SHIRT SHOW

Thank you all for being so gentle with us, and making our first time an experience worth remembering. It was so rad that we all got to come together, broaden our horizons together, spread joy, and grow together. Here’s a recording of our Q&A section of the Summer Camp, and make sure to pull the trigger fast on our next event, because these puppies sold out fast. Love you all. Topics of discuss...

CREAM Design and Print is a Tucson staple, flexing their creativity to empower their community, and keeping things fun and weird with every new design they crank out. With a story as typical as it gets, Patrick got the shop off the ground thanks to investing in bitcoin in search of illegal substances on the internet, and CREAM has been on one hell of a trip ever since. Topics of discussion include...

What Brian started in his college dorm 20 years ago, is now a Southern California staple, with a nationwide clientele. Duds By Dudes has become a one stop shop you can count on. Topics of discussion include: Standing desks, douchebag roommates, contracting out your printing, acquiring businesses, growing strong not fast, auto reclaim, heat applied products, and cauliflower crust.

Nicole has had a hell of a journey through this industry, and played a wide variety of roles all the way from a reclaimer to a shop owner. Now she's helping others on their own print journeys by removing the stigma around buying and selling used equipment, and making these transactions simple and trustworthy. Topics of discussion include: Carbs, the ins and outs of buying and selling through embel...

Raw Paw are more than printers, they’re a creative team bent on bringing their community together for the sake of art. With their Punk ethos, and DIY spirit, Chris & Kyle are looking to make a Texas sized impact in their city of Austin. Topics of discussion include: No call no shows, training new hires, UPS strike, punk ethos in business, wrestling, increasing payroll, design contests, waiting...

Yes, there's more to Montana than Yellowstone and Cowboying, it's also home to Allen Benedikt and 12ozCollective. A shop that is hyper-focused and specializes in what they care about most, the details. Topics of discussion include: R&D, switching from offset printing to screen printing, ROQ Hybrid, raising the bar, sharecropping, gaming, production managers, the importance of community, a...

After a successful career in logistics, Dan decided to dive headfirst into an industry he knew absolutely nothing about, and purchased Silver Screen Printing & Embroidery. No joke, his fresh perspective has worked wonders for his shop, and we hope our conversation with Dan will provide some valuable insight that we could all use. Topics of discussion include: Swamp coolers, logistics, meritocr...

Hailing from the little big town of Bremerton, Derek & Sam have been making their tight knit community better looking with every custom, retail, and live print they crank out. After inspiring Dylan to step up his live printing game, we just had to talk with these two. Topics of discussion include: Tiny houses, buying out partners, design automation, mall printing, switching manufacturers, the...

After years of print conversations through DMs, we finally are meeting the fellas behind Subucoola in Germany. Holger & Sebastian are truly passionate about their craft, and the goals they've set for themselves are truly refreshing to hear. Topics of discussion include: Shirt Show Summer Camp, brioche, running your own retail brand, ads, learning printing through school, SOPs, shifting away fr...

If you're like us, you've seen the beautiful videos this power printing couple have been posting at their shop, Up All Night Ink. Find out how an animator and a cinematographer found themselves in the print industry. Topics of discussion include: Swimming with sharks in Barbados, staying small, diving in head first, separating themselves from competition with high quality in-house artwork, fuckups...

Back again after narrowly escaping death, Ryan Kasparian is here and ready to tell us all about the new developments with Covered In Ink, and how we need to get out of our own way. Topics of discussion include: Tooth infection, management course, correcting mistakes, variable compatibilities, downshifting on consulting, app development, Shirt Show Summer Camp, and Cashmere.

Dave Gardner needs no introduction, unless you’re new to the print game (Still shouldn’t need an intro though…). He’s got one hell of a portfolio and he was kind enough to share his past work with us and the stories behind them. Topics of discussion include: floppy disks, the origin of “Underbase”, what drives you, reductionist mentality, adhesion vs cohesion, industry secrets, New Buffalo, workin...

Well, we have ourselves a new fighter here to weigh in on our great digital print debate. Charlie Figari is with Wallflower Merch, and they have themselves a fancy new Polaris. Topics of discussion include: The parameters for choosing dtf over screen print, digital printing, on demand printing, why they chose a Polaris, improving work culture, rewarding your team, and the difference between a croc...

