Printing Process and Problems - The Gallery Calendar - Self-led Brief

The screen printing process was long and arduous and several problems occurred throughout. Screen-printing a calendar was quite an extensive task and was perhaps too unpredictable for something that needed to be so precise. There were 24 designs which needed to be exposed and successfully printed so four A1 screens and one A0 screen were cleaned. Then for each month 12 variations were made - which meant that there was 72 prints.

The first set of prints came out well, the colours were crisp and clear whilst the calendar details and type were legible and correct. Some had slight texture but this worked well to create an authentic printed effect.

The second colour for the red and blue prints was less successful. The core designs came out well, with crisp and balanced colour - yet because the screen was slightly blocked, a lot of the dates and gallery details have come out faded and blocked. Unfortunately these details are the most important aspect of a calendar so I had to begin considering other options for the production.

However, in general the screen-printed 'look' has come out very nicely. The design is contemporary, texture and artistic. Using a real artist's process for a collection of handmade art. Some of the second prints have misaligned but this has created quite a nice, alternative effect. The red has overlaid on the blue to create a purple tone, and almost offers a shadow to the pieces of art. The colours work together well and are vibrant and exciting.

The green prints also had some issues. The ratio of ink to medium was not quite perfect, as this meant for the initial prints the colour came out quite faded. After this, again the screen was quite blocked and caused some faded and worn textures to the prints - this was not idea as the calendar needed to appear professional and luxurious.

The orange tone was carefully mixed with yellow, white and red to create this subtle colour and from feedback it has been suggested that this worked well. Again there was some misalignment but this seemed to offer a very delicate shadow to the works, adding an extra layer to the composition. Unfortunately due to the absence of important details, I began to consider if digitally printing the designs would look more professional. I spoke to several of the print technicians and they suggested that for successful prints I would have to restart the entire process and even then there is no guarantee of it working. 

The purple and turquoise prints had similar issues. Although the worn texture does give the prints character and a certain uniqueness. When something is produced by hand it means that the prints are a lot more unique and treasured. It gives them more worth and importance, so it is a shame that the smaller details didn't work so well. Perhaps I could consider scanning the prints and printing them with the correct dates? In order to create the handmade aesthetic but also ensuring the calendar is completely functional.