Founder Ty Wood got their start in the world of professional art in 2005 when in a high school art class they began painting on their Nike Dunk Low shoes. Soon orders were being placed by classmates and students from towns over. After high school they went on to graphic design school and placed an emphasis on working for companies that provide “on the job” training, covering different aspects of the apparel/print industry. “Selling custom painted shoes was a great experience. It helped me get my first couple jobs and gave me a ton of opportunity to learn about marketing, advertising, promotions, customer service, social media, etc. I’d take the stuff I learned from running a side business and incorporate those styles and techniques into my day job. It really helped cultivate an environment of learning for coworkers and myself, and helped me grow with those companies.”

After years of working as a production manager for an online made to order apparel retailer. Ty began working for a commercial screen printer and learning more about the print industry and the subtleties of screen printing, sublimation, embroidery, laser engraving, and more.

“Screen printing was probably the print technique I was most excited to learn about. It’s the base for most processes of printing and the capabilities are endless. The graphic design is completely different than digital graphic design. I was really arrogant when I first started and very quickly figured out I still had a lot to learn. Small issues on the design side and add hours of work on the press and make the design look subpar.” Wood said.

For 15 years Ty planned on acquiring as much knowledge as they could related to design and print to start up their own graphic design company. In those 15 years Ty has painted 100’s of shoes, branded 1000’s of shirts, created 1000’s of designs, painted branded murals… or as Ty puts it “Trying to list the things we’ve done and the projects we’ve completed is like trying to go item by item on the things we can print for you. It’s easier to tell you what we can’t do.” Which isn’t much. The process of the design creation is key and with a knowledge of different print processes An Artist Prints offers a versatility of products and services that most print shops cannot match or don’t have the time to.