Passion For Printing
My passion for printing was ignited in my late teens when I attended a comic book convention. I was and still am very interested in comics and graphic novels. I had always drawn and loved the drama and art surrounding them. I got chatting to one guy at this convention who told me that he actually printed his own graphic novels. I was instantly invigorated, I could feel a surge of adrenaline shoot up my spine. The thought had never occurred to me before, I had always dream of getting my own graphic novels printed professionally, but if I could print them myself that would not only save a lot of money but it also sounded like a lot of fun!
I talked to this guy for well over an hour, we exchanged numbers, ideas and he was kind enough to explain the whole process he used to print and how he got started and how he actually built his own printing press. The fact that his colour selection was limited didn't bother me. I had always had a soft spot for black and white comics any way. I couldn't wait to get home. It sounds like a cliche but I had never felt so alive, so full of passion. I was putting together ideas and designs in my head for my first press the whole way back. I was obsessed!
I talked to this guy for well over an hour, we exchanged numbers, ideas and he was kind enough to explain the whole process he used to print and how he got started and how he actually built his own printing press. The fact that his colour selection was limited didn't bother me. I had always had a soft spot for black and white comics any way. I couldn't wait to get home. It sounds like a cliche but I had never felt so alive, so full of passion. I was putting together ideas and designs in my head for my first press the whole way back. I was obsessed!
The Art Of Printing
It turned out making my own printing press was harder than I imagined. But, totally worth it. Over the course of a month I built my first screen printer. I did everything properly, making sure it was all aligned correctly. The last thing I wanted was for this thing to not work at all after investing so much time into putting it together. Fortunately, and to my surprise (despite being so careful) it did actually work perfectly. I started by printing a few single sheets of artwork that I had produced. They come out crisp and just as I had hoped. Obviously, with screen printing the printing is only part of the process. Equally as vital to the operation is making the screen itself. I won't go into the full process here but I found it took me a few goes to actually get a feel for it and get a screen I was happy to proceed with.
If you'd like to get an insight into how Tyson works on a daily basis take a look at our youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL_Nzp-6u5w
If you'd like to get an insight into how Tyson works on a daily basis take a look at our youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL_Nzp-6u5w
The Profession
After a while of printing my own stuff and getting pretty good at it. I began to realise I could start to make money from print. I put a site together and began to contact artists, friends with a similar interest in graphic novels and comics and local clothing companies. This paid off and before long I had my first couple of clients. My first was an artist who wanted some of his work printed for re-sale. I really loved the work and was excited to get started. After a couple of trial runs I had the technique perfected. With the upgrades I had made to my equipment it was more than capable of producing excellent quality prints directly to thick artists card. I was delighted with the result and so was he.
After that I struck up a deal with a local clothing brand and printed a run of t-shirts for them. This required a little modification to my existing printing press in order to achieve good results, but it was worth it. In the end I actually built two separate printing presses, one dedicated to printing t-shirts as our relationship grew and I saw that there was a lot of money to be made in printing clothing.
Today I have moved out of my spare bedroom and into a studio, I've continued to grow my business and I am now able to make a living from it. That is the story of how printing grew from a teenagers side project into a profitable business within the space of six years.
After that I struck up a deal with a local clothing brand and printed a run of t-shirts for them. This required a little modification to my existing printing press in order to achieve good results, but it was worth it. In the end I actually built two separate printing presses, one dedicated to printing t-shirts as our relationship grew and I saw that there was a lot of money to be made in printing clothing.
Today I have moved out of my spare bedroom and into a studio, I've continued to grow my business and I am now able to make a living from it. That is the story of how printing grew from a teenagers side project into a profitable business within the space of six years.