We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kat & Tom Vaughan-Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kat & Tom thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Back in 2013, we started a collaborative art project together, using Tom’s illustration and Kat’s photography. We called this project Split Arrow. Every in-person event we did we would consistently get asked where we got our work printed. Our answer was that we did. We both had a bit of a background in traditional and digital print methods before we started to collaborate. Through creating our collabrative work we developed a strong relationship with print by using multiple print techniques mixed together and how to consistently achieve high quality work that had an authentic “original” feel.

Over time and talking with other artists, we had found there was a large gap in the accessibility of print, and a lack of information on how to make your artwork a successful print. We also noticed many other artists would order from random websites and there was no real answer to where they got their work made, just “somewhere online” when we asked where their work was printed.

Noticing these problems, we decided to pivot our small artists shop to a print house, reusing the name we built. We knew what we had to offer with our knowledge of printing, plus knowing the language familiar to artists, was a perfect combination to setting up our own print shop. Building the bridge between creating art and making prints was an easy gap for us, why not make it easy for everyone else? Saving artists the headache, time, and material of getting accurate & high-quality prints.

We formally launched Split Arrow Print House in 2015. Our main goals were to be a printer that made printing easy, accessible, and fun while cultivating a community of artists that when asked “where do you get your prints” proudly say “Split Arrow Print House.” Flash forward to 10 years later, we are creating prints, products, & resources for incredible artists, makers and small businesses.

Kat & Tom, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We are Split Arrow Print House a printing company built by artists. We think of ourselves as printers for creative people. We both [Kat + Tom] had a prior background in printing and print processes before we opened our print house. Tom began printing in high school by pushing office copiers and home printers to their limits to achieve more artistic results leading him to later work in teeshirt screen printing through college. Kat beginning with her photography degree, learning alternative process & traditional photo printing along with traditional printmaking, then later working at a more standard print shop that focused on merch & flyers. When we set out to create Split Arrow Print House we were determined to use every bit of our knowledge of art and printing, bringing those two together to create printed products that not only we are proud of but other creatives and artists are too. 
Split Arrow’s biggest priority is printing with integrity. We use several different print technologies in our print house each bringing something unique and fresh to the table. We offer a range of art prints, posters, stickers, and even postcards & flyers.

 We mainly focus on printing Giclée prints, which are high-end museum archival inkjet prints. This type of printing allows the art to live on for hundreds of years in its printed form. This type of print is perfect for artists who want to sell their work in volume to the most decreeing collectors or even the average Joe who wants to invest in their work without breaking the bank on originals. With Giclée we focus on having a variety of paper textures that easily highlight a huge variety of creative media so artists can pick something that matches the feel of their original media or the media they are mimicking in digital art. We offer a variety of watercolor, photo, poster, & printmaking style papers.
Along side of our Giclée printing we now offer Risograph printing. We have worked behind the scenes with these printers for over 8 years and are proud to offer this style of print fully order able on our website. This print type is a special mix of hand done printing, 1990’s copy shop, & screen printing to make a very distinct print that delivers a real tactile impression that you know is something special when one Is in your hand. The Risograph printer is a super flexible media so we are excited to continue expanding our online offerings with this machine.

 Split Arrow Print House started specifically to help artists obtain quality printed goods from a company they are proud to share and tell all their friends & fans. While there is always a level of gatekeeping when an artist finds a manufacture they love. We hope when they get their prints made by us they’ll have no choice but to share their excitement. We know how much time and dedication it takes to create any artwork or creative project, the last thing you would want are prints of those pieces that don’t truly reflect or highlight the work you put in. We want people to feel the love and care that goes into the prints we create. 

Having your work printed by artists is one of the things we love most about our print house. We tuned our entire shop and process to ensure other artists have the opportunity to effortlessly sell their artwork. We are expanding on this beyond printing by pushing out and working towards more educational content and opportunities. We noticed a lot of print shops don’t offer any sort of insight into the process, education tools, or really answer the questions people were having about printing. This gap is something we don’t care for. We know printing is confusing and we know it’s not easy. But learning how to create the best prints, monetize your creativity, and get your art out there should be easy for everybody. We continue to work on this and expand what we do beyond wrangling unruly printers. We can’t talk about all of our plans for this but we think some really big and cool stuff is on the way!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Outside of being artists ourselves- honesty is the best policy, especially when it comes to interacting with clients/potential clients. We vet every single file that comes through thoroughly, if we notice something that isn’t quite right or won’t print the best, we immediately reach out to alert the client of any issues or to clarify to get them the best possible solution for their work. Another quality of what we do here is being flexible with people and leading them into good choices. We also make sure to respond to every question, email, or social media comment, and provide transparency with our printing processes. By also offering a plethora of education tools, digital downloads such as templates and e-books written by Tom, we try to set everyone up for success before hitting print. Having these quality baked into our shop’s core has helped us not only have long & happy relationships with our more seasoned clients but also friendships with even our newest clients!

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

Split Arrow has had a few times were we almost hung it up, being opened 10 years and counting is not for the faint of heart. You would think 2020 was not good for us but a lot of people were creating more work and using prints as a passive income while sitting at home but that boost was short-lived, not only for us but the creatives we print for too. However, back in 2023 we had a few months where we were printing maybe 1-2 orders a month. It was definitely a scary time and we had to really tighten our belts to try and make it through. We didn’t take home any money during that time frame and used savings to keep this boat afloat. 

We had to really look at why this mini-crash happened to be able to pivot and adjust. We account for the boost as an opportunity, more people wanted to feed their creative outlet. But the crash that came was because a lot of new creators lacked the insight to sustainably sell their work. If the artist can’t sell the first print run, they’re probably not ordering again. So what can we as printers do to intervene?

 We started focusing heavily education via social media to start, showing the behind the scenes of the shop, how things work, and the people behind the printed work. This helped drum up new eyes- and if it wasn’t for them we would have had to shut our doors. Along with pushing education we also started looking at more economical and beginner friendly options for people, this helped introduce newer artists to our shop who are eager to learn and end up producing some stellar work. We are excited to continue pushing out educational tools & content along with new and fresh printing options that help highlight a large range of creative approaches.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.splitarrowprints.com/
• Instagram: @splitarrowprints
• Youtube: @splitarrowprints
• Other: TikTok: @splitarrowprints

Image Credits
Tom Vaughan-Johnson & Kat Vaughan-Johnson