The Story

“With boundless creativity and an unwavering passion for music and art, Zachary Kent stands as an extraordinary talent in the realm of rock poster screen printing.”

-Jeremy Green, Computer Arts Magazine

The early years:
Born and raised in Santa Cruz California, Zachary discovered an early fascination with art and music. As a child, he spent countless hours sketching and doodling, driven by an innate passion for creativity. Note was taken at every song played on the radio or on MTV, and musical style and trivia were absorbed like a sponge. While attending high school, he delved into various artistic mediums but found his true calling when introduced to the mesmerizing world of ceramics. About 8 years’ worth of ceramics classes were squeezed into 4 years of high school. The school day was spent in the lab with hands in clay or helping load kilns and mix glazes. At age 17, Zachary bought his first bass guitar- a $100 Japanese made Fender “Bullet” with a Telecaster neck. From this point on, time after school was spent practicing and playing bass.

A path is revealed:
By age 19 it was apparent that Zachary was going deep into the world of rock and roll. Band life was 24/7; late night practices, songwriting sessions, booking gigs, playing gigs, business meetings, promoting and advertising shows, recording and touring… this was life. By age 24 Zachary had played bass on several EPs and full-length albums and his band’s intense touring schedules had taken him abroad and to just about every state in the US, most of them repeatedly.  It was in 1999 when Zachary decided to make a big change.  He quit the band, got his belongings out of storage and returned to a normal life on the Westside of Santa Cruz. It wasn’t burn-out as much as the realization that continuing this lifestyle wasn’t going to yield any more results for him personally. From this point on music would still be played, but it would be about hanging out with his buddies and creating, not about business and stress.

 Free time opens up new possibilities:
In 2000 anything seemed possible. Zachary still had a book full of contacts and friends in the music industry and was known as a very creative and hard-working guy. It was time to take things in a different direction. He started doing some small graphic design jobs for local businesses. He learned Photoshop and Illustrator. Websites were starting to be a serious thing now and he learned some basic HTML and then Flash. He had bands coming to him needing artwork for T-shirts, so he learned how to set up the art he designed as a multi-colored screen print job. He was still working with bands to do some flyers for shows and even an occasional full sized gig poster here and there. Numbskull Productions needed someone to do layouts for their bi-weekly newspaper ads so Zachary figured that out and took the job. He had a habit of saying “yes” to everyone and working out the logistics later.  One of the owners of the Catalyst took an interest in Zachary’s portfolio and asked him to do a poster for an upcoming Cramps show. This started a long list of Catalyst concert posters that were offset printed by Sentinel Printers in downtown Santa Cruz.

A career changing offer:
M Modern Gallery in Palm Springs offered him a spot in a group show honoring the life and legacy of the great Andy Warhol. This seemed like an opportunity to see if his knowledge of screen printing could be paired with painting to produce a mixed media piece for the show. It was a little rough, but he pulled it off with the creation of “Trimspa Baby”. All the various pieces were really coming together.  Now, the question: If he knew how to design a graphic for screen printing, separate and trap colors, and then actually do the printing, why not set up shop himself? After all, the actual printing was the easiest part of the job. So, he did. A small 6 color screen press was set up in his garage and the work started pouring in.  Zachary’s T-shirt printing skills were soon applied to printing flat stock on a simple homemade poster press.  His gig posters were now screen printed in-house instead of being jobbed out to an offset print shop. This was the type of poster he had always appreciated and collected from other poster artists. The look and feel of those bright colors applied by hand to the various types of thick stock was an obsession. Every new poster design pushed things a little further. Now he was a one-stop shop where artwork, printing, and web design could all be done by one person with a single vision.

Stepping it up:
The small press was sold off and a larger 8 color/6 station press was brought in, as well as a decent sized conveyor dryer. Kent Designs Screen Printing was now a fully functional shop working to produce printed work for bands and businesses in the Monterey Bay Area, and custom graphic design, illustration, logos, and posters for a national clientele. Production on the new press was far faster and easier than the old one and now orders of 1000+ items were welcomed instead of avoided.  Zachary got a reputation as an artist who could handle running a business and who would always deliver what was promised. 

A major shift:
In 2020 Zachary’s wife Melody started having incredible success with her business Moon Soaps. She needed to expand her operation to meet the growing demand for her soap and shaving cream line. They decided that it was a worthwhile gamble to put Kent Designs on hold for a year and see what they could do with Moon Soaps.  The shirt press and conveyer dryer were packed up and stacked off to one corner of the shop, and additional worktables and shelving were brought in to take its place. Moon picked up several national and international accounts that year but it was the agreement to export to Europe that sealed the deal. Now, instead of single cases leaving the shop, it was pallets shipping off to Italy for EU distribution! So, after 15 years of pulling ink, Zachary decided to once again change direction and liquidate the Kent Designs Screen Printing shop. All equipment and supplies related to garment printing were sold off leaving only water-based inks and poster printing equipment in the drastically reduced workspace.  Moon Soaps is now Zachary’s primary focus. He handles all package design, photography, website maintenance, and even a little soapmaking here and there. They had a need for shave brushes to pair with the shaving creams they manufacture, so Zachary learned to pressure-cast resin and create some of the most exquisite lathe-turned brush handles in the business!

Now:
Zachary continues to work with bands, promoters, and venues (as time allows) to create fine screen-printed gig posters. Keeping connected to the music scene and producing a handmade piece of art will always be a focal point no matter where the next chapter may take him. His artwork has been published in several books and magazines (both nationally and internationally), made it on numerous record covers, shown in multiple galleries, and has even been featured on a mobile rock poster exhibit traveling across the US. His handcrafted brush handles can be found on the Moon Soaps website.