Tind Silkscreen

He swallows inks and spits prints!

Tind (Manolis Angelakis) is a master printer, there is no denying that. His work is evidently a product of considerable skill and expertise. What makes him stand out from the crowd though, is his designer mentality.His passion for design makes him a delight to work with. It is indeed a rare and beautiful occasion when a graphic artist or illustrator can speak the same language, not only on a technical but – crucially – on a creative level, with the guy that prints his work. I’m certainly proud to collaborate with him in the production of the Double Dodo t-shirt series, so I decided to spread the good vibes with some Q&A!

Hello Manolis! How long have you been into silkscreen printing? I know that it’s kind of a family business, so am I right to assume that you have a lifetime’s worth of experience?

One can say all my life but there is a difference between the time I have been working on this field and actually loving what we print.

Silkscreen is a very old printing technique. Have there been any developments in recent years that make your work easier or faster?

Silkscreen is technologically driven. It was, still is and will be there to support industrial needs. It is only logical for the industry to support silkscreen back with new and improved tools. For example new inks open ways not only to the art field but also to the way we live.

I take it for granted that – as an artist – you enjoy the act of experimenting and trying new things. What would you consider your most successful or interesting experiment(s)? Also, is there a “fail” moment that you wouldn’t mind sharing?

Every print project has it’s moments of fail, it’s how you deal with them that counts. You can either stress and worry and make things worse or learn to accept and print your way through.

Silkscreen is a pretty accessible – in terms of materials and set-up cost – means of producing prints. In that sense one could say that it’s a more “democratic”  – or even “guerilla” –  method, than, say, offset printing. What’s your take on this? 

Hypothetically speaking if an EMP somehow sent us back to the stone age we could still screen print. We could still make paper, a frame, a mesh, design, expose and print. We could still leave our foot print in time and space. You could just place your hand in a post apocalyptic world and blow some ink over it thus creating a print, a hand print.

On the same note, what was the feedback from your various workshops? Did you get the impression that some of the participants will explore silkscreen printing further on their own?

This is something only future will tell: If modern silkscreen becomes a movement that will give birth to a scene that stands alone next to every other era of silkscreen, or just a trend that underwent the transition from underground to mainstream too soon just like a firecracker does in the night sky. Impressive just a while but soon to be forgotten.

What’s your assessment of the state of design in Greece?

I am not even remotely qualified to answer that.

Please describe the most difficult project that you ever took on! Was there any occasion that you just had to reject a project due to technical limitations?

There are no materials we can’t print. No colors we can’t match. No dimensions, large or small we can’t handle.

Do you have any fellow printers/designers that you admire on an international level?

Design wise Art Lebedev https://www.artlebedev.com/ and print wise Aargh and Monkey https://www.printshopunion.com/

Do you have any (near) future projects that you want to share? 

A project we are excited is a hand crafted from paper to illustration to lettering to print limited 16 page retake on the Aesop fables with Marietta Kallona, Costas Theocharis, Vasilis Georgiou and Chris Angelakis.

And finally: What’s your biggest ambition, the dream that drives you on as an artist?

Dreams are for dreamers. Prints are for printers.

Thanks Manolis!

On behalf of tind we thank you too!

Drop by Tind’s behance profile for more silkscreen goodness

Interview by

Thanasis Psarros
Chief Dodo Wrangler