DOTS PRINTHAUS VISIT

Today I went on a visit to dot's printhaus in leeds as a part of my facilities and visit's section of my book. I came across the studio when I visited the Off The Wall gallery and some of their work was being sold there. I emailed them and invited me to come down and have a look around. The studio and staff were really friendly and were happy to answer all my questions

Outside view

What is dot's printhause and when did it start? 

dots printhaus was formed roughly 2 years ago after a chance meeting between its two co founders Joe Duffield and Jonny Akers. Originally based at Factory4 a Centre for creatives in the city of Leeds, we started out with nothing more than unbridled enthusiasm and a very basic carousel to produce small runs of t-shirts for ourselves and other occupants of the Centre.

Having recognised the potential to turn what started as a fleeting interest into a viable business, we worked tirelessly to increase our knowledge of techniques used in the screen-printing process to improve the quality of work we produced.

With several other creative outfits on the complex, Byron Street Mills has proved to be a fitting environment for us to continue our development. An alliance with the team of illustrators Stuff & Things provided us with the perfect opportunity to expand our skillset and spend more time working on paper prints which has led us to printing gig posters for emerging and established bands.

Whilst we’re happy to have worked with larger organisations such as the Princes Trust, Mansfield College and the Beacons Festival we’re also proud to have maintained good relationships with a number of independent clothing brands and illustrators.

Our enthusiasm for creating a printed piece by hand is always growing and as a result our will to improve from day to day will continue to be a driving force behind our work.

What do they do?

Dots printhaus doesn't just offer screen printed items like posters and t.shirts, they also have their own jewellery maker and fashion designer who has been working for 8 years and travelling from leeds to beijing with a group of seamstresses from the royal college of art in london.

Are their facilities open to the public?

The facilities are not open to the public, however they do run some screen printing sessions that run from £95 and are very happy for people to visit and ask questions.

The studio

One of the printers matt took me on a tour of the studio and everything has been made by hand which I thought was really cool and innovative. They had found most of their accessories in the street or had been given them from old colleges which gave the studio a organic and creative feel.

They had handmade things from there own exposure unit, to a screen washing station.

I really enjoyed this visit and seeing how an independent studio was run. It had a really fun and creative vibe and everyone was really friendly. They suggested that I look at The Print Project and the work that Mike does.