Behind the Screen Print : George Davison
A street art fiend and man about town George Davison was high up on our list for our imprint. We see his work everyday on our way into work through Norwich city. Once we’d figured out it was him brightening our commute with his unique style, we got printing.
George Davison aka GTD is an illustrator working primarily by hand, working with pen and paper he creates joy. Blending elements of considered with crude, the work efficiently creates comedy in the most organic way.
(We produced this two colour screen print, pulled by hand onto Somerset Satin 300gsm A3 (42 x 29.7cm) with a deckled edge.)
George adapted one of his existing works so we could incorporate his signature yellow motif and give the print depth. We got to work testing a combination of paper stocks and inks in order to find what made this print great. When working with a design that is minimalistic in nature, the stock of the paper plays a huge part in the process as ultimately it is this that takes up a fair amount the print real estate. We tested several types of stock to find a fit and surprisingly, found this very off white Somerset to be best. When the stock was too white it caused the print to be harsh, the yellowish tones of this paper softened the overall design giving it a welcoming, lighthearted vibe. The advantage of using Somerset Satin was also the ability to give the edge a nice deckle, the torn edge juxtaposes the clean lines in a very satisfying way.
We also experimented with yellow inks, and found much like the stock that more acidic yellows were too harsh so moved towards the warm end of the spectrum. The warmer tone on warmer paper looked much more natural whereas the greenish ink clashed on that stock.
This print was a great opportunity get stuck into the minutia that makes physical print so effective. Often the simplest designs can be the most effective, but also require diving into each element as far as possible to fully translate what the artist is trying to say. We had a great time printing these and seeing peoples faces light up when they encounter this in the wild is even better.
Pick up the print here: www.wellniceprints.com/print-shop/p/go-fuck-myself-by-gtd
Check out George Davison here: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GTDSTUFF
