You're in luck this week, as far as secret projects go anyway. This project comes all the way from across the country, way over on the other coast. Allow me to present this project-maker, although I'm sure some of you are already well-acquainted with Kate H. Kate H is: RISD MFA student 2010, project-maker, Graphic Designer, awesome, funny & more descriptive words.
want to know more about Kate H?
(you should, she is kinda the best at a lot of things)
click click over here:
but definitely also:
Prepare yourselves, because after you read this, you'll want to throw down your sandwich, or pencil, or mouse, or small child, or whatever, and get started on a project. Enjoy!
I love the idea of being able to print anything I want on anything I want, but I'm totally afraid any process that requires big equipment and scary chemicals, like screen printing. I'm actually not even sure that screen printing does involve chemicals or big equipment, but the possibility that it does has been enough to keep me afraid of learning. Lucky for me, somebody made a TOY that screen prints. It's small, plastic, and nothing in it smells like poison. It's awesome! The Gocco is a little self-contained printing setup that lets you burn your own small screen, and print on whatever you can fit in there. It's perfect for small stuff like birthday cards, bookplates, and invitations. And it's super fun, really. I think the name even means fun. or play? something like that. Supposedly these were once so popular in Japan, that one in three households had them, mostly used by mothers to put their children's names in their clothes.
Here's the catch: they stopped making the Gocco a few years ago. There was a big hubbub on the internet to try and bring it back, and there's a whole movement of artists making specialty Gocoo prints. There's been talk of other companies producing a similar tool, but I haven't seen one on the market yet. BUT! lucky for you, if you're reading this blog, you likely know someone who owns a gocco. And, they probably love it, and would love to let you use it, so you should ask! And then keep your eyes out for one on ebay, at garage sales, or eventually back in shops.
I'm in design school right now, and we're working on a group pop-up shop project. This means we've been making a bunch of prototypes of possible items to sell. This week I decided to make a prototype of a baby onesie, which I thought could be a great excuse to show you how to use a Gocco. You may want to ignore the school-specific graphic that I'm printing and imagine something cuter, like… a cupcake or a bumble bee. Here goes:
First, dig out your Gocco. I keep mine in a metal suitcase that was meant to hold an emergency kit in the trunk of my car, but yours will likely be in something cooler. The gocco supplies you'll need look like this: the blue plastic Gocco itself, 2 lightbulbs for burning the screen, 1 screen (it's under the ink), and a bunch of ink.
Design what you'd like to print so that it will fit on the screen, no larger than 4"x6", then print it out. The print has to be from a laser printer, so you may need to xerox your design if you only have access to an inkjet. My design will say "eat, sleep, poop, make, do"
Place your design print-up on top of the little gray spongy square, then place two new lightbulbs into your Gocoo lightbulb holder thingy (surely, there is a more technical name?). I don't have a picture of this, but place a screen into the raised Gocco lid. (It's for kids, so there are a lot of arrows telling you where to go.) Gently close the lid, and place the lightbulb holder in the holder-holder and push down hard and quick. The lightbulbs will flash (close your eyes!) and burn the screen instantly. Screen done! Throw the lightbulbs away.
Peel the plastic protector sheet up from your screen and lay on some ink. There are fancy little dividers that allow you to do multiple colors, but I always just go for it. The Ink is thick enough that they generally don't mix if you just lay them over each part you want printed in that color. Prress the ink down onto the screen a bit with your thumb or a plastic knife. Oh! Also, They make special Gocco inks for paper and fabric, but I've used just about every type of ink I've found and, been fine. I've even used thinned acrylic paint on fabric and that worked awesome. Once you're all inked up, slide your screen back into the Gocco, and place your printing surface (paper, onesie, etc.) onto the gray spongy thing. Just like you did to burn the screen, push the lid down quickly and with some pressure, then lift back up. Admire your adorable results.
I'd recommend doing a couple test prints on paper first: sometimes the ink is uneven and you'll want to mush it around a little more for even coverage. You'll also need to add more ink occasionally if you are printing multiple copies.
Once you've got it printing smooth and pretty, place your onesie right where your test paper was. I always put a thick piece of paper in between the layers of fabric so no ink will seep through, but I'm not sure how totally necessary this is. Push the lid down, lift it back up…tada! printed onesie. Coolest toy ever. Happy printing!
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