{"id":547,"date":"2012-06-21T10:18:58","date_gmt":"2012-06-21T14:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/\/?p=547"},"modified":"2018-04-27T15:14:35","modified_gmt":"2018-04-27T19:14:35","slug":"faces-of-downtown-raleigh-zack-brian-and-josh-of-the-fine-print-co","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/moore-square\/faces-of-downtown-raleigh-zack-brian-and-josh-of-the-fine-print-co","title":{"rendered":"Faces of Downtown Raleigh: Zack, Brian and Josh of The Fine Print Co"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Brian Besterman and Zack Hodgin<\/p><\/div>\n

About a year ago, my husband Jim and I were making a loop from\u00a0City Market<\/a>\u00a0to Wilmington and Hargett Streets. looking for underutilized properties that might serve as canvases for\u00a0BEST (Beautifying Emerging Spaces Together)<\/a>.\u00a0 Looking through dusty, barred windows at 333 S. Wilmington, we were surprised when a young man came to the door.\u00a0 It was Zack Hodgin, then a Senior design student at NC State, who together with his friends, Brian Besterman and Josh Staab had rented this run down property to open a screen printing shop they called INKandescent.\u00a0 We were immediately impressed with their vision, and equally so with their willingness to do the Herculean work of renovating the property themselves.<\/p>\n

Flash ahead to today, when all three guys have graduated and are devoted full time to making their business a downtown success story.\u00a0 Returning to their space, Jim and I immediately notice the hardwood floors salvaged from beneath chipping linoleum, and the clean lobby that once hosted assorted screen printing presses. These are some\u00a0 creative, determined, hard working men, and we are curious to learn about how these special qualities shape their screen printing company.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong>\u00a0You\u2019ve changed your name from\u00a0INKandescent<\/em>\u00a0to\u00a0The Fine Print Co<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 How did that come about, and does the new name hold any hidden significance to you?<\/p>\n

R:\u00a0<\/strong>INKandescent<\/em>\u00a0was just too hard for people to spell!\u00a0 So we gathered friends, used a white board to brainstorm a long list of possibilities and settled on\u00a0<\/em>The Fine Print Co<\/em>.<\/a>\u00a0 Besides the obvious references to our commitment to fine (eco-friendly) printing techniques and the soft, wearable quality of our tee shirt fabrics, we like the idea of working with people in a way that saves them from having to worry about the fine print.\u00a0 There are often a lot of hidden costs associated with creating custom designed tee shirts, but we make sure that everything is clear up front.\u00a0 We have the lowest screen fees in Raleigh.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ve never ordered a custom designed tee shirt.\u00a0 What do I need to know about pricing?\u00a0 How are your shirts unique from say, the typical sports team logo shirts sold at the mall?<\/p>\n

R:\u00a0<\/strong>There are many variables that affect the cost of each tee shirt.\u00a0 Generally, we have a minimum order of 24 shirts for a single color design, and 36 for multiple colors.\u00a0 If the tee shirt or item (tote bag, hat, etc.) is a dark color, we may need to apply more layers of ink to achieve a color that really pops.\u00a0 (The cost of a single color design would run anywhere from $8 – $15 per shirt.)<\/p>\n

In contrast to most screen printers who primarily use a Plastisol (PVC-based) ink that sits on the surface of the fabric, we use multiple processes including water based printing and discharge printing that blend right into the shirt.\u00a0 We also use ring-spun cotton shirts rather than the typical comb-spun style.<\/p>\n

(At this point, I need to see what they\u2019re talking about to understand what they\u2019re describing, so they bring out samples of both kinds of shirts.\u00a0 A blind man could feel the difference immediately, besides the contrast in appearance.\u00a0 The tees they\u2019re producing move comfortably with the body with no stiffness at all.\u00a0 They represent the difference between a hotdog-munching sports fan and a person who chooses to make a creative style statement with their clothes.)<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0What if someone wants only one shirt?\u00a0 Is that something you\u2019d be willing to do?<\/p>\n

R.<\/strong>\u00a0We try to work with people to accommodate them as best we can.\u00a0 Late yesterday afternoon, we were getting ready to close when a lady came in with a special request.\u00a0 She wanted a shirt to wear to a funeral today, commemorating her aunt who had died of breast cancer.\u00a0 For this, we created a vinyl-cut design which allowed us to quickly create a shirt for her.\u00a0 We are pleased to be able to work with people, delivering what they want, when they want it, at a price that is surprisingly lower than much of what they might purchase in big box stores.\u00a0 ($25 for this custom printed shirt done in a turn around of hours.)<\/p>\n

Q<\/strong>.\u00a0So why did you decide to establish your business downtown?<\/p>\n

R<\/strong>.\u00a0Truthfully, we were three students seeking a low rent property where we could save money by renovating it ourselves.\u00a0 But since we\u2019ve been here on Wilmington St., we see that it affects our business in important ways.\u00a0 There\u2019s an energized environment downtown, and neighbors support neighbors.\u00a0 For instance, we\u2019ve printed shirts for\u00a0Feelgoodz<\/a>, the flip flop store up the street.\u00a0 Wilmington St. has become an edgy, style conscious area of downtown with\u00a0Holly Aiken<\/a>\u00a0handbags (located next to Feelgoodz) and the new fashion incubator,\u00a0REDii<\/a>, across from the\u00a0Downtown Raleigh Alliance\u00a0<\/a>office.<\/p>\n

We also like being in a space where people walk in and we can take them back to our printing area and show them how we screen print their shirts.\u00a0 We\u2019d never be able to have this person-to-person interaction if we were based in a warehouse outside of town.<\/p>\n

Q.<\/strong>\u00a0What are the most unusual or favorite shirts you\u2019ve ever designed?<\/p>\n

R.<\/strong>\u00a0That has to be the shirts we made for\u00a0Cycle Logic<\/a>\u00a0on Hillsborough St.\u00a0 The owner handed us the logo on a napkin and let us do anything we wanted.\u00a0 We went crazy doing fades and splash patterns…\u00a0 No two shirts were alike.\u00a0 We were free to create, just seeing what the inks could do.<\/p>\n

Q<\/strong>.\u00a0This is my last question. What one thing would you want people to know about you and your business? What makes you stand out?<\/p>\n

R<\/strong>.\u00a0We\u2019re the newest and youngest screen printers downtown!\u00a0 Seriously though, we want people to know that we love design.\u00a0 We\u2019re formally trained, unlike many who design tee shirts.\u00a0 We work with each person to let them know what is possible with the inks and choices available to them.\u00a0 We take a genuine interest in what they want, and do our best to make it happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About a year ago, my husband Jim and I were making a loop from\u00a0City Market\u00a0to Wilmington and Hargett Streets. looking for underutilized properties that might serve as canvases for\u00a0BEST (Beautifying Emerging Spaces Together).\u00a0 Looking through dusty, barred windows at 333 S. Wilmington, we were surprised when a young man came to the door.\u00a0 It was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":554,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions\/554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}