Operation: Clandestine Sweatshop
From AusChanology Wiki
- Main article: Anonymous Flags
This is an a somewhat instructional page, documenting on our progress in manufacturing the flags for the Australian protests.
More details will be entered regularly, as we progress into production.
Contents |
Current Art
- Initial Flag Art
- Flag InDesign 1.0 - Inverted and split over 6 pages.
- Flag InDesign 1.1 - Logo shrunk in attempt to make the logo 50cm in diameter.
- Flag InDesign 1.2 - Still to big at 51.5cm
- Flag InDesign 1.3 - At 50.4, within tolerance.
- Flag InDesign 1.4 - bringing it to 49.5cm which makes it more fail proof to make.
- Finalised version - All excess and overlaps have been removed to save ink and grey lines added for easy trimming.
The Design Process
Original Design
This design had been thoughtfully developed with printing on A-sized paper in mind, as the length-by-width dimension ratios are:
√2 : 1 (1.414 : 1).
Comments:
- The UN of Anon graphic is slightly off-centre.
- The lower black stripe is slightly thicker that the upper one.
The stripes from now on shall be referred to as "panels", which is a more technical term for the contruction of the flag.
Modified Design
This modified design makes it a lot easier to produce, as we don't have to deal with 2 different widths of black panels and the possible mistake of having those panels in the wrong places. Also, the flag dimension ratios have been modified, to be in line with one of the standard flag ratios (5 : 3), purely for aesthetics.
Comments:
- All components are symmetrical and placed symmetrically
- Black panels are in uniformed sizes
- The extended flag length looks better, however, we will not use the other standard flag ratio of 2 : 1, as it will look too long and costs more to make.
Sizing
We want to make the flag as large as possible, but not too large.
Reasons:
- May be extremely difficult to handle due to the weight and bulk.
- May catch too much wind and make the flag bearer unstable, making that person fall over.
- Costs a lot more to make.
- More difficult to make.
- Material size limitations and availability. (eg. Anyone ever had their hands on A0 sized paper?)
Making the flag in common flag sizes have been considered. 1500mm x 900mm seems to be a common size for large flags, so measurements were crunched out to check if the flag can be made at that size with the material available.
Remember, that we can buy fabric in lengths by tens of metres from a roll but the width is fixed, and usually in widths ranging from 90cm to 180cm. However, you generally only have 1 width available for the specific cloth you want. Sometimes, the components don't fit well within the width of the fabric, leading to a lot of wastage in cloth and in the extremes, it will not fit onto the fabric available at all.
Height dimensions of components required by a 1500mm x 900mm flag
- Black panels: (10/68) x 900mm = 132mm
- Green panel: (48/68) x 900mm = 635mm
- Graphic: (5/8) x 900mm = 563mm
We can fit a 563mm diameter image onto 6 sheets of A4 sized iron-on transfer paper. However, when printing borders and overlap were considered, 31mm of free space was not ample enough to accommodate for these factors. We could use 8 sheets to fit the image without having to worry about this, but as these sheets are bloody expensive and arranging 8 sheets is a lot more difficult, it was agreed on that we should shrink the flag body size.
Height dimensions of components required by a 1350mm x 800mm flag
- Black panels: (10/68) x 800mm = 118mm
- Green panel: (48/68) x 800mm = 565mm
- Graphic: (5/8) x 800mm = 500mm
It was later decided that the flag height should be 800mm. This value was chosen because the graphic took up 5/8 the height of the flag, and therefore, be 500mm in diameter, which is a nice number to handle and gives us ample space to overlap the sheets and factor in the printing borders.
More information will be added soon.
Mounting / Attachments Design
- Loops for hoisting flag onto flag pole. You may need to tie a cord onto the loops to extend it, as most flag pole accommodate 900mm high flags. They are just there as an attachment point.
- A pole sleeve with cords dangling out of the mouth to tape onto flag pole, to secure it by preventing it slipping off the pole.
Preparation
Materials
You will need the following materials to make the flag:
[IMAGES TO BE ADDED SOON]
Flag body:
- Fabric in BLACK and DARK GREEN (a.k.a. "Bottle Green", "Jungle Green", etc)
The fabrics for the flag body should be the same type, so that the whole flag will look consistant in one piece, rather than pieces of rags put together.
- Calico fabric - cheap and tough, for the pole sleeve
- Fusing - neccessary to make the fabric rigid to sew the graphic on properly, otherwise the slippery fluid fabric will run.
UN of Anon graphic:
- Iron-on transfers
- 100% white cotton fabric
The 100% cotton is of utter importance. DO NOT settle for cotton blends that contain polyester or some other synthetic material. The iron-on transfers require your iron to be on MAXIMUM heat, for the glue to attach itself onto the fabric. At this temperature, synthetic and delicate materials WILL melt or burn.
Consumables:
- Tailor's chalk
- Permanent marker
- Thread
- Printer ink
- Paper
- Sticky tape
Flag material considerations
There are many types of fabrics available, which can be categorised into type of substance used and the type of weave used.
