gowanus print lab

oriana on 16 Nov ’11

space type: print studio | neighborhood: gowanus | actice since: 2010 | links: website, facebook, twitter

The Print Lab is deep in the bowels of Gowanus. It’s a nice stroll from the train, unless you happen to visit during a freak blizzard Halloween weekend like I did, in which case it’s kind of a cold, wet slog. But totally worth the trip! The space is huge and comfy and inviting, with great art on the walls, studio members hard at work at the many tables and machines, and incredibly friendly teachers and staff. I was invited to take the Intro to Screenprinting class, which (thankfully) covered all the basics, and though I’ve got no drawing eye whatsoever and had never even touched a screen before, I totally made a shirt that I’m not at all embarrassed to wear.

all photos by Maximus Comissar

The intro class is only one of many offered at the Print Lab; there’s printing classes for skateboards and posters and stationary, digital classes on Photoshop and Indesign and website-building, there’s classes for kids, classes for DIY weddings, they even had a class on how to jailbreak your iPhone. Of course, they could also do everything for you, offering all kinds of large-format and specialty-ink printing services for fancy projects. Or if you already know what you’re doing and want to DIY it, you can become a member, gaining access to all the tools, paints, supplies, computers, machinery, and anything else you could possibly need. So go print something! But first click through for my interview with Amy, the lab’s marketing director.

screens

brooklyn spaces: What are some of your more unusual classes?
Amy: There’s lots. We have one on printing in repeat, for making fabric or wallpaper, we have a specialty inks class where you get to use flocking and foils and glitter, we have digital classes that are geared toward helping you make your designs appropriate for screenprinting, all kinds of things.

sinks

brooklyn spaces: There are also events here, right?
Amy: Yup. Last weekend we had a Halloween event, where kids got to have characters screenprinted on their clothes. We also do collaborative events; we did a party with Sobe and a craft night with Etsy. About once a month we have an opening reception for the new art exhibit.

screens

brooklyn spaces: Is the art done by Print Lab members?
Amy: Sometimes, but this one was curated by the art collective Six Betweens. Next month we’re doing an exhibit with the Graphic Artists Guild, and after that is a student show called “The Art of Rebellion.” Screenprinting lends itself to protest so well, because it’s really affordable, you can make multiples easily, and you can really deliver a message.

paints

brooklyn spaces: What’s the screenprinting community like? Do you guys get together and talk shop?
Amy: Sure, we’re friendly, we’re fun, we like to get along with everybody. We’re buddies with USA Tees, we have a good relationship with The Arm, a letterpress studio in Williamsburg, and also with the Brooklyn Artists Gym, which is just down the street. It’s really exciting to be in Gowanus right now, part of the growing artist community.

oven

brooklyn spaces: Who are some of your exciting clients or members?
Amy: We worked with one Brazillian designer doing specialty printing, glitter and things like that, and we do some contract work with the fabric designer Scott Hill, who runs Old Village Hall. Two of our long-term members, Anthony Graves and Carla Herrera-Prats, are part of Camel Collective, and they were featured in Mass MoCA’s “The Workers” show. Some other great members are painter Jeremy Penn, illustrator Erin Gallagher, graphic artist Norm Ibarra, and printmaker Andreas Ekberg. The artists here do really amazing things.

our instructor

brooklyn spaces: What’s the best part of working at a printshop?
Amy: I just think it’s exciting to be a part of a space that encourages people to make things, and to work in a way that they might not be able to on their own. I mean, you can screenprint at home, but it’s certainly very difficult, especially in New York with tiny shoebox apartments. So I love being able to facilitate people having the space they need to work and create.

me with my screen

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Like this? Read about more makers: Pickett Furniture, 6 Charles Place, Werdink, Bushwick Print Lab, A Wrecked Tangle Press, Metropolis Soap, Arch P&D, Gowanus Ballroom, Urbanglass, Better Than Jam, 3rd Ward

better than jam

oriana on 14 Mar ’11

neighborhood: bushwick | space type: design co-op | active since: 2010 | links: website, facebook, blog, etsy

Honestly, I wandered into Better Than Jam by accident. I was looking at art at the Loom during Bushwick Site Fest, and suddenly I found myself in a bright, beautiful boutique, with rack after rack of silkscreened t-shirts and dresses, felted hats, shining jewelry, stitched pillows, knit scarves, and on and on. It turns out that Better Than Jam is a handmade design co-op, a collective space run by fashion designer Karin Persan. It’s a lovely shop full of lovely things, open daily. Go support the store and buy yourself something nice, but first read my interview with Karin!

brooklyn spaces: How did this all get started?
Karin: Well, I’m a fashion designer. I’ve been doing markets on the weekends for six or seven years, just traveling around, and the opportunity came up to take this space and open a storefront, so I grabbed it. I wanted to make it a showcase for local designers, and I started with a core group of awesome, talented people, and as I’ve been open I just meet more and more creative people from the neighborhood. The way the space works is everyone puts in a little bit for rent, and then keeps 90 percent of what they make. It’s a self-sufficient space.

brooklyn spaces: Do you have specific ideas for what you want to stock?
Karin: I have to keep it noncompetitive between the designers, so I only take on new people who don’t have anything similar to what I already carry. I like to have a good array of styles, designers with a good range of experience, and everything is high-quality, obviously.

brooklyn spaces: Do you do all the selection and the running of the space yourself?
Karin: Yup. I don’t make the designers work like a co-op usually does. I do want them to be involved, like bringing in new stock regularly, and I have events every once in a while, so I want them to come and participate, so people can meet them. People really love meeting the designers of the pieces they love.

brooklyn spaces: I’ve never heard of a space like this before, is this a pioneering idea?
Karin: Oh, I don’t know. I went to art school, I’m not a business major. I’ve had people emailing me from all over the country, saying, “What’s your business model?” I don’t have a business model! This is just what works for me.

brooklyn spaces: Was there a particular desire to have your shop in this neighborhood, or in Brooklyn in general?
Karin: It made sense for me to do it in Bushwick. This is where I’ve been for the last few years, I’m really proud of my neighborhood and how many creative people are here, and I like being a part of the growth of it, in a positive way. It wouldn’t make sense for me to open something like this in Park Slope or Williamsburg, because that’s not me, that’s not where I’m going. This is my neighborhood, this is where I have to be.

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Like this? Read about more commercial spaces: Metropolis Soap Co., Breuckelen Distilling Co., Bushwick Print Lab