Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
My husband and I are ready to enter the t-shirt business but are overwhelmed at the printing choices. We really like what Afliction does. Can anyone tell me what printing method they use? What method is really best for printing on dark clothing? Any help you can give is greatly appreciated!
This a little bit of information about the affliction printing. It is what is known as all over printing, which requires special plattens (oversized) Action engineering is a good source for this item or you can make your own. The ink they use is waterbase. If you search here for affliction style you will come across some good information on this subject. Good luck on your venture.
I suggest not jumping in sooo completely trend oriented... affliction is a higher end print garment all around. and there are plenty of important and undiscovered ideas out there. Whos to say your idea or style will be the next trend; i suggest not trailing the coattails of whatever seems to be the "in" at this moment (or last year, for that matter.)
Be unique original market deserving of success... why do you want to start a clothing line? i suggest doing a bit of research before you assume affliction is a simple clone-able idea~ dont get me wrong i am not discouraging you from succeeding just be practical and answer a few questions
why are you unique
who is demographic
why clothing line
are you a printer
artist
designer
money/ ?
investors?
do you think this will be less work than a job?
why do you think so?
how will you market yourself and who will you sell to
what will set you apart from all others ?
do you assume anyone can place a quicksilver logo on different ts and sell billions?
how will you sell garments ?
where will you sell them? ??
answer these questions then youll be ready for a tshirt line ?
i have been going for 10 years now and only just scratched success another 10 before ill be there (god only knows)
The majority of Afflictions line is produced by silkscreening, the type of screening for those large prints is called 'all over', not all printers are setup to do this tho.
Affliction uses all over printing using waterbased or discharge inks and other decoration methods such as foil, applique, embroidery, and hot fix studs.
Affliction uses all over printing using waterbased or discharge inks and other decoration methods such as foil, applique, embroidery, and hot fix studs.
My husband and I are ready to enter the t-shirt business but are overwhelmed at the printing choices. We really like what Afliction does. Can anyone tell me what printing method they use? What method is really best for printing on dark clothing? Any help you can give is greatly appreciated!
When you say you are ready to get into the t-shirt business, that is a very broad statement. What exactly do you mean? There are many markets and areas in the "t-shirt business". Are you wanting to start your own clothing line, or print promotional apparel, or custom fulfillment company, or what?
Depending on what you actually want to start with, people here can steer you down the right path, and also help you with asking the right questions so you get the real info you need.
I suggest not jumping in sooo completely trend oriented... affliction is a higher end print garment all around. and there are plenty of important and undiscovered ideas out there. Whos to say your idea or style will be the next trend; i suggest not trailing the coattails of whatever seems to be the "in" at this moment (or last year, for that matter.)
Be unique original market deserving of success... why do you want to start a clothing line? i suggest doing a bit of research before you assume affliction is a simple clone-able idea~ dont get me wrong i am not discouraging you from succeeding just be practical and answer a few questions
why are you unique
who is demographic
why clothing line
are you a printer
artist
designer
money/ ?
investors?
do you think this will be less work than a job?
why do you think so?
how will you market yourself and who will you sell to
what will set you apart from all others ?
do you assume anyone can place a quicksilver logo on different ts and sell billions?
how will you sell garments ?
where will you sell them? ??
answer these questions then youll be ready for a tshirt line ?
i have been going for 10 years now and only just scratched success another 10 before ill be there (god only knows)
good luck
Oh, I'm being realistic about all this. My husband is an artist and we've been talking about this for two years now. We are finally at a point where we are ready to go for it. Neither one of us expects over night success.
His art is completely different from Affliction or anyone else out there right now for that matter. We just really love the placement and soft hand of their shirts.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to respond. A reality check is always a good thing!
Ideally we would like to start our own clothing line but that is more involved and is much more of an investment than we can afford right now. We are talking about starting with blanks just to see if how our products are received. We own a clothing store and did a small run to sell in our store. They sold out surprisingly quick. It's got us jazzed about printing more. The first run we sent to a printer, but we'd really like to do them ourselves. Well, we did until we found out how many options there are! It's left us overwhelmed!! I am so grateful to have stumbled across this site. It has already proven invaluable, thanks to people like you!
I'm sure this isn't the last time you'll be hearing from me.
No doubt Affliction gear is a steep learning curve to do by youself. The process for one shirt is insane, hence the pricing. If you can get onto a good all over printer, Id stick with them as doing it yourself is very overwhelming.
In doing your own clothing line, and wanting to hang with brands like Affliction, you must look at the retail garment industry as a whole. Make sure you are gathering data on all aspects of the market you are wanting to venture into. Just investing in the manufacturing equipment necessary to product garments of the type you are designing is not enough. In fact, it could kill your new venture and bury you financially.
Starting a clothing line is not for the carefree and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants crowd. You must have a valid and careful strategy that has been fleshed out in a well done business plan that is efficiently executed. You are entering a congested and over-saturated market in a down economy. Selling in your own store compared to getting your product nationally distributed and in national chains are two completely different things (which I believe you must be aware of since you own a retail store).
Now, I know you are not an Affliction clone, but you are after similar production methods, correct? The methods used by Affliction in their manufacturing processes are very sophisticated and not easily achieved by people new to screen printing. In fact, the people who started Affliction do not actually own the equipment their products are manufactured on, they contract with garment manufacturing companies. Really, to go after that type of style and garments printed with those methods, I encourage you to have the garments manufactured by a company experienced in doing exactly those methods. In the beginning your margins will be low, but if you build the brand and are able to start shipping large numbers your margins will grow.
The first run we sent to a printer, but we'd really like to do them ourselves.
If you want to look into doing the Affliction type prints yourself (most everyone outsources them to screen printing professionals, even Affliction), then you're looking at learning the art of screen printing.
There you can learn about the different equipments, inks, and supplies needed to start doing your own screen printing.
You'll also want to probably look into taking some screen printing classes. Check out the ISS Tradeshow and see when one is coming to a town near you. They have classes and an exhibit hall floor where you can learn about printing and see the different types of printing in action.
If you're up for a vacation, the biggest ISS Tradeshow of the year is coming up in January in Long Beach, CA. Might be worth the trip as you'll see the most vendors and find a lot of classes there: ISS Long Beach
You can also find videos and tutorials on YouTube and eBay that will show you some screen printing processes.
What printing method does Afliction use? 
