I’m A Scientist – Get me in there!!

Posted on May 19, 2012 by SjSquarah| Leave a comment

By Greyskulls Hammer!

I applied a month or so ago to be come part of an awesome event called ‘I’m a Scientist – Get me out of here!’ It’s an X-factor style online event for scientists all over the world, where one gets voted off everyday until there is only one remains…

Hopefully that’s going to be me becasue I was chosen to compete! Get REET up there Sausage! How mint is that!?

About the event ::

Basically the event aims to provide a platform for young people aged between 7 and 18 to communicate with real scientists on a one-to-one basis. Log on, ask a question, get an answer. Simple! Over the course of the Los Angeles event in June (that’s the one I’m in) I’ll be pitted against 4 other scientists in the Molybdenum Zone of the competition, answering questions ranging from ‘Why are fingerprints all different?’ to ‘Where does snot come from?’ via ‘Is the universe really as big as everyone says it is?’ Joy.

You can find out more about this event on the proper website (teachers feel free to get involved!) or you can follow events on twitter @imascientist @DrBoultron #IAS2012

Get onboard and show some support!!

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Posted in Nerdery, New, Science

JAMES HANSON////HALFTONE EDITIONS

Posted on February 12, 2012 by SjSquarah| Leave a comment

Always one to chuck something beautiful and wholly challenging my way, James came to the studio with a particularly easyformetomakeamessof idea. Although the design he presented was only a single halftone screen, the stark contrast between the brilliant white gloss background and the opaque matt black ink made this a particularly technically demanding print to achieve. The slightest law would show up incredibly obviously and so the pressure was on.

The Fox was the first of a tryptich of prints (regrettably I don’t have images of the other two…) and was by far the most halftone heavy. In order to achieve maximum opacity whilst retaining as much detail as possible the print screen was burned onto a 120T mesh. Stock was a recycled 200gsm acid free gloss substrate handmade in the Great Down South.

But of course…your close up sir…

 

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Posted in Custom Jobs, New, Paper, Posters

JAZZFINGER////ULTRASHITINFERNO//// 7″SPLIT WALLETS

Posted on February 12, 2012 by SjSquarah| Leave a comment

I love a good belly band me. Whether on a comic, zine or record, it just makes my day. This particular wallet was a bit of a labour of love. I had free rein on artwork and production means: just had to keep to budget! So off I went and generated a massive piece of tentacle wiggliness as is the case when I start drawing big things. The nets were designed in house and all hand cut from 300gsm Canford card. This didn’t take a huge amount of time however I’m now in talks to get a custom die cut net for both 7″ and 12″ wallets for future orders. Awesome.

Bellybands were printed on stripcut 320gsm oiled manilla card – a bit like the stuff you use for stencils. The wallets now smell divine.

2 screens were prepared; one of the belly band and one for the body. The body was printed using a satin finish high opacity water-based ink, while the belly band was finished with a matt ink for contrast against the smooth oiled board. The extra viscosity of the matt ink aided the adherence and wetting of the design to the substrate – thinner, more watery inks simply beaded on the manilla’s surface.

After printing the bodies flat, they were scored and assembled using a bone folder  and 3m PSA for added strength. The belly bands were scored and folded into place and again secured using the PSA tape. PSA held up surprisingly well on the oiled substrate with no reduction in adherence. Impressive.

Fully assembled, the wallets look like this:

The belly band slips off so you can remove the record, revealing the full design:

This is what the back of the wallet looks like. The net was unfolded allowing perfect design continuity and flow:

Had to have a close up of the detail didn’t I…

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Posted in CD / 7" / 12" covers, Custom Jobs, Illustrations, Nerdery, New, Paper

COYOLXAUHQUI////GSG ORIGINALS

Posted on February 12, 2012 by SjSquarah| Leave a comment

A bit of an oldie but one of my favourite personal prints currently in stock.

This one was rendered 2 colour on hand made Sandringham watercolour paper. Why? Because the print surface, in my humble opinion, is the smoothest going. There’s a certain translucency about this substrate that makes the print look as if it hovering over the thin delicate skin that covers young wrists.

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Posted in Custom Jobs, Illustrations, Nerdery, Paper

ShareMyPlaylists.com////BAGS!!!

