Getting to know Angel, Production Manager of Halo Print Co
Not everyone in this industry discovers printing later in life — some grow up surrounded by it.
For Angel, printing was always there. From an early age, he was exposed to the realities of the craft — the process, the mess, and the work that goes into it. That early experience built a deep respect for printing, but it also pushed him to explore a different path entirely.
As with many stories in this industry, things didn’t stay that way for long.
In this Behind The Mesh feature, we get to know Angel, Production Manager at Halo Print Co, and the journey that took him from working as a plumber in New York City to running production in a fast-moving print shop — along with the lessons that came with it.
Follow Angel and the Halo Print Co team on:
Website: https://haloprintco.com/
Instagram: @haloprintco
About Angel
List 3 things about yourself – fun facts, hobbies, pets or interests
- I’m a 2nd generation CMYK printer, my dad (also named angel, ran offset presses).
- In my previous life, I was a residential plumber for celebrities & notables in NYC.
- I’ve been performing live music for the past 22 years.
Describe your screen printing journey. How and when did you get started and what has been your biggest learning experience?
My screenprinting journey started when I decided I wasn’t going to become a screen printer. It sounds funny but I grew up screen printing stuff guerilla style with no frame for years & I knew I didn’t want to live a life of finding plastisol in every undiscovered area of my body & smelling terps.
I applaud the print dogs who live that life day in and day out, and knowing a lot of them were struggling to keep work flowing through, I made the conscious effort to NOT be another competitor to all my screenprint friends I’ve made over the years, and to stay in the space where I fit best…CMYK Digital Printing!
I’d say growing up around screens, terps, inks, pigments, and meters, allowed me to see very early on, what many people don’t get a chance to experience…the actual work that goes into printing. This gave me a respect for screen printing & printing of all sorts very early on, so I guess you can say life was the biggest learning experience.
Tell us about your proudest screen printing project. What made it special and what did you learn from it?
Wow PROUDEST?! I’m a fairly proud guy hahaha, I’m always proud of all the work the team does and every week I feel like I have a new proudest moment. There are way too many to think of! The last “proudest” moment we could think of is when we printed a handful of shirts same-day for Ryan Gosling’s main character outfit through his movie “The Fall Guy”.
Without knowing it was even for a large budget movie, we pulled up to the theatre in shock and at that point…our year was made! They weren’t only using the tees we printed for Ryan but also other orders throughout the week, turned out to be from them, for other character costumes in the movie. Right then, we learned that we wanted to be in the quick turnaround movie costume game!
Industry
What are your thoughts on the current trends in screen printing? Do you see any emerging styles or techniques that excite you?
To be honest, I think the state of screenprinting is the greatest its ever been! You’ve got tools being invented every day that solve common problems, like Ryonet’s Rudy Press that just came out, allowing people to get consistent manual strokes with only one hand…stuff like that excites the heck out of me! Right now I’ve been secretly in the lab working on combining both DTF and Screen Printing to be able to essentially “expose” a screen using the negative space of an all white DTF print.
Tests have been going well but I’ll need to get it more consistent and do heaps more stress testing before I can teach others how to do it! Another one is Fraqtals Modular Screen Printing setups have been an exciting one to watch unfold. The whole community is inventing and finding solutions to age old problems…like using a single station press to get a multicolour print!
What role does the online community play in your screen printing practice? How do you connect with other printers and share knowledge?
Maaaaaateeee! Online Community is genuinely the thing that keeps me going and fires me right up! I’m actually in the midst of starting a journey to find the best systems, tools, tips, solutions, people, and shops in Australia so that I can document it and share it with the rest of the print community!!!
Right now I’ve been living in the forums, commenting on heaps of IG posts, and trying to just be an open door for anyone who WANTS to build a community in Australia around garment printing!
So even if YOU are reading this…yea you…yep, I just broke the 4th wall and now I’m lookin right at ya! YOU! If YOU want to be a part of this little community we’re building over on the side, follow my page @printools.anz and drop me a DM I’d love to visit your shop and take some photos of you guys & document the ANZ Print Scene 🙂
Shop Floor
What is your most treasured product or piece of equipment on the floor that has made your life easier as a printer? Why?
