Topher Neal and friends take a pre•poster•ous approach to wearable (and washable) art
There are many good printing companies around town, but none are quite like pre•poster•ous. The tiny North Chattanooga startup has been in the printing business for several years, and in that time they have built a reputation for design excellence. In terms of materials, they aren’t doing much different than the competition—but when it comes to design, there is no competition.
When somebody points at a t-shirt and says that they like it, it’s the imagery that speaks to them. They don’t usually feel the material of the shirt and ask about the thread count—it’s the logo, design, or message that they are drawn to.
It is this idea that propels pre•poster•ous. The business started one fateful day when a group of friends, Jonathan Deguzman, Kris Horn, Nick Jones and Topher Neal, were hanging out having brunch. They got to talking about joke T-shirts, and wondered why there weren’t very many companies making them.
The reason is that in most cases, it isn’t cost-effective to make just a few shirts.
They pooled their resources, and began making funny shirts for themselves (you may have seen some of their iconic double entendres pulled from Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams books). A friend asked them to print some shirts, then some bands and local venues got involved, and before they knew it, they were doing work for local businesses.
“Upload a picture and we’ll print it for you in China” always looks terrible. It’s hard to peg down what makes a good t-shirt, because everybody likes different things in different shirts. Longevity of the decal is important, and it is based on the way it is screen printed or heat-transferred.
Principal Graphic Designer Topher Neal tells us, “A good shirt will last longer than what’s on it. A bad shirt has uneven hems, a sleeve poking into your back, and holes start showing up after a few washes.”
Nick Jones adds, “We want the art to outlast the money you put into it. After you outlive it, you can take it to a thrift store, and somebody else can get it and enjoy it as well.”
Though they still do work for local bands and music venues, pre•poster•ous is now focusing on affordable small batch printing for start-ups and small businesses.
Topher tells us, “We prefer the small businesses, because well, that’s what we are. That’s what Chattanooga’s made of. It makes for a better client. Every time I work with a small business owner, they are straight forward and easy to talk to. We don’t have to be on hold, and talk to all of these different corporate departments. It’s really nice.”
pre•poster•ous has recently expanded their operation with new equipment that allows them to print on nearly anything.
Decals, signage, handbags, pens, stickers, posters, hats, bags, mousepads, coffee cups, pint glasses, brochures, pamphlets, envelopes, business cards, graphics for social media and websites, custom pads of paper with letterheads, and any other promotional materials. “If you want your name on it, we can do it for you.”
One of the ways they do this is with dye sublimation, a simple ink process. With what looks like a regular desktop printer, they print to a special kind of paper that is then used for a heat transfer. They have a four-color screen printing station, custom exposure unit, and are able to do heat transfers with high detail and infinite colors.
They use their new plotter to make solid color vinyl decals, and 1-2 color car decals. They use a heat press for dye sublimation shirts, a flash dryer for screenprinted shirts, and a heat press for cups.
Topher leaves us with some thoughts on his process, saying “People listen to music, and in the back of their mind, they’re gonna see something. I try to do the same thing. It feels a lot less forced. Posters are what got me into graphic design.“
He continues, ”I’ve always been a big fan of street art, and posters are one of the coolest forms. They’re informative, and you can have so much fun with them. You can have something that’s zany and insane that has nothing to do with the subject of the poster, but at the same time, it does. You can use imagery to say something that you would otherwise use text for.”Check them out online at thatspreposterous.com
Photo by Nick Jones