#silkwormink

[macemarquardt]

RT https://t.co/jqN2w4cFdZ Make Mondays (or any day) more fun with a customized foosball table in the break room. @WarriorFoosball has plenty of options. #silkwormink #funatwork … https://t.co/u3UEg9CK0y

RT https://t.co/jqN2w4cFdZ Make Mondays (or any day) more fun with a customized foosball table in the break room. @WarriorFoosball has plenty of options. #silkwormink #foosball #funatwork … pic.twitter.com/u3UEg9CK0y

— Mace Marquardt (@mace_marquardt) March 18, 2019

Source: @mace_marquardt March 18, 2019 at 06:53AM More info Best Foosball

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25 posts!

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Be a Hunger Hero! Join us in the fight against hunger by donating non-perishable food items at the June 24th KnockHunger game to benefit Gumdrops in Carterville! The first 250 fans to bring ten non-perishable food items to the gate on any of our Knock Hunger game nights gets a new custom shirt. The June 24th game is sponsored by First Southern Bank. http://buff.ly/1MPuSK9

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Follow us on Twitter!

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Holding ourselves accountable = Happy customers.

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Definitions of Ink

Plastisol Ink: Versatile ink made of liquid plastic which becomes solid when heated. Plastisol inks are what we use for most of the shirts we print because they are easy to work with and provide bright, solid colors. Plastisol inks should not be ironed as it may melt and smear the print.

Water Based Ink: Inks which mix pigments with water. Water based inks are harder to work with because they are more transparent and all of the water must evaporate before the print is set. Their main advantage is that they absorb into the garment better rather than sitting on top of it like plastisol inks do giving the print a softer hand/feel.

Fashion Base: An additive for plastisol inks which gives the print a softer hand.

Discharge Ink: A water based formula which removes pigment from the garment. Has a very soft hand but is not reliable for exact color matching.

All Purpose Ink (AP): Used for 100% Cotton and 50/50 garments.  They create a low to medium opacity and work well on light colors and on a white base.  When printing on dark shirts with the ink color off a base, the shirt will bleed through the ink, causing a noticeable ink color shift.

High Opacity (HO):  Used for 100% Cotton and 50/50 garments.  They create a good opacity and can work on 100% Cotton without a base with a slight color shift.

Colormax (CM): Colormax is another kind of high opacity ink

Fluorescent (FLO): Bright translucent ink colors which work will on light garments.  This ink needs a base plate for most colors.

Low Bleed LB: Designed to help with bleed resistance on 50/50 T-shirts.

Specialty Ink: Catch-all term for non-standard inks such as puff inks, metallic inks or glow-in-the-dark ink.

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Unconventional Print Locations

What is one of the most often overlooked elements when thinking about a design for a shirt? Location, location, location! Here are a few examples of less common print locations that can help set your shirt apart from the more conventional design placements that we see every day.

Shoulder Prints

Shoulder prints make a great alternative to the traditional back collar imprint. By putting the print on the shoulder you avoid having it covered up by long hair and having the design off center gives it a great dynamic feel. We like to use right shoulder prints for event shirts like for 5k/walk/runs because it means that every participant will see the logo on the shoulder of the person in front of them.

Side Prints

Can’t decide between putting your design on the front and putting it on the back? Try something in between and put your design on the side of the shirt. Side prints are fun because they are a bit mysterious. When the design wraps around your body it takes on a new dimensionality not found with a flat back print. Because side prints cross over the seams of the shirt there can be minor imperfections so text and other fine details should not be placed there. Side prints are a great choice for chic designs or any time you want to make a fashion statement.

Vertical Prints

Most designs are horizontal because they are stable and readable but if your feeling more adventurous you can flip everything on its side and go vertical. Running a design down the side of a shirt creates a sense of motion and the asymmetry of only having your art on one side of the shirt creates tension. Vertical prints are a good choice for athletic designs or any time you want to convey motion and action.

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Sending Your Logo

Your logo is important and in order to make it look great on your shirt or promotional product we ask that you provide us with the best possible digital file to work from. In this post I’ll outline some steps you can take to make sure that the logo you provide to us is correct.

Pick the right version of your logo

 First, make sure that the logo you’re going to send is the right version for how it will be used. Often companies will use have different versions of their logo depending on how it will be used. These differences can be whether it is the logo alone or with a tag line, slogan or other information included, whether it is the full color version, spot color only, single color or reversed out for printing light on dark or if there is an alternate version designed for use at small sizes. Some companies document this information in their branding or logo usage guidelines. If spot colors are used please also note the Pantone PMS number of any colors used. If you aren’t sure which version will work best we will be happy to help you make the best choice for the garment or item that you’ve selected.

