Case Study
Essex-based printer finds Zen in manual screen printing process
Precision screen printing and embroidery services are the hallmark of Zenessex, co-founded by Richard Sharpe and Kevin Burtt in 2007. The studio is the culmination of working for clothing designers on three continents for 15 years.
R
ichard first opened a screen printing studio in London in the late 1980s. Fresh out of art school, he experimented with ways to screen print liquid crystals and holographic images onto fabric.
These techniques were later patented and his fabrics sold to major fashion houses, including Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Versace, Anne Klein, Tommy Hilfiger.
Then, in 1991, he and Kevin moved to San Francisco and set up shop making textiles and garments for the fashion industry using reactive dye and screen printing processes. Their clothing gained popularity in Japan, so the pair moved to Tokyo to design clothing for a large fashion retail chain. While in Japan, they also learned techniques for screen printing kimonos using hand-cut stencils and colours made from flowers and minerals.
It was this quality of manufacturing and attention to detail that Richard and Kevin sought to replicate when they returned to the UK.
Tribute to Zen practices Richard says: “We wanted to keep manufacturing in the UK and provide a facility where young and established designers could express themselves without having to go overseas.” He chose the name Zenessex as a tribute to what he and Kevin learned in Japan.
At a trade show, Richard met Zuzette and Andrew Stocking, owners of Dalesway Print Technology, a Vastex distributor in the UK. The couple worked with him to create a Vastex screen printing package, which included a V-1000 four-station/ six-colour manual press, a RedFlash flash cure unit and a Little Red X1-30 conveyor dryer. Prepress equipment included a C-100 manual screen coater, VRS Pin Registration system, a Dri-Vault screen drying cabinet and an E200 LED exposure unit.
Following installation of the equipment in 2018, the Zenessex staff received on-site training by master screen printer Douglas
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holographic foils he developed in the 1990s. “The holographic process works magnificently on this press,” he says. “Depending on what kind of screen mesh count we use, we can make solid holographic shapes or finely detailed halftones.”
L-R: Richard Sharpe, Douglas Grigar and Kevin Burtt
The VRS PIN Registration System enables Richard Sharpe to position the screen on his four-station, six-colour press with all colours in register
Grigar. In addition to the operation of each machine, the training covered CMYK and simulated process, and software to create film positives.
Adapting to job requirements Richard explains: “Because the four-station press has six heads, I can do CMYK printing and have two spare heads for adding a spot colour, like fluorescent ink, or applying an adhesive for photo laminates. I can also have two people printing different jobs at the same time.”
Zenessex also selected a variety of press attachments, including an oversize pallet for large T shirts, a jumbo pallet for XXXL sizes, a junior pallet for kids’ T shirts, and a sleeve pallet.
When printing multi-colour jobs, Richard flashes ink between colours in as little as two seconds with the RedFlash infrared flash cure unit with head leveler.
Screen printing of holographic prints Occasionally, Richard produces holographic prints with the manual press using the
To prepare shirts for holographic images, Richard applies printable adhesive to the shirt as a one-colour process or as part of a multi-screen design that uses water-based ink for the colour screens. Holographic foil can also be laminated on top of plastisol inks for a multi-faceted effect. After applying the adhesive, Richard runs the shirt through the Little Red X1-30 conveyor dryer to partially cure it. He then laminates the holographic foil to the shirt with a heat press at a temperature of 150°C for 15 to 20 seconds. Once the garment cools, the excess foil is carefully peeled away to reveal a finely decorated holographic image in the same pattern as the adhesive.
Reproducible registration Using the VRS pin registration system, Richard locates film positives onto the screen off-press, and then positions the screens on press with all colours in register. Richard learned how to adjust the off-contact of a screen for different fabric weights to retain the print’s crispness and detail. Richard says the press’s ability to hold accurate registration, together with the on-site training sessions, have made an enormous impact on the studio’s productivity by reducing wasted effort. He explains: “It’s devastating when you spend two hours setting up a print, and it all comes out wrong because the registration is off, or you didn’t know what you were doing. Not only are you wasting garments but you’re wasting your chemicals and photo emulsions, which are expensive.” Richard approaches the screen printing process with a Zen state of mind. “I find it very relaxing and meditative – and that improves the overall pressure and rhythm I maintain on the squeegee.”
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
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