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TechniqueResearch overview

Screen printing.

Separate ink passes produce strong silhouettes, opaque color and purposeful overlap.

Also known as screen-printed, printing, screen, screenprinting, screen process (printing technique), screen process printing, serigraphy, silkscreen (process), silkscreening (process), silk-screening (process), silk-screen printing, silkscreen printing, silk screen printing

How to recognize it.

  1. Flat ink areas
  2. Stencil-shaped edges
  3. Layered spot colors

Context & origins.

Stencil technique of printing in which ink or dye is forced through a mesh, traditionally silk, on which a design has been formed by stopping out certain areas.

In practice.

Separate colors early and account for registration tolerance.

What to watch for

The process can reproduce many styles; flatness is not its only possible result.

These are editorial design observations, not rules for classifying every work.

Visual characteristics.

grid discipline
not applicable
palette logic
restricted
contrast
high
texture
flat
hierarchy
not applicable
ornament level
not applicable

Sources & further reading.

  1. getty aat ↗Consulted 2026-08-23
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