My first screen print! Thanks to Joseph Gaitan of Guardian of Bravery Printing for the fine work. After a long search it feels good to take those first steps, but what a trip getting here.

You see, it all began with a quest to find a print shop. Without equipment and the knowledge to do it myself I needed someone to help me out with the screen printing process. I had no idea who to contact and I faced some grueling research. One of the first companies I contacted in San Francisco practically laughed in my face basically saying (and I’m paraphrasing), “Your work is only good enough for Kinkos.” Ouch. Everyone else was separated by distance, like New York, or ended up being a bit consumed with other projects, weird business practices, or just plain flakyness. When I finally got around to contacting Joseph he went out of his way to meet me in person and discuss the details of his services. Needless to say I was blown away by the personal service and so bummed when Joseph told me that he’s never tried screen printing on paper and that it would probably be some time before he got himself up to speed. But he said he knew a guy that could help and he’d see what advice he had to offer.

He knew a guy all right. Kevin Tong, who if you don’t know is a rockstar of the print world right now because he is an illustration god. And Mr. Tong’s Devine advice? Delicious Design League out of Chicago.

This may need some ‘splaining: first off, those who know me have been hearing more than their fair share about this new show that I’ve been listening to called Adventures In Design – my apologies to my wife and friends. However, it’s a f__king awesome show and if you’re shitty like me then you need to find this show on iTunes right now. When you listen to the show you will hear, alongside Mark Brickey’s raspy tone, Billy Baumann’s voice. Mr. Baumann as in Delicious Design League the well known studio for graphic design and print art whose clients includes Nike, the Got Milk? campaign, Mondo (poster art), Rolling Rock, Mozilla/Firefox, and more. Side note: these guys host the podcast along with a classy dude named James Flames who is another well known poster artist.

Just like that I’m thrown into the deep end with enough star power to compete with the planet destroying force of the Death Star. So in one degree of separation by accident Joseph connected me with some really intimidating talent. “Who the shit is this guy?” I thought. Meanwhile I was sweating having to send my crappy art to the best in the industry, “um, excuse me Mr. Baumann, but do you think you you have enough time between you high paying gigs to print up my shitty design? I have no f__king clue what I’m doing and would really appreciate the help. Yours truly – Eff-face.”

Before I even get the chance to work up the nerve to talk these megaliths of print ‘n design Joseph writes back that he’ll do the job afterall. So apart from saving my ass from potential career crushing embarrassment, señor Gaitan stepped up to the plate showing that he too wanted to take on new challenges. Effing badass.

Long and the short of it is that I highly recommend this dude because he is super nice, a go-getter, and has very reasonable rates. The quality of work looks good and the service is top notch – I mean, who visits potential clients? GoB, that’s who. That’s service you can’t buy anywhere else. And if he plays his cards right, he could be running with the big dogs real soon. Keep an eye on this kid. In the mean time I’m going to take advantage of him before he rises to superstardom.

Update (Nov 26, 2013 7:27 PM): Oh yeah, some details on the print: the poster is a limited edition hand pulled screen print with white ink on “Black Licorice” 100 lb cover stock from the Pop-Tone collection of French Paper. Size is 12.5 inches by 19 inches.