: half joyed’s ‘Pool’ t-shirt

Q. How has the response been to the tees so far?

A. Really good! I’ve been sending them out all over the place.

Q. What’s next for half joyed?

A. I’m just going to keep on trucking. I’ll be doing some new t-shirts soon, and maybe some jumpers for the winter.

Above: Detail of half joyed’s ‘Orb’ t-shirt

Q. How do you go about making your images?

A. My approach is pretty simple really. I’ll usually sketch out an idea in pencil and then draw over it in pen. Drawing is very important to me. I always have a sketchbook on the go and will pull various ideas from it to create my finished images. I’ll work in Photoshop if I’m adding colours to something or separating layers for print.

Above: Back print on half joyed’s ‘Boy Head’ t-shirt

Q. You also make comics as well as t-shirts. How did your interest in visual storytelling begin?

A. I think it began when I was a boy. I used to read Beano, Sonic The Hedgehog comic and stuff like that. When I got to university, I became aware of zines and off I went, making weird stuff.

Above: Spread from ‘Hoss Bay’, a 20 page, Risograph-printed comic written and illustrated by Dominic

Q. What are the five best comics or zines you’ve read recently?

A. I did a zine swap a while ago with Nicolas Menard and was blown away by his comic Elsewhere. This year at ELCAF, I came across Free Fall by Alexis Beauclair, which is also awesome. I still haven’t read all of Mould Map 3 yet, but it’s been great so far. I don’t think I’ve actually read five comics or zines recently, but there are a lot on my list that I need to get around to.

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Designer Profiles, Inspiration

Saskia Pomeroy for OTHER/shop

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Artist and designer Saskia Pomeroy recently teamed up with Soho-based boutique OTHER/shop to create The Abstract Vase – an exclusive new lifestyle collection comprising artwork, ceramics and t-shirts.

We were asked to reproduce Saskia’s dynamic designs onto a limited edition series of men’s tees, which we achieved using DTG printing. Saskia kindly took the time to talk to us about the project, as well as her multidisciplinary practice.

Q. How did this collaboration come about?

A. My husband’s uncle owns Present London, a menswear shop on Shoreditch High Street, and I work at Topman, so I’ve been hanging around the menswear circuit for a while. As everyone knows each other, sometimes all it takes is a quick chat with one person and, before you know it, a project is underway!

Above: Saskia created a total of four t-shirt designs as part of her recent collaboration with OTHER/shop

Q. Tell us about the t-shirts you designed as part of the project.

A. Lately I’ve been working a lot with simple shapes and brushstrokes. The t-shirt designs are an extension of this approach. I’ve taken previous outcomes from similar work and tried something else. As an artist, you get stuck on a theme for a while, obsessing over it until you feel it’s been resolved.

Q. You’ve previously created a womenswear range in collaboration with designer Rebecca Torres. What do you enjoy most about designing for clothes and apparel?

A. It’s the chance to create wearable art! It’s great to be able to take your work out of the gallery and put it onto someone’s body. I work a lot with pattern, and really like putting crazy patterns onto garments. I take a lot of inspiration from nature, and kind of perceive print as being a bit like a new skin.

Lately I’ve been doing some stuff with American online retailer Print All Over Me. It’s been really fun and immediate, and is a good way of bridging the gap between designers and suppliers.

Above: One of several pieces produced by Saskia in collaboration with fashion designer Rebecca Torres

Q. You touched on how the natural world influences your work. You can see this in some of your previous projects – particularly your excellent series of anemone bags. Where did the idea for these come from?

A. I’ve been taking a lot of inspiration from animal markings – using them in digital prints or as starting points for my more graphic stuff. So it was this approach and the fact that, as a designer, digital printing is readily available to me, that led me to make the anemone bags. I find digital printing perfect for making small batches of product.

Above: Made from canvas, the anemone bag features a digitally printed, deep sea-inspired design

Q. What would you say is the most important thing to consider when creating designs for textiles?

A. I think it depends on what you want to get out of it really. If you want to sell loads, then it’s best not to do anything really crazy. But I don’t like to bend my style that much, so I’ll probably always just do the craziest thing.

I think you should always consider scale when designing. The scale of the pattern can completely change the garment. I also don’t really like it when you can see where the pattern repeats. I like seamless designs which seem infinite.

Q. You used to work as a commercial screen printer. How did this experience inform the way you work now?

A. I think it moved me away from drawing, and made me look at the stencils and richness of flat colour. Screen printing is a bit like a puzzle that you fit together. I was, and still am, intrigued and inspired by the way you can create 3D visions out of 2D shapes.

Above: A ceramic bowl, handmade and painted by Saskia

Q. Your work ranges from print and drawing to sculpture and textiles. Which discipline would you like to try your hand at next?

A. Good question! I’m not sure at the moment. I seem to work in a pretty impulsive way – I’ll see something and want to do it. I’d like to stick with ceramics for a while, and revisit textiles and garments next year too. But I’ve also been thinking about working with jesmonite moulding too.