Make sure the file is vector

This is perhaps the most important part. In order to ensure the highest quality print we need your logo in vector format. This means that the images and type in the logo are made up of shapes and lines that can be scaled without degrading as opposed to a raster image which is made up of pixels and will look blocky if enlarged too much. The simplest way to check this is to open your logo and zoom in as much as you can—if the image becomes pixelated it is raster, if you see smooth curves and shapes it is vector. Some common vector formats are .ai .eps and .pdf but please check your files beyond looking at the file extension because these formats can also contain raster images in some cases. Some common raster formats are.jpg .tif .png .gif and .psd. If your only available copy of your logo is in a raster format we can still work with it but we may need to recreate it to be more print friendly.

Converting type to outlines

  To ensure that all the text in your logo is reproduced exactly all text should be converted to outlines before sending the file to use. Converting to outlines means that the text is changed from an editable string of type in your chosen font to a collection of vector shapes. Because this removes your ability to edit the text make sure that you make a copy of your original file or ‘save as’ so that you can edit the original text later if needed. In Adobe Illustrator type can be outlined by selecting it and choosing “Create Outlines” from the “Type” menu. In other programs this option may be called “Expand”, “Expand Type” or “Outline Type”.

  Send it in

With all of that out of the way it’s time to save the file and send it to Silkworm! Save the logo as an .eps (encapsulated post script) or .ai (Adobe Illustrator) file and send it to your sales representative or upload it to us using our artwork upload page. If everything is right the next thing you see from us should be a proof showing your awesome logo on the product you are ordering. If you have any further questions we’ll be happy to answer them for you.

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Art Style Guide

Art References

Many times you may already have an idea of the style of design you’re looking for. This could be examples of similar shirts, reference images or a sketch of your ideas. Bring in those references and we can work with you to adapt that style to fit the requirements of your design. The more information we have at the start of the design process the faster we can get you your desired design.

Art Styles

Silkworm’s artists can create artwork in a wide variety of styles and aesthetics. No matter what kind of look you want we can find a style to match. Here are some of the most common styles that are frequently used on the shirts we design:

Alternative/Urban/Grunge

These designs aim for a rough, edgy look. They often feature hoolanders (floral swirls), distressed images, asymmetrical layouts, rough banners, abstract background images, wings, brush strokes and splatters. Popular type styles include rough, distressed fonts, no baseline for text, mixed fonts and often have text that is intentionally distorted and hard to read.

School Spirit/Athletic

These designs are popular with schools and clubs or anyone wishing to evoke that aesthetic. They often feature stylized athletic equipment, vertical arches, school mascots, swooshes, laurel wreath, shields and ovals. Popular type styles include inline-outline, bold angular sans serifs, thick slab serifs, brush script style fonts with athletic tails.

Realistic/Photograph

These designs feature or include photographs or realistic illustrations based on photos. Usually for this type of design, the customer will bring in a picture they would like drawn, or a photo they want printed on a shirt as close to their reference as possible. This type of design can often require more art time because of the complex nature of illustrating based on a photo and the complexity of the color separation process needed to print photos.

Tattoo

These designs draw inspiration from tattos and often feature tribal designs, hearts, skulls, wings, navy tattoos, pinup girls and airbrush style artwork. They often feature hard black outlines to contain and bold colors. Type styles include sketchy, spray paint, handwriting, old English style and black-letter fonts.

Retro/Vintage These designs reference or parody older styles for fun or nostalgia. Vintage designs feature simple stylized art and often are distressed to look older. Type choices include scripts, art deco inspired fonts, pixel and computer readable fonts.

Cartoon These designs use cartoon style drawings to create a lighthearted, fun feel. They can vary in complexity from stick figures and abstract shapes to Disney style fully detailed characters. This style is also popular for caricatures or any time you need to convey a complex idea or situation that can’t be represented literally.

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Shirt Design

When designing a shirt it’s easy to forget that the design won’t be the nice flat image that you see on your screen or printout once it gets put on to a shirt. When someone puts on your t-shirt the print will be shaped by their body and personal style and these changes should be taken into consideration during the design process.

Consider how various body shapes will stretch and pull the design. Here is an example of how different body shapes can change a full chest design.

Some other factors to take into consideration:

Long hair may cover shoulder and back collar prints. Consider a sleeve print if this is a concern.

Some people tuck-in their shirts. Don’t place important information too low on your shirt.

Some people wear larger sizes for a baggy look causing creases and folds in the shirt. Keep important information and images near the center of the shirt.

In general the safest place for important information or design elements on a full chest design is centered at the top and of the standard imprint area.