Posted on February 12, 2012 by SjSquarah| Leave a comment

That’s right – I’ve been screenprinting satchels.

These bags were plastic cups in a previous life; they were melted down and rendered ductile prior to being made into threads and woven into a new wearable item. Not that a plastic cup isn’t wearable. You just look, you know, weird with one on.

Aptly named the EcoMessenger, the front flap of the bags offers a fairly robust and reproducible surface for serigraph embellishment. The only difficult measure was cure time, as the heat from my curing unit was more than capable of melting and warping the polyester weave. After a bit of testing, I managed to find a balance between heat exposure and cure time that allowed full polymerisation of the plastisol print.

Quite happy with the end result like!

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Posted in Bags, Custom Jobs, New

THEE RUINER////BADICAL SHIRTS

Posted on February 12, 2012 by SjSquarah| Leave a comment

Michael Donaldson might just be one of my favourite illustrators in the North East, if not the UK right now. His intricate and highly detailed artwork is a challenge and a half to print up, however I got that shhh dialed now. Check out the website for more deets.

These shirts are up there on the mostdetaileverputonashirt list. Right next to that gorgeous bloody Cauls shirt!!

Oh go on then. Have a close up.

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Posted in New, T-shirts

DADS////BRUSH YOUR TEETH AGAIN////CD WALLET MAKERAGE

Posted on February 12, 2012 by SjSquarah| Leave a comment

This was a little while ago – but I thought I’d share the joy of what I rate as one of my favourite jobs finished. Dads are first rate janglers from New Jersey, US. If you haven’t already – be sure to check out the BandCamp and if you like what you hear, you can make a purchase of the EP from the radical young things at Get Into It Records.

This was a taxing wee job, a three colour print incorporating an all over underbase then two high opacity overprints, one grey, one even lighter grey! We started with a custom die cut, 280gsm, recycled and unbleached double pocket CD wallet net. Mouthful.DADS baselayer

The net was coated with a single pass of satin finish black ink and was hung out to dry. Screens were burned and registered for the remaining 2 layers of colour. A healthy trap on the darker grey was incorporated to add confidence to the print registration. I felt this was important due to the irregular shape of the net which made reproducible substrate positioning a bit hard.

As it happened registration was achieved fairly accurately so the trapping was rendered unneccesary, however I would 100% rather have it there and not need it, than not have it and struggle insanely!

Once all layers were completed, the nets were assembled using 3M PSA. This is possibly the best sticking substrate I’ve had the pleasure of using to date due to it’s cleanliness of application, complete lack of leak or bleed and unrivalled bond strength.

And so, all gently pressed and folded and made good, the cases went off in their bubble-wrapped cardboard box to begin new lives as protectors of all things Dads like and good in the indie world.

Let me know what you think if you’ve got yourself  copy! Mighty fine!

 

 

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Posted in CD / 7" / 12" covers, Custom Jobs, New

Posted on January 19, 2012 by SjSquarah| Leave a comment
The Rad Factory is open for business!
The Rad Factory is open for business!

Yes indeedy it is. It’s also a bit of a mess. Can’t wait to get the vacuum bed in – massive poster prints galore will be comeing soon! If ever you want to drop in for a visit, just send me a quick little email to SJ@gosquarahgo.co.uk to let me know you’re wanting to have a look around, I’ll generally be entertaining studio visitors on a weekend! Kettles always on. Bring biscuits!

-SJ

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Posted in Badges, Bags, Cards, Custom Jobs, Illustrations, Nerdery, New, News, Posters, T-shirts

The First Post

Posted on December 31, 2011 by SjSquarah| Leave a comment

I’m just getting started here – me versus wordpress is a daunting affair…

Hold tight and I’ve have some bloody good content up here in a bit.

To Sid, Pete, Michael and the good folks that have encouraged and given advice thank you millions – I hope  do this good and proper. Tell me if I’m not!!

The cream of the previous website will be put up on here as well as giving a hint of the science bits that are going on alongside my more aesthetically motivated doings. There have been a lot of good things made lately and some grand discoveries – can’t wait to share them with you!

Wish me luck!

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Posted in New