Araguaney Screenprinting (Serigrafía) from M-lon on Vimeo.

Check out this wonderful video of our recent collaboration of Miguel Gonzalez – M-Lon!

M-Lon is the pseudonym of Miguel Gonzalez, an artist, illustrator and designer from Caracas, Venezuela. M-Lon is currently living in Austin, working on a new series of paintings and prints at Kong. Araguaney is the national tree of Venezuela and when you see the beautiful, full yellow trees spotting the green landscape, you understand why. M-Lon began working on this limited edition of 100 6 color screenprints with a series of sketches and painting studies that enabled him to get the color and composition just right before working on the prints. This is his first foray into screenprinting and Kong was happy to collaborate on the edition, which turned out beautifully!

A portion of the edition will return to Venezuela to be exhibited and sold to raise monies for a friend’s healthcare.

Find more information about Miguel on his twitter feed and his facebook page.

If you’re going on an adventure, sometimes it helps to have a map. Here’s a good one to have as you set out to experience all the art that E.A.S.T. has to offer. This is of the Artpost where Kong is located, along with TONS of other artists working in all sorts of media. See you Saturday!

Download a PDF of the Map

Mark your calendars! E.A.S.T begins on Saturday.

We Print Stuff on Things – it’s not just a catchy slogan, it’s an approach to problem solving in the studio that clearly defines what we do. And Etsy likes our approach and attitude to our craft, because they support and value craftsmanship and creativity.

Kong began printing for Etsy during SxSW when we received an urgent call from Randy J Hunt, Etsy Creative Director. They were in need of  T-shirts for an event that they decided to participate in at the last moment. They wanted to promote a new project, Code as Craft.  We worked with Randy to produce glow in the dark shirts for that first event under a tight deadline. Since that time, we’ve continued to print shirts for Etsy events and programming.

Last month, Elana Dweck, Etsy’s Design Studio Manager, contacted us about a special project she was developing with Nicole Licht – handmade displays which would be used by Etsy partners. She needed 25 total displays to be fabricated and printed by hand. Etsy’s slogan is “Keeping it Real” and they wanted to invest the production of these displays with those values.

Bolts of sweet potato colored canvas began arriving to the Kong studios and we began plotting the best way to handle printing large format work by hand. Our large work tables became templates to streamline cutting all the fabric. New screens that would barely fit in our exposure unit were procured. Our friend Jim Braglia came in to provide some extra muscle and brain power for problem solving. It took a solid week to produce 5 prototypes that served to refine the design. Kong is currently producing the other sets.

Working with Etsy is such a pleasure because they value good communication, hand crafted objects, attention to detail and doing things your own way. That’s something Kong values too.

It takes two!
Ryan (left) and Bruce (right) printing together

Brittany prints the Death Star!

Brittany (@QuasiBrit) and Eric (@EricHighland) from The Austinot like to ask questions and blog about the answers. And you know what?  They are really great at it! So, when they contacted us via twitter to set up a time to swing by Kong, we said, “C’mon over and we’ll share with you everything we know about screenprinting and design.”

We enjoyed showing them around the studio, talking about our business and creative approach,  and even teaching Brittany to squeegee some ink through a screen. Check out the great article they published and feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments section. After you’re done with that, make sure you click on the food and drink section and read about Eric and Brittany’s never ending search for the Best Burger Joint in Austin, you’ll enjoy the analysis and it’ll save you a lot of  legwork.

Check out the new versions of our popular Austin, Texas design on neon burnout tees. Available in Neon Green, Neon Orange, and Neon Blue. Neon Pink is Coming Soon! Just in time for back to school, you can show your spirit and love for Austin!

Made especially for Austin Gals in 3 sweet colors – Neon Green, Neon Orange, and Neon Blue. Go ahead and click on those pictures over there to the left to see all the beautiful colors.

Printed on sweet cotton/poly blended neon burn out tees. These beauties are the height of fashion. These are Juniors cut and run small. Check the sizing chart here.

Get one for yourself and two for your friends here!