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Behind the Scenes: The Art of Designing Custom Merchandise That Stands Out

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Designer Profiles, Features

T-shirts for Casely-Hayford

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London-based menswear label Casely-Hayford recently asked us to print and re-label a series of t-shirts using DTG printing for their show at Paris Fashion Week.
This was our second time working with Casely-Hayford, having previously printed some t-shirts for their A/W 2013 collection.

DTG Printing is the perfect way to print photos, illustrations and other intricate full colour designs onto t-shirts, tote bags and hoodies. If you want to understand more about how the process works, as well as what garment finishing services we offer, check out our Direct to Garment Printing page.

We caught up with Charlie, one half of the father-son duo behind the brand, to find out more about the project and their plans for the future.

Q. Firstly, let’s talk about the series of t-shirts we recently printed for you. What was the idea behind these designs?

A. These designs were inspired by our interest in statement t-shirts that related to different aspects of British subcultures.

Q. With your father being a fashion designer, you effectively grew up in the industry. Was working within the world of fashion something you always knew you wanted to do?

A. No, not at all. I very much started off in the art world. I studied Fine Art in Florence and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. It was only really while I was studying at Central St. Martins that my dad and I began to talk about working together.

Q. What is the best thing about working with your dad?

A. He’s a mentor to me, but he’s also keen to learn at the same time. It makes our dynamic really interesting.

Above: The ‘Kingsland Road’ t-shirt, printed by ICON, formed part of Casely-Hayford’s A/W 2013 collection

Q. Let’s talk about your working process. What is the first step you take to begin any project?

A. There’s never really a stop and start process with what we do. Our work is very much a reaction to what is going on around us in London, and also developing from one season to the next.

Q. What does an average day look like for you?

A. I don’t think I’ve ever had one!

Above: A look at Casely-Hayford’s first runway show, which took place earlier in the year

Q. What has been the highlight of your career so far?

A. I’d say it was our first runway show back in January. It felt like the beginning of the next chapter of our journey.

Q. And looking forward, what has the future got in store for Casely-Hayford?

A. Womenswear is on the horizon, but we’re in no rush to get there.

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Designer Profiles, Inspiration

Experts in Printing: Hato Press

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For the first in our new series of interviews with print professionals, we spoke to Justin Bailey of printing and publishing house Hato Press to find out more about the Risograph process. (more…)

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Designer Profiles, Features

New T-shirts from Melvin Galapon

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We were recently approached by London-based illustrator Melvin Galapon to print a new range of t-shirts featuring his bold and brilliant designs.

We used a combination of DTG printing onto white Earth Positive organic tees to print the designs as it is the perfect way to print photos, illustrations and other intricate full colour designs. The t shirts are to form part of Melvin’s clothing label which he very kindly took some time out to talk to us about. We found out more about where he looks for inspiration and his fondness for collaboration…

Q. So Melvin, what can you tell us about this new series of t-shirts?

A. They’re part of a clothing label called A-Ok that I’m setting up.

The designs themselves are inspired by a series I produced for my Rise & Fall exhibition at tokyobike (which runs until mid-August), although I wanted these to be bolder and more colourful.

Q. Quite a lot of your work seems to be influenced by or based around typography. How did your love for letterforms begin?

A. My earlier work was inspired by old technology, such as computers and video games. Within this I was interested in pixelated type, and how I could mimic glitches or distortions from a TV screen to push its legibility.

My current projects are more about deconstructing type using lines. I do this either digitally or physically, using laser cut sheets of acrylic. My work has also become a lot more pattern-based recently.

Above: Melvin’s cover for this year’s Creative Review Annual, built using laser cut sheets of acrylic and photographed by Sam Hofman

Q. Let’s talk about your working process. How do you go about making your images, and what are the tools of your trade?

A. I use my notebook, pen, mouse, Mac and camera. I always start by making little notes or sketches in my notebook. Then, once I’ve got an idea, it’s off to the computer. The final outcome is either completely digital, or a physical set that is built and photographed.

Q. What is the first thing you do when you get a new brief?

A. I try to make sure I’ve got all the information I need and I’m clear on what the client wants. I find the worse briefs are those where the client doesn’t have a clue what they want, or when there’s no proper direction given.

Above: One of four t-shirt designs printed by ICON for A-Ok, a new clothing label from Melvin

Q. You collaborate a lot within your work. Two years ago you had an entire exhibition of work at the Kemistry Gallery that was inspired by the process of working with others. So what is it you enjoy most about collaboration?

A. Working with new people allows me to work in ways I wouldn’t be able to on my own. The other person always brings something completely different to the table.

What I love most are the conversations you can have with that other person. I get a real sense of how they work, and it’s within these conversations that interesting ideas begin to take shape.

Q. If you could collaborate with absolutely anyone, who would it be?

A. I wouldn’t say there’s one person in particular. I just love working with great, enthusiastic people who are open to new ideas and trying something new. If that happens to be a musician, brand, or clothing label, then that’s even better.

Above: Melvin’s contribution to the Pick Me Up x DC Shoes t-shirt collection

Q. What are you currently working on?

A. I’m designing a repeat pattern for Parka London, which will be used across a new range they’re launching next year. I’m also working on some other personal projects – including a video with choreographers Marquez&Zangs.

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