I have been a bit quiet the past two months. Laying low to re-design some stuff and saying goodbye to 2020. I had a lot of fun launching the brand and thank you to all who supported it this year! I very much appreciate it!
After working on a few new designs I wanted to launch in January I realized that I just couldn't carve the detail I wanted into the carving medium. Over the year I had tried a few different types of products but still couldn't get what I wanted. This is fully due to my carving skill and not a knock on any of the products I attempted to carve on! I also realized in this process that I was dumbing down my design and process to accommodate my carving skill. This is what made me stop and re-think some things. I want to be able to provide my art style and design the way I see it and not have anything hold it back. Carving was holding it back.
I want to keep Notorious Creatures a hand crafted type shop so I knew I didn't want to just make some designs and send them off to a screen printer. I also know that with the looks I want and the different print locations, each tee will end up costing me what I'd sell it for. I also wanted to keep the ability to add/remove/change things on the go and not be reliant on a printer to provide a box of product for me that I am stuck with.
I know enough about screen printing to know how messy and tough it is to get up and do yourself with all the various supplies, equipment and space you need. So many factors go into it from screen mesh counts, design, inks, presses, how to clean, where to clean, yadda yadda. I've spent days looking into how I could find a happy medium - not be cheap about it but think of it being done in my basement. If I could build my own screens and print myself I can keep the control and print any part of my tees as I wanted. It'll still be hand crafted and this way I can design what/how I want and my designs come to you exactly as I intended them to look - with much more detail and style.
So... this is where I sit.
Right now I have everything I need to do this and am in the process of building screens, finishing new designs, locking in labels, etc. I don't have an exact timeline of when you will see a fully processed tee from the new Notorious Creatures screen lab but I will keep you in the loop on our social feeds with progress and sneak peeks!
Thanks again for sticking with me on this ride and I know you will love whats coming out shortly. Stay tuned! #NorthVancouver #NotoriousCreatures