New Star Wars Screen Print Competition Launched With Prize Worth Over £300!

A steady buzz has been building around the release of the 7th instalment from the Star Wars franchise since the first trailer popped up the internet back in November 2014. It reached its peak in the form of full blow light sabre mania on 16th December when the European premier hit London’s Leicester Square and judging by the subsequent reviews the hype around The Force Awakens is completely justified. Leading UK newspapers including The Guardian and Telegraph have awarded it 5 stars with film critic Robbie Collin stating that “the magic is back.” Across the Atlantic the weekend saw it smash the North American record for biggest box office debut with sales hitting a staggering $238m and tickets reportedly selling at a rate of 1 per second (insert shocked emoji face here).

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Some Of Our Favourite Independent Brands Let Us In On Their Design Secrets

Screen printing for independent clothing brands really keeps our job interesting. It’s extremely rewarding to see someone progress from a small run of their first design to a full blown collection and we love helping facilitate the growth. You may remember our previous post about 5 Ways To Set Your Streetwear Brand Apart From The Rest but what if you don’t have a brand yet and you’re only just taking the first tentative steps on your design journey? We spoke to some of our customers who have managed to successfully launch their own lines by incorporating screen printed garments and asked them:

 What’s the first thing you do when designing a new garment?

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Michelle Fifis Shares Her Tips On All-Over Printing

Our all-over printing service is one that sets 3rd Rail apart from other t-shirt printers. We got textile designer Michelle Fifis to give us her insight into the process as well as sharing some top tips on how to create designs that will ensure a successful finished garment.

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The 3rd Rail x Malarko T-Shirt Pack Goes On Pre-Sale Plus Win One In Our New Contest!

You may remember our post two weeks ago announcing our collaboration with street artist Malarko to create the second in a series of quarterly limited edition t-shirt packs. The 3rd Rail x Malarko boxes will go on pre-sale on 03/12/15 with general sale set to launch on Monday 14th December. To celebrate we’re giving 15 of the 75 available packs away in a contest.

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Join the Printed Tote Bag Movement

The popularity of the humble cotton tote has been on a steady increase since 2007 when designer Anya Hindmarch teamed up with Sainbury’s in a bid to encourage a more eco friendly approach to carrier bag use. Her canvas ‘I am not a plastic bag’ tote sold out within an hour. The amount of people who actually used their purchase to lug home their weekly shopping is probably close to none (they still retail on Ebay for around £100) but they were instrumental in fuelling the tote movement.

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Announcing 3rd Rail x Malarko

We’re super excited to announce the second in our series of quarterly collaborations in which we’ve teamed up with street artist Malarko to bring you another limited edition t-shirt pack. Bursting with all manner of screen printed goodies the container box even turns into a kitty mask, perfect for when you want to get a bit incognito and wild (while staying above the law of course).

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Custom Printed T-shirt Boxes

At 3rd Rail we’re dedicated to delivering a complete garment screen printing service. Between providing a full range of print placement options and our customisation and cut and sew service we feel like we have a pretty comprehensive list of bases covered.

What you may not have been aware of is that we recently developed boxes which are the perfect size for folded t-shirts and other garments and are fully customisable with your own design or logo. Packaging is an excellent way of re-affirming your brand identity and putting a unique stamp on your range. Here are examples of ways that we can help you do that with your printed garments.

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Brand Spotlight: Bear Swagger

Urban streetwear is perhaps one of the few trends of the last 40 years that has been able to evolve whilst maintaining its distinctive aesthetic and remaining constantly relevant. Re imagined by the likes of YMC, Joseph and Christopher Shannon at LCM AW15 shows that its reach extends to the catwalks of Fashion Week. Characterised by t-shirts and sweats and drawing inspiration from other constantly evolving cultures such as street art and music may be one of the factors that has helped it remain at the forefront of everyday urban wear.

One brand trying to put a fresh spin on streetwear is UK based Bear Swagger. Boasting collaborations with designers and illustrators around the globe their range includes everything from t-shirts and hoodies to hats and backpacks. Here at 3rd Rail HQ we’ve worked with them for a few seasons and recently finished printing some t-shirts and hoodies for their AW15 drop. The garments were printed using Plastisol inks, oil based and developed specifically for t-shirt printing they are often a favourite because they offer a bright and solid end result whilst also being highly fade resistant.

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Read more about the article 5 Ways to Set Your Streetwear Brand Apart from the Rest
3rd Rail screen printed t-shirts

5 Ways to Set Your Streetwear Brand Apart from the Rest

You don’t need to be a fashion designer to create unique garments.

Thoroughly research your clothing options. It’s very easy to default to a standard t-shirt when the excitement of creating a collection takes over and you want everything released a soon as possible. Vanity Crew have given a simple hoodie logo print an edge by choosing a garment with unique hood laces. Between our 5 main wholesale suppliers there’s bound to be something that’s going to make the most of your design.

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