I know I’ve started a series on typography, but I’ve decided to take a break from that for a little while to focus on a new and fun endeavor that we at JLB are pursuing.
Not too long ago I found a site that does "one-off" screen-printing on American Apparel t-shirts. Traditionally, screen-printing involves "burning" graphic designs into silk screens that are then laid on top of a t-shirt (or whatever fabric/substrate someone may be printing on). The printer then squeegees ink over the screen, forcing the ink through the silk and onto the shirt leaving an image. Only one screen can be used for one color, so if the t-shirt design requires multiple colors/inks, then multiple screens need to be burned. The entire process is time consuming and can be expensive if you’re not printing a bunch of shirts. So the idea of a company that can (not to mention will) print just one single t-shirt design for a reasonable price is unheard in the industry.
The site is called Skreened. The way it works is as follows: a user comes up with a sweet idea for a t-shirt. They whip open their copy of Photoshop Elements and put a design together. The user then goes to Skreened.com and uploads the design file into a flash based layout system. The user is able to choose what type of shirt and shirt color the design should be printed on. Once the shirt is uploaded, the user can easily and cheaply purchase their own unique design. Skreened then takes it one step further by allowing users to upload several designs and create a digital storefront. So now the user can make money!
Not only do the people at Skreened print single t-shirt designs for their users and supplying storefronts so the user can make money, they make sure to print on sweatshop-free, workers’ rights centric American Apparel. That’s a pretty sweet deal.
All of this to say…we’ve created a Skreened JLB storefront! We’ve only uploaded a handful of designs, but please check back often and find totally sweet new things to buy.
Thanks for reading.