In theory, screen-printing T-shirts sounds like a really awesome concept: a cheap way to showcase your creative genius with the added bonus of a unique (i.e. non-Urban Outfitters) graphic tee. Cool. But in practice, screen-printing is a delicate, complicated and time-consuming art.
So why not leave it up to the artists? With the May 16 opening of Print Liberation, the love child of Jamie Dillon and Nick Paparone, you can do exactly that. At their new Philadelphia store, they can take your amateur ideas and create fresh, unconventional, professional fashions.
Before establishing their Northern Liberties flagship, Dillon and Paparone worked their way up from an after-hours operation at a screen-printing shop to the eventual establishment of an independent business designing logos, posters and ad campaigns. Having worked with the likes of moveon.org creating Obama paraphernalia, Philly Car Share and Urban Outfitters, Dillon and Paperone have acquired a name for themselves as well as our stamp of approval.
And for those of you still wedded to the idea of hand-making your own creations, Dillon and Paparone have chronicled the in’s and out’s of screen-printing in their book Print Liberation: The Screen Printing Primer (signed copies are available for purchase at the store).
The store provides a wide variety of original tees at affordable prices. If you don’t have a design of your own, the store and its website have plenty of irreverent statements for you to sport. Exclusively at the store, you can pick up a Club Card that scores you a free tee for every five that you purchase. And who knows, perhaps Dillon and Paparone will inspire your inner artiste to join the ranks of the screen-printing elite.
