Want to spread the Revo word but don't know where to start? With the help of the guide below and a little imagination you can produce leaflets, shirts, stencils, banners & flags all on a budget, and without the costs of professional printing. The basic materials you're going to need are these: 
And of course, paint. Now, you need to decide exactly what you want to make. If you're just making banners & flags, then you probably won't need the plastic sheeting (for a stencil). *note* Most of these materials (bar shirts & fabric)are available from uni/college/school art supply stores for a student discount. Find yourself a student to buy them for you. Acrylic paints are also often left abandoned around arts areas in universities, so it might be worth scouting around there too. Okay, you're going to need a design that's appropriate to your needs... decide if its a banner for a rally , for a stall display, a flag, or for some other purpose. Once this is determined you can buy/cut the right sized length of material, and then you can make the design to fit. So now you have your design, you can either try and freehand draw it onto the banner with a pencil (not too hard with a decent eye & a simple design), or if you can get access to an Overhead projector/data projector, you can trace it onto the material using that. If you're creating flags, you can generally create one freehand, mark in the detail with a permanent marker, and then trace the next flag by tracing from the marked one. Now to the painting. You've got your material, you've got your design marked on it, now it just needs painting. Fairly straightforward, just pick up a brush and start painting. Don't bother using fabric paints, they're expensive and not needed in this case unless you plan to put the banner through the washer frequently. Just ordinary poster paints (acrylics) are fine(and a lot cheaper/easier to acquire). 
Stencils Stencils are really handy to have on hand, even if you don't choose to paint nearby public surroundings with them. They can be used for cheap print shirts, for flags, and for flyer design. Choosing a material to cut your stencils into is something you'll develop your own preference to in time. Some like paper , others like plastics, and some like cardboard. I suggest plastics for the simple reason that they're durable. You can keep a plastic stencil for ages if you look after it. There're two main sorts of plastic I use, one is a thick clear (ish) sheet that's quite firm to slice through, but is incredibly durable and will outlast anything. Also, being harder to cut means you make less stupid mistakes while cutting. The other form of plastic I use, which I absolutely hate, is this: 
It is durable, but far too easy to cut for my likings, but it's cheap and available/stealable everywhere (it's a mass roll of overhead projector sheeting). You can also stencil into things like pizza boxes if you want to make something discreet enough to walk around the streets with. Okay, so you've got your chosen material, and now what you're going to need is a cutter thinger. Like an exacto knife. Something that holds a decent blade. Once you've got that, make sure you have a few spare blades, because if you're anything like me you'll go through quite a few of them (also fun to play darts with). Blades are available at art shops with the holders, and also from medical supplies places(like a doctors office). Now that you're ready to begin, you should tape your design to the back of the plastic, and then trace the design onto the plastic with a permanent marker (so it doesn't smudge or rub off). 
Okay. Now you're ready to cut, which is exactly as straightforward as the task indicates. Just watch that you've left enough 'joiners' so that specific parts of the stencil stay in place (like "O"'s). 
T-Shirts With a little fabric paint and a decent stencil, you too can make cheap shirts without the expensive printing costs and huge batches. Simply tape your stencil to the desired area of the fabric, and then use a lino roller(used for lino printing, around $15 for a small one) to roll paint over the stencil onto the fabric. You MUST use fabric paint for this, or the design will wash out or even damage the shirt. Use a bit of force, and experiment with a scrap of material first until you get the right pressure happening. You'll probably have to dry it for a couple of days, followed by ironing, but the total price comes in much cheaper than paying. 
You can also use this for stenciling banners etc, but it's advisable for anything being stenciled that won't be washed, to use spray paint. Easier & cheaper. Hope this helps, and watch out for more guides in the future. If you'd like more info, feel free to contact us. |