Hurray, hurray! We finally conducted the first screen printing of our brand new Humble & Bongo logo. As it is something that has been on the checklist for more than two years (yeah, way took to long, but we took the logo finding process very serious), we are so excited to see things coming to reality. It’s one milestone of the brand’s corporate history, since we have stopped production in 2015 due to personal issues and reconstructing the brand. In 2014 we hooked up with the talented graphic designer and illustrator Akolabone, who is based in Accra and also runs his own fashion brand. The choice of him being our logo designer came with the idea to keep most of the brand’s identity local, meaning that we want to promote Ghanaian artists than to produce everything in Germany.
The meaning behind the logo
Akolabone understood our vision and created a quirky logo that combines tradition with modernity. The “little man” as we call it, evolved of traditional Adinkra Symbols that Akolabone rearranged and transformed into an “H” for Humble and a lying “B” for Bongo. The star in the middle gives reference to the black star as used on the Ghanaian flag. It takes a while to recognize the letters and understand the symbol, and you probably wouldn’t think of an African fashion brand in the first instance. But it felt commonplace to use the African continent as part of our logo just to make people know our African origin. This universality gives us the freedom to experiment with our brand and react on current trends and movement. So much for the story behind the logo.
The printing process
Once the logo was done, the next step was to print it. Therefore we were looking for a company that would use the screenprinting technique and not digital print. Our products are handmade and it just made sense to us to have our logo also being printed by hand. So we found “Imprenta Fashion Textildruck”, a small screen printing company located in Neukölln, Berlin. It is owned by Luis Drews, a very humble and openminded man who started the company 15 years ago. Originally from Uruguay, Luis came to Berlin a decade ago to find out more about his German roots. Now, he is a true “Berliner” and still passionate about his handwork he started back in Uruguay. What makes “Imprenta Fashion Textildruck” so special is the highly custom orientated service. Luis did not only take a lot of time to demonstrate their printing technique but he also gave us worthful input on how our logo would look best on textiles. You could truly feel the love he has for his work. A week after the first meeting, Luis invited us to observe the printing process with our own eyes. Here you can see how our logo was screen printed step by step:
1.)
Before the colour could be placed on the silk screen, Luis meassured the exact distance of the motive in relation to the collar, to get a symmetrical and centred position. The digital print on the transparency served as foundation for the silk screen, which was lightened up in advance with a fotosensitive emulsion. Logically, the black lines of the logo stay transparent while the white spots become colored forming the shape of the logo. He then arranged the silk screen on the carousel and prepared the gound for the hoodies with spray adhesive.
2.)
The test print gave us certainty that the surface of the silk screen is smooth and has no spots. After the hoodies were fixed on the carousel, Luis readjusted the screen and daubed it with black paint. The first layer then had to be dried by heat to allow the second layer to be daubed. Printing the motive twice adds more glance to the logo and also increases the durability. The last step involves the fixation of the logo through high temperature. The hoodies were sent through a heat canal for almost 3 minutes and turned out perfectly. We couldn’t be more happier with the results. Luis did a great job by sharing his work process with us. That’s what we call a great customer service with a high sense for transparency. It’s how one gets a clear idea of the costs involved in such a production process.
We hope you like our new logo as we do! Preorder your hoodie with “the little man” in the colours yellow, sky blue, grey, black, red, orange available in the sizes S to XXL. “Showyacolor” people!
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