Q&A with Well Nice Prints

I’ve known Jo, the owner of Well Nice Prints for a long time. Jo’s attentional to detail and skill with a squeegee is extraordinary. Jo and her team have been hand printing my screen prints for several years now, their standards are sky high with the results to match.

(If you're new to the screen printing process we recommend reading our previous post 'All about Screen Printing' for further details on how it works)

I would say it’s a combination of factors. Printing has always had an element of ‘magic’ about it, especially with screen printing in the way screens are made and prints are pulled then revealed so I think now with the rise of social media and youtube people can see more behind the scenes content and learn more about the process so therefore have more awareness / interest in what they are buying and how it was made.

Then I think there is also the fact that with printmaking in general there is a real range with what you can do with it from having a basic / DIY / home set up to a full on professional studio so there is something for everybody in terms of levels to start at.

There is a great book I would recommend called ‘Revenge of the Analog’ by David Sax which researches why analog goods / processes / goods like screen printing have had a resurgence for anybody interested in finding out more about that sort of thing!

I think it was probably gig posters – I was obsessed with scrolling the internet looking at all the posters being made by designers / studios in America for bands that I loved and I just wanted to be a part of it. There is a great documentary called ‘Just Like Being There’ about gig poster culture and the artists involved.

Looking back now I have been doing screen printing a while I think the reason I was attracted to it was because I like solving problems and printmaking is basically – Ok there is this image – how can I translate it into a screen print and make it the best possible version of itself or how can I use the screen printing process to really turn up the wow factor on this design.

Best thing : having your own studio!

Worst thing : having to clean it! 

Patience. I have been screen printing for nearly 20 years now and I am still learning things and I still make mistakes. I see so many people give up just because it didn’t go how they imagined it would the first time they tried it.

It is difficult though because buying all the kit is a bit of an investment so I would also suggest going on a course / joining an open access studio if you can so you can get support troubleshooting while you are starting out and see if you even like the process!

When you do make the jump to setting up your own space it is worth investing in good equipment though as it will last you (I still have my first screen from 20 years ago!!) My other tip would also be to try not to cut corners as it will always turn around a bite you in the butt!

I like going to gigs, walking my dog, cooking, hanging out with friends, watching films. I have tried doing other ‘creative’ hobbies like taking up ceramics but got frustrated I couldn’t do what I wanted straight away (need to take my own advice!) so I am just sticking to printmaking as my creative outlet! In terms of my own work, it always ends up taking a bit of a back burner to client work so it would be nice to get a bit of a balance back where I could focus on my own projects a bit more.

I have a huge list of bands I would love to design / screen print posters for but its quite difficult to ‘crack’ into that industry as people tend to build up relationships with print studios rather than use different ones and I would never want to steal another studio’s customers. We have had some dream projects come through the studio by surprise though like getting to produce prints for Marc Quinn recently.