James and Claire are two of a small group that work at Footprint. James studied and graduated at Leeds College of Art in 2010 and has been working at Footprint since 2012.
Footprint was first set up in the 90s by activists that used the printing facility to print posters for protests and demos.
Footprint originally used a Heidelberger which is an offset lithograph but was not as efficient and ethical as they believed they wanted to be perceived.
They took the opportunity to invent in a Riso which is what they print 90% of work on. Riso is a digital screen print where it prints one colour at a time but they have two drums so it allows them to print two colours at the same time. Riso is much more environmentally friendly as it requires less electricity. With their beliefs of being environmentally friendly, they use 100% post consumer waste/recycled paper. They will only ship within the UK to reduce their carbon footprint.
Footprint have a partnership with Bradford Wastepaper so they recycle all their materials efficiently. The also recycle their Riso ink and cartridges. Riso ink is made of soya oil and pigment mixed together and the masters (plates/paper) are made from banana leaf which reduces waste but is from Japan.
Footprint is part of a Co-Op which allows them to work ethically and sustainably. They do not have a boss or a higher person that instructs them in what to do, they all work together as they are all equal shareholders. They do however, elect an owner/management committee but they are still workers like the rest of the employees. All decisions are made on a consensual basis such as not printing work they do not believe in or if it upsets them so they will turn work away. They print things because they know it's right rather than for the money.
The profit they make, they will donate 1% turnover to tree companies to give back to the environment.
They will offer 10% discount to the remembers of a Co-Op. Their ethos is to be affordable for everyone.
They have regular customers which are Co-Ops, political campaigners, small companies, artists and self-publishers.
They have printed publications for Leeds Zine fairs, Leeds No Boarders, Leeds Trans Health, Black Lives Matter etc... They produce work for nice people.
They also host websites aside from printing.
They use social media such as Facebook to set events and promote Leeds Zine fair, Instagram to show the work they have printed and Twitter. This is how they also get customers.
No comments:
Post a Comment