My Visit to a T-Shirt Design Factory

Today I took a factory tour of a place called Print Lab. They design and apply the art and lettering on so many t-shirts, probably some that you own!  I discovered there are a LOT of steps involved in creating t-shirt designs.

(BTW, I went with this terrific organization called Atlas Obscura.  Take a look at their website.)

Check out my day:

The printing machine looked like a giant merry-go-round!

First we created a design (the Atlas Obscura logo) on the computer and had it transferred to a screen. 

Hosing down the screen revealed the design.

So many color choices!

And so many tubs of dye.  The dye was thick and silky, like pudding.

Here's the dark red dye getting spread onto the t-shirt.

Can you believe how precise?

The printed t-shirt just made its way out of the giant oven.

Did I pick the best color?

Some people went for a gold color instead.

This is Tommy, the owner.  He turned his passion for t-shirts and for art into a really cool profession.