From October to December, I interned at specialist screen printing studio- Orto Print Studio. I had followed Orto on Instagram for a while and really admired their work, so this was a placement I really wanted prior to the DPS. I reached out via email and Instagram over the summer, had a phone interview with the owner Holly Ramjaun, and secured the placement in July this felt like a real win, as it was somewhere I had actively sought out and had a response from.
Orto is based at Blue Garage, a co-working and makerspace in Lewisham. Makers can pay for a membership to use the various workshops, and so I got to meet a range of self employed local makers such as such as carpenters, sign makers and set designers. Holly runs Orto Print Studio studio herself, taking on commissions from fashion brands and artists who come to her for specialist screen printing and textile print processes. She has an extensive knowledge of textile techniques and she was very inspiring to learn from.
Working two days a week, the pace was high and we would get through a huge amount of printing in a single day. Now, I feel I can approach my work with a level of efficiency and pace that I didn’t have before as well as a wider knowledge of screen print application. I feel like I’ll be going back to 3rd Year with the ability to produce a wider, more professional body of work. I feel a lot more capable and confident of taking a project from an idea to screen printing. I definitely improved my colour mixing skills, gained confidence printing with different inks, fabrics and with large repeats and learned new skills: screen exposing, devoree, discharge printing, heat press,
I got to experience how small-scale manufacturing and small scale print runs can be more ethical and considerate. In the studio Holly made a big effort to not waste materials, using leftover inks, fabric scraps, and using ink efficiently and disposing correctly.
An example of a job that has influenced my practice was working on a commission for a streetwear brand, printing t-shirts using a discharge printing method that avoids formaldehyde. Because of this, the customer benefits from a limited run, hand printed garment and the brand benefits from a well made, more sustainable garment. As the printers, we are handling less dangerous chemicals having less impact on our health and are not breathing in harmful fumes. Through the t-shirt’s design choices, it holds value as a limited run, hand screen-printed t-shirt made in London, prioritising craftsmanship over mass-production. I think this T-shirt does reflect a lot of my own values as a designer of creating with intention and environmentally conscious design. Seeing this demonstrated so practically at Orto has reinforced what kind of designer I want to be.
Being on the production side also gave me a new perspective on what designers send to screen printers, the file formats, the specifications, the decisions that get made before anything is even printed. It made me think more carefully about my own design work and how I’ll approach it differently going forward, and I’ll admit it made me miss design work too, and in my career I think ideally I’d love to combine these hands on methods with design work.
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