The House of Vans, which contains skateable features, art installations, and the general vibe in which Barrel Maker was founded on, was a perfect venue for this kind of workshop. It opened in 2017 and is situated in the Fulton Market District, it is the third of it’s kind to open. Hosting bands, workshops, skate classes and more.

Guests got to choose from a few rad designs and screen print them personally onto tees and tote bags with assistance from the Barrel Maker team. After they were printed they got to come up with a custom phrase starting with the prompt “Trust Me ________” and further personalize each garment with our super crazy cool handjet print guns! Then over to the Busy Beaver station do a similar process but in button format.

Putting people in touch with the actual process in which their clothes and wearable statement pieces are manufactured proved to be fun and engaging with lots of conversation sparking over the specific science behind printing all the way to it’s marketability and the paradox of whether one should print their own shirts and have full control over the process, or focus on marketing and letting Barrel Maker do what we do best. Showing people how we set up for Live Printing events and letting them print their own pieces gave participants a rare inside look at the process.

If you get a chance to come to an event where we are live printing, or you have an event that would benefit from hands on merch with no excess inventory, we have it all figured out. Please reach out.

The post “Trust me, I’m Merch Maker” event at House of Vans in Chicago first appeared on Barrel Maker.

The post How We Started Our Small Business: Barrel Maker Printing first appeared on Barrel Maker.

Outside of custom screen printing bulk t-shirt orders, our favorite part of our business is hosting live screen printing at events.

If you want to create a fun and memorable event for your clients, live printing is the way to go.

It’s something that we’ve been doing since early on and agencies and businesses just love it!

With our screen printing expertise and experience in working with large brands and events, no one else can deliver a live screen printing event like us. Over the years, we’ve created the ultimate Live Printing experience and made custom merchandise and giveaways an exciting and unique activity.

It doesn’t matter if you’re in the Chicago area or not. We have a mobile setup that is ready to make events all over the country way more fun!

How to Prepare for a Live Printing Event

Adding live printing to your event is easy. We’ve been doing this for years and have simplified the process into three easy steps.

Step 1: We create custom merchandise and prepare artwork for your event.

Step 2: We set up a 150 square foot print station in a convenient area at your event.

Step 3: We crank out hundreds of shirts, hoodies, koozies, tote bags, posters, and more for your guests to take home!

We have performed live screen printing at all types of events and in many different locations. From breweries to trade shows to music festivals to sporting events, we can handle it all and take the pressure of creating an unforgettable experience off your shoulders.

Check out the video above to see us in action at live screen printing event in a bar in Chicago.

Create a Fun Experience at Your Next Event with Live Printing

We love that at live events we are able to teach and show people how the screen print process works. The looks on people’s faces when they see screen printing for the first time and finally understand how shirts are decorated is priceless!

Hosting events isn’t easy. It’s a look of work for the organization putting everything together and for us when we play a small part.

But it’s this connection with the customer that makes it all worthwhile for us. And it’s something that no other activity at an event can replicate. It’s what makes live screen printing so memorable.

Most importantly, that experience will now be tied to your brand. We are giving your customers a tangible product that represents your brand and is tied to joy and excitement of seeing it made right in front of their eyes.

If you are looking for an idea to make your next event more fun, and I know you are, then fill out the contact form on our website to get things going!

The post How we host live screen printing events (With Video) first appeared on Barrel Maker.

It’s such a cool privilege to be able to be a part of such an iconic festival.  Our official merch booth was serving up classic old school Lolla designs printed on site for the psychedelic crowd!  We had a range of tye dye shirts and retro festival designs to choose from, but the really cool tie in was that Lollapalooza setup a “Rock and Recycle” booth.  Attendees were able to get a garbage back that they could fill with recyclables from around the park.  Once full they brought it back to the tent and got a token that they could bring to our printing booth and get a special edition shirt with the lineup on the back.

If you’ve hosted and event with merch before you know that people LOVE free swag.  Lollapalooza did an amazing job of leveraging that desire to help ensure that the park and it’s fans were taken care of.  It really was a win win!

The post Live Printing -Lollapolooza Rock and Recycle first appeared on Barrel Maker.

About once a year we get someone that didn’t look at their proof, and ended up unhappy with their order. Maybe their company’s name was misspelled, or the print was in the wrong location. Simple user errors, but easily sorted out and corrected if you look at the proof. Normally, people only make this mistake once, and we always deal with it in the most reasonable way we know how.

Let’s say you don’t want to make that mistake though.
Or maybe you’ve ordered custom printed merch before and you know a thing or two.
First, let’s talk about where you’d find a proof.

