Ricoma, Miami, recently transitioned to a new, state-of-the-art headquarters in Medley Fla. After two years of construction, the move into the new 58,000-square-foot facility was initiated in mid-October. It will house all Ricoma employees and machinery. Located just...
Jamar Laster
Jamar Laster's Latest Posts
Hot Off the (Heat) Press
The functionality and versatility of today’s heat presses have evolved, but they all should be safe, reliable and consistent, a sentiment agreed upon by many industry experts. One major factor in the increasing versatility of this staple garment-decorating machine is...
Branding Basics
There’s a lot of jargon that gets thrown around in the marketing world, but if there’s one concept that decorated-apparel shops should consider when building their businesses, it’s branding. Before divulging tips on how to take advantage of branding for your business,...
Basic Embroidery Troubleshooting
From the runways of New York Fashion Week to the halls of Comic-Con, embroidery is a pastime that consumers and crafters are embracing, as personalization in clothing, costumes and gifts continues to rise in popularity. However, as with any decorating process,...
Full Steam Ahead
Paul Whitmore still remembers the biggest job that rolled through Rhino Graphics. Not too long before a 44,000-shirt order came in, the San Marcos, Texas-based shop had just purchased an automatic screen-printing press. Before that, the largest order it had tackled...
The Outlook for Outerwear
We heard it all the time as kids: “Don’t forget your jacket!” Our parents didn’t want us to get sick because of the cold weather, and jackets were the first line of defense. But outerwear has taken on a much more significant role in our closets and wardrobes. Jackets...
Elevate Designs with Specialty Inks
Specialty inks have been used for many decades. When I was a kid, I had a vintage Mickey Mouse tee embellished with puff ink, which introduced a great touch to a nostalgic design. Since then, specialty-ink capabilities have advanced dramatically. Ink manufacturers are...
Pros and Cons of Screen Printing With Plastisols
Plastisol inks have been a mainstay of the textile screen-printing industry for the past 40-plus years. Although new technologies are popular in some applications such as high-solids acrylic (HSA), silicones, discharge and new water-based inks, plastisols still are...
The Benefits of Automation in the Screen Printing Industry for Apparel Decorators
Screen printing on T-shirts, sweat shirts, hoodies and other popular garments is a reliable and profitable market sector that has demonstrated the potential for continued growth in the 21st century. Despite competing technologies — such as direct-to-garment (DTG)...
Fit Factors
Fit can be one of the most challenging issues an apparel decorator faces when selecting the correct style for a customer. A garment that didn’t fit the way the customer expected is the No. 1 reason for most online apparel returns, according to a 2017 Narvar report,...
Mastering DTG Printing
Direct-to-garment (DTG) printing is catching on as an effective technique for producing fashion-inspired and photo-realistic decorated apparel. If you’ve stepped into the vibrant DTG world while still offering screen printing — a move that many decorators have made in...
Printing at Pink’s
It’s probably no surprise that Dylan Houser and Woody Kumetat of Philadelphia-based Pink’s Inks love the color pink. “We have a pink logo, pink packing tape, pink mailers, pink gloves for screen cleanups and most of our shop is painted pink,” Houser says. Best friends...