Camberwell College print graduate Rose Stallard was selling screen-printed t-shirts bearing her own designs when she had a eureka moment: why not set up a screen-printing business beneath her studio that both she and other artists could use? She sold the idea to her friend Fred Higginson and, in September 2007, the Print Club was born.

Somewhat fortuitously, the launch coincided with Stallard's former educational establishment looking to dispose of two screen printing beds. "We convinced them to let us have those," explains Print Club creative director Stallard. 

Managing director Higginson had no knowledge of printing - his background was in sculpting - so he had to quickly learn the ropes from Stallard. He's obviously a fast learner, as it wasn't long before the pair were putting on one of London's biggest affordable print shows called ‘Secret Blisters'.

The Blisters show saw 35 artists - from the up and coming to uber-hip street art practitioners like Eine and Pure Evil - sell design work printed in editions of 35 sold at £35 each (Print Club took a 35% commission on sales). So successful was the inaugural event that it was repeated last year with more than 800 prints sold on the opening night and more than 1,200 people attending.

Print Club seems to have found a niche for itself in an area many printers are keen to avoid at the moment. The advent of digital, coupled with the labour-intensive method of screen process printing, has made it an inefficient option for many commercial printers, especially in the fine art sector.

Varied service
A key part of the Print Club's success is they've managed to tap into other areas. As well as operating as a £90-per-month members' studio for artists and illustrators, the company runs weekly classes for the general public, as well as corporate team-building days.

"We have one public workshop a week," explains Kate Newbold-Higginson, Print Club's director and Fred Higginson's wife, who joined the company in 2008. "It's really busy at the moment and we're booked up until April."

Pop-up shops are another avenue for the group's enterprising spirit. Last Christmas, it set one up in London's Brick Lane selling affordable prints to the masses - it hopes to do so again this year.

But the icing on the cake for this fledgling business will be a high-profile event at London's Somerset house next month, where it will produce works as part of the cultural centre's Pick Me Up graphic arts show.

"We are rebuilding Print Club at Somerset House," says Newbold-Higginson. "We're there for just over a week printing every single day with the illustrators. People coming to the event actually get to see the print process, meet the illustrators and get their artwork signed by the artists."

It's a major coup for such a young team - the Higginsons are 28 while Stallard is 34 - and their do-it-yourself approach to printing has earned them the support of some high-profile businesses. They've done an Olympics poster featuring the athlete Paula Radcliffe with global advertising behemoth Wieden and Kennedy and, back in December 2007, the
company collaborated with the record store Rough Trade, putting on a t-shirt and poster-printing workshop at its east London shop.

Despite such successes, Stallard says that there's still a long way to go and the business will continue to build on its efforts to educate clients in all things print-related.

"There are some [clients] that call up and tell us their work has got 10 colours and you have to explain to them that it's costly to do a 10-colour screen print. They don't understand that it entails 10 different screens and pulls," says Stallard, who adds that the company has no intention of turning its back on its water-based screen printing roots.

"If we start putting digital prints into our shows, it would just confuse everybody. I think people like the imperfections that you get from a hand-pulled print that you don't get on a digital print," she adds.

While the Print Club has plenty of projects on its plate at the moment, one avenue it wants to explore further in the future is providing space for fabric printers and designers. "Designers working in textiles have less funds available so our studios are quite affordable to them," explains Newbold-Higginson.

With many of print's hierarchy calling for the industry to attract a new, younger audience to ensure its long-term survival, it appears as if the Print Club might have found a way to do just that.

Print Club London
Based Dalston, London
Staff three full-time, seven part-time technicians
Established 2007
Kit Six screen beds, one semi-automated
Commercial clients Run Team GB, Nike, Rough Trade