Typical list of types of fabric available:
- Cotton
- Linen
- Silk
- Polyester
- Lycra
- Acetate
- Wool
- Blends (ie. 30% cotton / 70% polyester)
The various weaves of fabric available, determine the texture and feel of it. Notice that the fabric on a cotton t-shirt feels different to cotton business shirts, or a pair of cotton jeans or cotton work overalls, or luxurious cotton bedsheets. It's made of the same stuff, but woven in different mathods. This will need to be taken into consideration. Depending on your budget and the look you want, will determine the fabric you'll choose to use.
Some factors to consider:
- Does it crease easily?
- How soft/smooth/shiny is it?
- Does light bleed through the fabric?
- How much does it cost?
- Does it stretch? (You want non-stretch/elastic material so you can handle it better)
- Do I have the ability to handle this material?
Note that smoother materials can be difficult to handle as it slips and slides when sewn. Be sure that your sewing machine tension settings are high enough to grip onto the slippery material. When shopping for material, touch and play around with the fabric to get the feel you want.
Two easily available materials. The red is cotton/polyester blend. The green is polyester, satin weave. Notice the difference in appearance.
The light bleed test. Hold the fabric in front of a bright light source to check how much the light penetrates through the fabric.
Typically, the nicer the fabric feels, the more expensive it is and also more difficult to handle. If you are inexperienced in working with the more expensive materials, stick with the cheaper stuff. It's a lot easier to handle and if you do screw up, it won't hurt your wallet too much.
Equipment
Here's a list of some of the equipment and tools I have used:
- Sewing Machine - because I'm not going to hand sew the bugger
- Overlocker - optional, but I like using it because it can trim off fraying bits of fabric and prevent them from fraying again
- Tape measure
- Long ruler
- A length of straight wood (>1.5m) - this is for marking a straight line that is longer than my 1-metre ruler
- Scissors
- Pins
- Printer
- Weights - I used phone books, to keep the fabric still while I mark and cut it
Testing out methods, gear and other stuffs
Iron-on transfers
I have to admit, I've never used this stuff before, so it's a good idea to buy a packet and play around with it, so that you learn how to use it. But first, make sure that the graphic that is to be printed out, assembled and used for the flag, fits within the flag body dimensions.
Use this opportunity to check how your printer prints out, as some printers have printing limitations (can't print borderless, margins, unprintable areas close to the edge, etc.). These factors are important to take note as you DO NOT WANT a part of the printout missing on the sheet, as you assemble them together. The iron-on transfers are not cheap, so if you waste one, you probably have to buy another packet.
I was told that the graphic was able to fit into 500mm diameter. Upon testing it by printing and taping the sheets together, it turned out to be roughly 560mm.
"But it's only larger by 6 cm. Surely, we could get away it?"
No. The green panel is 565mm in height, which leaves extremely little space for the green to show up above and below the graphic. Factor in the fabric's tendency to stretch and compact itself, and also the human error in cutting and sewing the material, you're pretty much on your way to FAILURE.
Don't be lenient with measurements with that "she'll be right" attitude. Make sure you give yourself a bit of leeway for potential stuff ups on the way, because you probably will.
Note the areas marked with a red marker. These mark out the areas which are missing with the print out. If you find these, work out a way to solve it, probably by adding print margins to force the images to move to one side of the page so that it can be fully printed out onto the sheet.
If you have noticed, the graphic is in mirror image. This is intentionally done, so that once it is ironed onto the fabric, it will be looking the correct way up.
Through resizing the images, we got it to the size we wanted. With the real life size of the graphic, it is better to be slightly under sized than over, as it lowers the chance of the graphic entering the black panel.
Great, now the sizing issue has been worked out. Now, let's learn how to use the transfers. Print out the whole image with the iron-on transfer paper, because you're going to using it later anyways. Snip a bit of the transfer that you won't be needing (ie. the wasted green and white areas). Follow the instructions on how to using the transfer paper as provided with the product, and try it out on a small piece of white cotton. After a couple of tries, you should get the hang of it, with the ironing method, ironing times required, the feel of how well the transfer has bound to the fabric and how to peel it off properly.
This is what the iron-on transfers look like, compared to comercially printed flags. Sorry, for the crappy focus on the macro shot, but as you can see, the iron-on transfers can create very sharp images on the fabric.
Manufacturing the flag
Flag body
Cutting
1. Get your fabric and lay it out flat on a flat, level surface, like the floor.
2. Weigh down your fabric in place, so that it won't move around when you mark and cut it. I used phone books, because they're heavy enough and flat, but use anything you've got at your disposal, like university textbooks.
3. Using a ruler and the length of wood, mark out your lines with tailor's chalk according to the dimensions needed for the pieces of fabric, but add an extra centimeter or two on each side, so that you can accommodate for the sewing margin.
Example: Green panel needs to be 565mm in height. Mark out ~585mm, so that when you sew 1cm into the fabric, the panel will be 565mm, when unfolded.
4. Cut your fabric, following the marked lines. No need to be super accurate and straight, because you will sew the pieces together in a straight line, roughly 1cm in, from the edge of the fabric piece.
Sewing
Be careful with sewing pieces of fabric together. Most fabric materials have 2 different sides/faces due to the weaving patterns. There's nice side and the crappy side. The "nice side" is usually the shiny, smoother side, while the crappy side is rough and you can see the weaving patterns. If you're using the cheap stuff, both sides are equally crappy, so it doesn't matter which side you're going to sew together. :P
TO BE CONTINUED...
