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,...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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,...
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...
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...
The results for the 2019 Impressions Awards are in! For months, decorators of all sizes and experience levels submitted their entries for the 41st annual Impressions Awards, the industry’s most prestigious apparel-decorating contest. The 2019 competition was judged at...
Equipment Zone, Franklin Lakes, N.J., will host its next two-day DTG Academy on Sept. 19-20 at its headquarters. The purpose of the DTG Academy is to teach the following: the correct direct-to-garment (DTG) printing process and formula; the perfect pretreatment...