If you have a drawer full of band tees, there’s a very high chance that John is the guy behind some of those shirts. Cold Cuts is a shop in Philly that is nearly synonymous with punk and hardcore band merch, and there’s a damn good reason for it. Coming from the music world himself, Cold Cuts understands, relates, and goes to bat for their clients, no matter how far fetched the turnaround may be....

Currently a full time graphic designer for a not to be named big boy company, Josh is still doubling down within the industry through all the side gigs his heart desires to start up. Topics of discussion include: Equipment repairs, Disney, comics, enamel pins, production approvals, too many variables, Etsy probs, grounding, disconnecting, the tick, and dry tongues.

Jeff Meilander is not a person we’d bother asking our classic ‘2 presses or 10 presses’ question to. Very far from his modest beginnings as a manual printing basement operation, Jeff has turned Redwall into the contract printing powerhouse we all know today. Topics of discussion include: Sample tags, sidewalk sales, DIY, skunks, entering the world of contract work, buying buildings, calculated ris...

With the first quarter of 2023 under our belts, we're checking in with our buds Eric & Tony and seeing how everything is going in our respective markets, and where we see the rest of the year going. Topics of discussion include: Squeegee washers, spiders, Taylor Swift’s merch disaster, hiring, social media, hypotheticals, 401Ks & IRAs, overtime, breaking rules, culture shift, manufacturer...

Taking a deep breath of fresh air through our noses and out our mouths, and discussing optimism. Also, really just checking in on each other, and answering listener questions. Topics of discussion include: tattoos, employees leaving, used presses being worth the journey, optimism, maturing, if you could go back, health, group chats, Bon Jovi, movies, and cucumbers.

Mario Diamore has made quite a splash in the Instagram world with his screen printing reels, and has already amassed over 100K followers in a relatively short amount of time. But he's still a one man show (for the time being), and has really carved out a path for his business through cultivating a list of clients that he can truly collaborative with, instead of chasing every lead that comes his wa...

As a concert photographer on Warped Tour, Brendan Stearns learned branding and marketing firsthand from his tour mates. When he put the camera down and returned home to Chatham, Cape Shark was born. Topics of discussion include: Retail branding, finding your margins, losing drivers licenses, leaving the family business, stickers, pop ups, moving, back surgery, and Adam Sandler.

We were so stoked to nerd out with Ray from Avient. We haven't had a proper schooling on the pod in awhile, so sharpen your pencils and sit up straight, we're dumping a 5 gallon bucket of ink straight into your dome. Topics of discussion include: Why so many brands, why so many white inks, the history of plastisol, pantone matching, underbaking hacks, and what the future holds for shirt paint.

What started as a high end clothing brand from Chicago, has not only grown into a massive producer in the entertainment industry, but has also just expanded their operations to the coast with a brand new location in Daytona. Growth is the goal, and Rich Santo is the 'Systems Engineer' mitigating the growing pains, and keeping the family business as efficient as possible. Topics of discussion inclu...

After serving 8 years as an Army medic, Tyler Adams' military career was cut short when he sustained a severe back injury from a car bomb in Iraq. When he returned to Utah, he found a new home with Black Rifle Coffee Company. Since joining the BRCC crew, Tyler and his team of veterans and refugees have successfully brought their merchandising in-house, and are now operating the best smelling print...

Black Dog Printing is the black sheep of Richmond, IN. Jon and his crew have been making noise in their town by turning the local news into satyrical shirts, and let's just say not everybody thinks it's funny... but we sure as hell do. Topics of discussion include: shop visits, valuing culture vs data, idiot signs, emotional backpacks, Jim Jones, failure, and whether or not it's better to fake it...

While they may act like they've been wingin' it since '07, Monster Press has made a name for themselves in this industry, and it wasn't by happenstance. Will & Ziggy are the modest duo behind Monster, and their operation is well thought out, and fueled by a genuine desire to be better. Topics of discussion include: Defining your roles, setting standards, tagging, hiring, working in auto pilot,...