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Still in the spirit of the Digitall Project, today I want to present a practical example of graphic design, with a graphic created some time ago that this year I reproduced on a t-shirt in the screen printing in which I am operating.
The graphic I made is the one you see in the opening cover, in the center of the image. I renamed it as
"Limoni"
referring to the main textual element that stands out in the foreground and to the general conceptual element that it transmits (Limoni is Lemons in Italian Language). Let's go into detail.
Composition
I talked about elements: the graphics I created can in fact be divided into some main components, 3 basically. The first, the element that can be framed as the word “Limoni”, the second, the image element positioned just below the word lemons, and the third element, the one used as a background.
Limoni
A simple logotype-like element, I made it by drawing it on a sheet of paper, then scanning and coloring at will. At the time, I used a pattern made from a photo of a lemon as a coloring. If you notice, inside, you can see the distinctive pattern that wraps around the lemon zest.
Lips
The second element refers to 2 lips, simply drawn on a sheet as a full figure, then scanned and finally erased on all those lines that could represent the ripples. The colors are very imaginative, classic red with the addition of a whimsical shade tending to fuchsia.
Background
The background ... well, in terms of lemons, a lemon couldn't be missing. After taking a photo of a lemon cut in half, I applied a pattern like the ones you find under the items cropping, cartoon, or other similar effects on the most used graphics programs. You could also find a similar result by vectorizing an image without smoothing the corners too much.
In short, a fantasy lemon theme that I decided to insert as a back burner, following my initial idea of graphics with a fixed width in every direction: the simplest method to achieve this is the use of an image whose outline is roughly identifiable as a circle.
Graphics finished ... and now?
Once the elements were created, I assembled them ... et voilà! Graphics ready. The problem now lies in the question: what the heck am I doing? Of course, I'll do something!
Some time ago, I decided to put it on a print-on-demand platform.
Print-on-demand is a service that literally means a print when you ask about it. In today's market, it is often identified in services that offer the possibility of printing very few pieces (even 1) at affordable prices. In my case, I chose a print-on-demand platform based on clothing printing. My aim was nothing complex: I have a graphic, I have to do something with it, let's do something about it, and then we'll see. The result born of this reasoning was not at all profitable, but that's another story.
Let's print it, a t-shirt.
A handful of weeks ago, I decided to take advantage of the direct digital printing technology of screen printing where I work to try printing on a very simple white t-shirt. Direct digital printing on clothing works approximately like the printers used for sheets of paper: you insert the t-shirt, set up the graphics to be printed, and start the process. The time is much longer than that used for the sheets of paper, and also the problems related to the support are enormously greater, with the same aesthetic result. The fact is that, with a graphic like this, I thought you could get a good result on a white t-shirt. I'll leave it up to you to decide, I'm not sorry at all.
In this image you can see the t-shirt fixed on the printing surface, a support surface that allows you to assume the most suitable positions throughout the printing process: the shirt remains stationary, and the surface moves forward, while a block of color circuits (the "print head") sprays the pigments by moving according to the specific graphic that we have to print.
The second image shows the finished t-shirt, ready to be removed from the machine. The difference compared to paper printers is that the prints at this point are not yet settled correctly on the support: instead, we have to subject it to a constant source of heat (150-180°) for a sufficient time, so that the ink used can be settled permanently. The constant flaw of shirts printed in this way is that the ink layer is extremely thin and every time the fabric is washed, dried, rubbed, etc., these actions affect the aesthetics of the print and its hold. However, for summer t-shirts, white is one of the best ways to keep a breathable garment.
Last before saying goodbye, a selfie “without putting my face on it”, with the printed shirt worn by me.
I hope I wasn't too boring. Having said that, I greet you and give you an appointment for future posts of mine and of the Digitall Project.