"Samples?" I asked out loud to no one in particular as I unravelled each tee from the package. "These are samples?" The T-shirts beamed up at me, not quite sure how to respond…
Monster Press are a small independent screen-printing company based in Bath. They’ve honed their craft over the years to ensure they produce work of staggeringly high quality, so it's little wonder that their client base is formed of clothing brands and fashion outlets all over the country.
In fact, Monster Press are so proud of the work they do that they happily send out T-shirt samples bearing their prints to potential clients, to help them make a more informed decision. That’s exactly what I’ve received from Ash at the company; a couple of tees whose sole purpose is to demonstrate their calibre of printwork.
I’ve had tickets booked to see one of my favourite bands – The Computers – for a while now, and as the days passed by and dragged the performance closer, I started to wonder about which T-shirt I might wear to the gig.
It’d need to be something trendy. It’d need to be something visually striking. But it’d also need to be something dark with an undercurrent of menace (The Computers have a pretty aphotic past after all). The decision wasn't to be taken lightly, but was ultimately made for me when a package of T-shirt donations from Monster Press arrived at my door.
"But they're samples?" I reiterated to the lifeless garments in front of me. I could see they were becoming frustrated with my lack of clarity, so I went on.
"How can these possibly be just samples? They’re… amazing. I mean, they're like quality lines. They are completely retailable. Is that a word? They could totally be sold on their own merit. Their artwork is incredible!"
I rambled on like this for some time in the moments following the unfurling of these tees and I hope you can see why. The sample I’m wearing for Day 321 of my THREEHUNDREDANDSIXTEEFIVE T-shirt challenge features a design by illustrator Craig Robson called Wolf, featuring a four-eyed beast tearing through roses, bones and foliage with a screenprinting tool in its jaws. The 5-colour artwork is printed on a discharge underbase, meaning the design will remain soft after washing, unlike other more common, heavy, plastic-like prints.
Fantastic T-shirt – quality craftsmanship. Bring on The Computers!
See more from Monster Press via their Twitter account.
