I did a number of mock-ups on a variety of paper starting with newsprint. These hats are seriously complicated to fold. The first thing I found out was that newspapers have not only shrunk but totally changed in size!
After much trial an error, we decided to go with kraft paper because it stiffer than newsprint and would hold its shape better.
It took a bit of convincing Mike and Gary that this was a fun idea and I agreed to do the folding along with the team printing. Well, we all did the printing and while I started all the folding, it became a team effort because 200 hats is a lot of hats to fold!
Here's a shot of the first run drying. We printed the back band, color band of ornaments and a colophon inside.
Below is a sample of the finished hats. I need to shoot a closeup of the back band because Mike found a great quote by Roland Tiangco that we printed. "The future belongs to the few of us still willing to get our hands dirty."
Mike said that these are the most printed pressman's hat ever. He's probably right, we went a little crazy!
