“The Doctor Wants to Know How I Got Plastisol in My Blood”

IN A RECENT BRAIN Squad survey, we asked members to fill in the blank: You know you’re a screen printer when ____.

If anyone outside of the industry wants to get a glimpse into the life of a screen printer, all they have to do is check out these responses. They’ll make you laugh, they’ll make you proud, and they’ll make you feel part of a community within the industry. We’re all in this together, and you all have ink somewhere you can’t get rid of.

• You rub on shirts in the store when you’re shopping to critique the print method used… LOL. — Deonjala Williams, Dee’s Sweet Tees and Heart and a Heat Press, Lake Worth, Florida
• You start printing for people other than yourself and family members. — Shannon McKinnon, Aisle6ix Industries, Sydney, Australia
• The doctor wants to know how I got plastisol in my blood.— Randy Reneau, All Seasons Screen Printing & Embroidery, Chicago
• You still have ink on your hands when you get together with friends. — Dennis Bruso, East Coast Printers, Essex Junction, Vermont
• You smile when someone says emulsion! — Jeremy Picker, AMB3R Creative, Denver
• You got ink on your hands. — Jim Bradley, Bradley Nameplate Corporation, Fremont, California
• You wake up at 2 a.m. remembering all the details you forgot to enter into that order.
 — David Campbell, Cool Air Creations, Smithfield, Rhode Island
• You catch yourself saying, “Where did this ink come from?” (Oh, and it’s probably red ink, too!) — Joe Ortinau, Ortinau Art, Pemberville, Ohio
• There is ink everywhere. — Arnold Footle, Dahlgrens, Deerfield, Illinois
• People tell you they have a great idea for a T-Shirt. — Rick Poore, Shirts101, Lincoln, Nebraska

• You are happy with the results of your work. — John Wilhelmsen, Distinct Impression, Tucson, Arizona

• You have the ability to adapt and adjust seamlessly. This could be supply chain issues, changing event dates, absentee employees, power outages, etc. — Keith Abrams, The Decoration Facility, Indian Trail, North Carolina
• 90 percent of your wardrobe has ink on it and the other 10 percent is saved for special occasions. — Alison Banholzer, Wear Your Spirit Warehouse, Huntingtown, Maryland
• You get excited about talking to someone who knows what EOM is. — Michael McCall, Chattanooga Labeling Systems, Chattanooga, Tennessee
• When you’re at a retail store checking out the prints on T-shirts! — Ron Augelli, Talk Shirty to Me, Dickson City, Pennsylvania
• You go for a “nicer T-shirt,” but cannot find a one that doesn’t have a little ink smudge on it. — Eric Carnell, Independence Printage Corp, Bellevue, Washington
• You make sure to put on ink-stained clothes in the morning. — Kyle Baker, Baker Prints, Chicago
• You ruin perfectly good and new T-shirts to do sample prints. — Tracey Johnston-Aldworth, Traces Screen Printing, Waterloo, Ontario
• You pull the first print of the last color and it looks perfect. Except for that one little th… — Andy MacDougall, MacDougall Screen Printing, Royston, British Columbia
• When you’re racking jobs at 13 for your dad’s screen printing business. — Robert Francis, ScreenPrintPlus, Naperville, Illinois

• Someone sees you looking too closely at prints in a store. — Doug Heminger, SS Designs, Winter Haven, Florida

• You dream of work in your sleep. — Bill Bischoff, Bischoff, Design/Atomic Tees, Modesto, California
• You are constantly testing printed product in the market for stretch and scratch resistance and for image sharpness and registration. — Mark Coudray, Coudray Growth Tech, San Luis Obispo, California
• There’s green ink on your car seat. — Marshall Atkinson, Atkinson Consulting, Mesa, Arizona
• You’re unable to purchase graphic tees from department stores without immediately finding each and every flaw in them. — Joshua Rogers, Grunt Style, Carol Stream, Illinois
• You’re in your car sitting in traffic, and notice ink in your car, but it’s a color you haven’t used in months. — Pete Junior, New Era Apparel, Oceanside, New York
• You have a comment (internalized) about every shirt you see. — Kristin Deutsch, Hair of the Dog Graphics, Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin
• When you are at the store (or mall) feeling how soft the print is on T-shirts on the store’s display. — Gavin StGeorges, Proud Tshirts, Miami
• Your wardrobe is all shorts and T-shirts. — Luiz Enchinton, 3 Little Birdz, El Paso, Texas