Its not necessarily equipment, but black Gorilla Tape is my favourite tool to have on hand. If you get a bit of plastisol somewehre its not supposed to be, dab it with some Gorilla tape and you’re sweet! Need to hang up a poster and want it to stay there until you move out? Gorilla Tape. Want to tape the end of the DTF roll onto the core and dont want to waste half a roll of normal tape?
One tiny strip of gorilla tape can hold the tension through the entire dryer and shaker. Cables on the floor causing a tripping hazard? A strip of gorilla tape and now the cable is part of the floor. Its dope. Gorilla Brands if you’re reading this…sponsor me 🙂
What is on your wish list for your shop floor this year?
Damn I mean if Santa’s reading… I’d love a Goccopro QS2536 Pro! The idea of not having to use emulsion or a wash out booth sounds made up and even though I havent seen it utilised in person, I’ve seen videos and have heard testimonies of people loving how much time and MESS this thing cuts out, just by burning the image directly into the film thus exposing the screen.
I keep my carousel in the storage unit for when we need to do a live event, but I’d keep it permanently out if I didn’t have to wash, coat, dry, expose, patch, print, wipe, dip, spray, repeat. The idea of just punching a hole in your film and sending that print to hell after a stack of prints instead of reclaiming your screen is what dreams are made of.
Advice
What advice would you give to aspiring screen printers? What are the essential skills and qualities for success in this field?
My number one piece of advice is if you’re going to do this…dont half ass it! Become obsessed with learning and getting better. Notice I said GETTING better not BEING better…thats another big tip…never act like you’re better than anyone cause this is one industry where you’ll get humbled quick cause there’s always a quieter person in the corner who knows 100x what you ever knew about printing. Eyes up, ears open, and learning from every shops experience is the way you’ll sustain and avoid pitfalls. There’s a billion shitty printers out there that never saw success because they didn’t really truly LIVE the printlife.
The essential skill and quality to succeed, and I don’t care if you’re the greatest printer on earth, if you don’t have people skills, you’re f*cked. At the end of the day, you can impress the print community with your skills and toys but the people who are paying your bills only pay attention to whether you care about them or not. The customer is the number one priority and making them feel comfortable, heard, loved, and serviced is THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY ALWAYS FULL STOP THE END. There are “merch” companies out there snapping up all of the industry’s work and they don’t even print…heck…they’ve NEVER printed! BUT!!! The reason they’re so successful is because they are customer service first.
I have a challenge for you: Spend the next month looking at your company the way my shop Halo Print does, as a “Customer Service Company Who Happens To Print In House” and if the dynamic between your customers, leads, and interactions don’t improve, I’ll buy you a beer.
Bonus
Share a funny or unexpected mishap you’ve encountered while screen printing.
The one I always go back to is: Typical plastisol on the hands, wiped it through my hair without knowing, side of my face, then went home, took a shower and of course normal soap isnt getting that off…went to sleep and woke up with both the pillow and myself further covered in plastisol. Had to chuck it all out and I buzzed my hair off.
What’s your go-to playlist for a productive printing session?
Good one! This ones not really gonna resonate but I put on Dominican Bachata, Salsa, and Merengue classics. I’m Latino so I associate that music with waking up early on a Sunday morning with my mom having the house literally flipped over while she mops the floor and BLASTING music while singing at the top of her lungs. If you didnt wake right up and get to work, it wasnt gonna be a good day so 30-some-odd years later, that music takes me right back to a working energy!
What is the weirdest/funniest artwork you’ve had to print?
For the past 5 years, when someone asks us this question we always say anything off the @death.division instagram…that man has some screws loose.
Conclusion
Angel’s story is a reminder that there’s no single path into printing.
Some people chase it.
Some inherit it.
And some try to avoid it entirely — only to find their way back with a completely different perspective.
What separates those who build something lasting isn’t just technical skill.
It’s awareness.
It’s consistency.
And it’s the ability to understand that printing is only part of the job.
Because the shops that last aren’t just producing garments — they’re building relationships.
And that’s what really sits behind the mesh.
