Screen Printing was one of the workshops the 2017 RMIT Graphic Design Study Tour students took part in at Print Club in London. It was a full day workshop that involved various steps that took time and patience. The benefits of screen printing was the durability a print has on it’s substrates. For example, printing on fabric “creates printed products that have very durable graphics.”1 The ink is soaked through the fibres and is “integrated into the fabric.”1 Screen prints are also very durable and can be argued that produce much better quality prints. 

I have always had an appreciation for screen printing and wondered about the steps it takes to create the actual screens. Applying the emulsion to the screen was one of the first steps. It required an even amount of pressure placed on a clean screen to achieve a balanced spread of emulsion. It was important to spread the emulsion evenly so that the print would apply well when placed under highly intensive light. A squeegee is used to scrap the emulsion from the bottom to the top of the screen. This was all done in a dark red lit as regular light would expose the emulsion thus resulting in a patchy screen and an incorrect print.

Once the design was exposed onto the screen, it was placed on a press that has a vacuum seal attached to it. The substrate (paper) was placed on the vacuum seal surface so that there wouldn’t be any movement on the substrate when the ink is pressed onto it. Applying an even amount of pressure here was important to result in clear application of the ink. The term “wash” means to wipe back the ink back onto the screen once the ink has been applied to the substrate. This was done by using the squeegee to spread the ink back into the opposite direction.

Now that I know the process of screen printing I would definitely love to apply this with my own designs. I would love to find a screen printing facility here in Melbourne or actually use the screen printing kit I was given as a gift  now that I am more confident with the process. I feel like it would add a more personal aspect to my work as it is such a thorough hands on way of creating art and each print can turn out much differently than another. There was a thrill in seeing the prints on paper after spending hours preparing the screens. My interest in the graphic design industry is heavily towards print and I feel like with the knowledge that I know now, it would be a waste to not apply it in my
design outcomes.