Rob Trigg and Tom Whitehead of Cardiff print shop Visible Art are passionate about championing the creativity and experimentation possible through screen printing. We caught up with them to talk about their business and Printhaus, their not-for-profit creative community hub
From producing large-scale orders for big brands to nurturing young designers and illustrators, Visible Art has made a significant mark on the print scene in Cardiff over the past two decades.
Despite testing the waters in embroidery and direct-to-garment (DTG), it has remained devoted to screen printing as it has grown into a sizeable operation housed in two-storey premises by Cardiff Bay.
“We might be able to give better quotes for DTF or DTG, but we are passionate about screen printing and being creative in what we do.”
The business has come a long way since Rob established it to support artists and students as part of a gallery in Llandaff North, north of central Cardiff, 22 years ago. After moving to Cardiff docks seven years later, Visible Art now has three presses, including a manual Anatol eight-colour, eight-station press – the first piece of industrial print equipment that Rob ever bought, alongside an M&R Radicure electric dryer.
Both are still going strong: “The Anatol is probably one of the best manuals out there,” Rob says.
The other two presses are MHM E-Type autos – one 10-colour, the other eight-colour – bought 18 years ago and working alongside an Adelco Ecotex conveyor dryer added six years ago.
“To do a good job, you have to have good machinery,” Rob says. He also benefits from a skilled nine-strong team, headed by Tom Whitehead who joined the company around 20 years ago.
The Printhaus creative community hub at Chapter Arts Centre
Examples of Visible Art’s screen printed work on display in its showroom
Automatic for the people
It is not just screen printing that has gone automatic at Visible Art.
Eight years ago, the company invested in M&R’s auto screen cleaning and reclaim system where screens are carried on an electric conveyor in one automated cycle. The cleaning solvents drain back into the holding tank after each cleaning cycle, reducing chemical use and lowering costs. Alongside this is an M&R automatic screen rinsing system, bought at the same time.
“Where we had three people working before, with one solely rinsing 50 to 60 screens a day, this machine will do up to 50 an hour,” Rob explains.
“We now need just one person. It saved us two wages so that, within four years, it had paid for itself. It produces less waste, and our water bill has been a quarter of what it was.”
Despite embracing the benefits of automation, not everything in the Visible Art print shop is currently automated: production is still managed on a whiteboard with Post-it notes.
“We talk about going paperless and investing in proper software but we’ve not found a system that we’re completely comfortable with yet. It works and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Rob adds.
…Read the full profile of Visible Art in our November 2024 issue here
