Field Trip Time!

Not unlike field trips we use to take in grade school, or experience with Mr. Rogers when he would take his viewers to see how crayons were made, we made a visit to one of our vendors to see “how-it-is-made”.

Over the last couple of years we have increased the number of orders we contract out to have apparel screen printed. When Missy joined Kap Art she brought along with her an expertise in the sale of imprinted team apparel, as well as unlimited resources for anything imaginable that can be printed or embroidered on. From aprons to lunch boxes, to water bottles, lip balm and USB drives. As a result of taking Kap Art in a new direction we added “Markit” to our offerings. Markit represents pretty much all that does not fall under our typical job queue of graphic design.

In an effort to gain a better understanding of how our silkscreen vendors work we went on a field trip to visit Willamette Valley Screen and Embroidery. They do the majority of our screen printing for many of our clients, which include local schools and their athletic teams, not to mention Booster Clubs. Although Katy spent the early years of her design career working for a t-shirt screen printing business, each company has their own way of doing things, so there is always something new to be learned.

We were met by Bob Canaday co-owner of WVSE, who introduced us to Ron Prisco one of his experienced screen printer. Ron has been screen-printing for 20 years, and had a wealth of information to share as he took us through the process. The ink you use and the amount of time a garment stays in the dryer, as well as the temperature the dryer is set is variable and dependent on the fabric. Whether the garment is 100% cotton, 50/50 blend, polyester, or a different synthetic fabric, they all have specific ink and dryer recommendations. The ramifications for the wrong combination could mean cracked and peeling ink, over or under saturation of a design as well as smudging. Knowledge is definitely power, and lack of this knowledge is costly.

Working with WVSE has been a positive experience for us. They do beautiful work. They are organized and on time. Their great work ethic allows us to deliver a finished product to our clients that is clean, crisp and on schedule.