History tee: The art of split fountain printing
Split fountain screen printing, also known as gradient screen printing, is a printing technique that allows multiple ink colours to be used on a single screen. Different ink colours are blended directly on the screen, creating a smooth gradient across the print.
We recently used this technique for our merch. We've got a History of Screenprinting design, which we thought we'd zhuzh up by printing one section using split fountain.
We placed the pink and purple inks on the left and right of the screen. As the squeegee moved across, the colours merged and mixed where they met, producing a unique and eye-catching print.
We also made it a puff ink because, well, go big or go home.
With this technique, it's important to note that the first print might differ from the last in terms of colour, making it less suitable for designs where colour consistency is vital. Split fountain printing is well-suited to artwork (and merch), where uniqueness is more valued than uniformity. As they say, "When the world zigs, zags."
