We need as much information as possible about AI and where we can get in-depth education about AI – especially as AI relates to creating art. It is already transforming the world and I feel way behind. — Larry Mays, Mays Marketing Group
[Instagram] #SPTakeoverTuesday has been great to watch. It’s always nice to see how others approach running their facilities. — Scott Garnett, King Screen
Your article “Do you have a showroom?” hit home in multiple ways. However I was a little surprised by the content. Meaning, for us, a showroom has been vital. We are the crazy ones who pay too much rent to have a large facility in the heart of a booming neighborhood – however, having a storefront that sells tees and random gift items has help bring in new clients that wouldn’t typically just walk into a screen printing shop. And having a separate room for garment samples has allowed us to gain higher-quality clients (if I can say that) because we can hands-on put a quality item in their hands and show the difference of what a few dollars will get you. A huge part of our success is encouraging our customers to go with quality. — Jason Feather, AKA
AI may become some terrible job terminator in the future, but for now it can have its place in your toolbox. I suck at writing social media posts. You know who doesn’t suck at it? ChatGPT. — Jon Bottorff, Black Dog Printing
We’re super grateful for the opportunity to share our shop with your Instagram viewers during #SPTakeoverTuesday! — Ian Graham, Feels So Good
I think DTF is finally going to be what everyone thought DTG was going to be and turn our industry upside down. Go to the kids’ section in any Wal-Mart, and probably 80 to 90 percent of the stuff you see is DTF. People are now used to it, and the stigma of a “transfer” is fading fast. If a customer wants something more than five colors, we regularly go to DTF options as they are cheaper at lower quantities. I believe this has got to impact sales for the larger-head number of presses in the near future, as you can do a similar and now more acceptable thing with DTF with no investment … Supacolor and Stahls are both promoting this cottage industry like crazy with webinars and e-books about “how to print your own t-shirts” and marketing to [hobbyists] and selling them transfers. SupaColor is bragging about how it tests its transfers on a plethora of janky heat presses to make sure they work well. Any respectable shop has a decent heat press, and this is not an issue. They are obviously going after the previous Cricut segment, which is tired of the limitations of vinyl. Many clubs and sporting groups are already buying their own heat presses and doing their own apparel now, or sports moms are now doing all the team spirit wear for their clubs and organizations. Couple this with AI, and they no longer have to be [great] designers, which has been the trademark of good screen printers for years and set them apart. Unfortunately, I see this impacting our industry significantly right now, and on a large-scale basis in the near future. We are thinking about how we can best navigate this trend that is now just only beginning. — Charlie Vetters, Organic Robot Designs
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