Once your order is paid for, you will receive an email that will look like this…

Click on the blue invoice button and it will take you to the invoice.
If you’ve already paid, you have already seen this page, but double check that the quantities and the shipping address are correct.
Now is a great time to ask questions or make any changes.
Once the proof is approved, it may be too late!

The post What should I look for when approving a proof? first appeared on Barrel Maker.

Our sustainability team meets every week to discuss our most detrimental environmental pitfalls and then collaborate on how we can flip those into our strengths. For example, up until recently our printers used baby wipes to clean the screens. The convenience and affordability made it hard to want to switch, but after doing some research and experimenting with reusable cloths, the printers actually prefer the effectiveness of the new material. Looking forward to transitioning all of our printers to these as we are finishing up experimenting with them. Imagine how many baby wipes we can now keep out of the landfills!

Another more long term goal we have is figuring out how to utilize our misprints in a more meaningful way. As of right now our printers use our misprints as testing fabrics and when there is no more space to print on them, they even use them to clean screens until they can no longer be used. At the end of the day, they do unfortunately still end up in the landfill. We are in the process of brainstorming how we can shred our prints into material that can be used for creating insulation, making mattresses for the homeless, or even dog beds for shelters.

Consider researching companies and look into their mission statement and operational sustainability before giving them your business. Making conscious environmental decisions is not something we have to do, it’s something we want to do.

The post We aren’t babies, no more wipes! first appeared on Barrel Maker.

Online stores were one of the major success stories for our business and our local community last year.

When faced with the pandemic, like other Chicago businesses, it wasn’t easy for us to figure out what we could do to help ourselves and what the future held. To be honest, it’s difficult to entirely remember the day-to-day of what we went through.

But one thing is for certain: the online shirt fundraisers that we hosted for local Chicago businesses were a huge success. The city of Chicago came out in a big way to support their local businesses and we raised $71,000 for the organizations that participated.

Here is a video with an explanation of our stores and interviews with small businesses that were part of the program.

Online t-shirt stores have been one of our core services for years. Our customers love it because there is no risk for them or upfront costs. We host the store, print the shirts, and fulfill all of the orders. What’s not to love about that?

COVID 19: Hurting us, our customers and our communities.  As small businesses we need to stand together!

TL;DR – We will set you up with a fundraising store online, selling shirts and other swag. You give the profit to your employees to help cover them during these times. We can offer gift certificates and you can include a gift too!

The post Chicago Small Business Fundraising Stores (COVID-19) first appeared on Barrel Maker.

The post Client Spotlights – Bloodshot Records first appeared on Barrel Maker.

Barrel Maker: Hi Melissa, you’ve put in a lot of orders with us! (Hey thanks for that!) Primarily, what do you use these shirts for? Are they client gifts, employee gifts, or for events of some kind?

Sprout Social: We love working with Barrel Maker! Our largest order consists of Sprout and Bambu shirts, which are used both internally and externally. When new hires start at Sprout, they have both shirts waiting for them on their desks to help them represent our team and our products from day one. We also give the shirts to our customers when they attend events so they’re able to show their #SproutLove too! From time to time, we’ll order one-off shirts that are either connected to an employee event, marketing campaign, or a feature launch as well.

The design above is one of our favorites. The t-shirt was created for our team participation in the 2017 Chase Corporate Challenge. Since this was a race, we wanted to find a unique way to represent running and being the fastest on the field, which is where the Pegasus idea came from.

The “Made It So” shirt was created for a team that worked on our Message Approval launch in 2015. The design played off of their many Captain Picard references, making the shirt a great surprise and celebration for all their hard work. Also last year, our sales team had a strong focus on teamwork and bringing home wins (illustrated by the “W” from the Chicago Cubs victory flag), which made for a great shirt.

BM: What do you think makes a good company shirt? Is it garment type? A bright design? Do you have any advice for other companies after making so many shirts?

SS: At Sprout, there are a few factors that we believe contribute to a good company shirt. First, it needs to appeal to the masses. We also learned early on that comfortable material and a forgiving fit were the most important factors to consider. Once we had a brand and style that our team liked, we were able to exercise more creativity with colors and designs. Depending on the use and audience, designs that remind people of a specific event or launch tend to be fan favorites. Celebrating these special moments not only strengthens a sense of belonging, but encourages people to wear their company swag with pride in and out of the office.

BM: Can you give us a little more info about why you do the Great Sproutdoors retreats, what they’re about, and why you choose to make tees for the event? How does this all tie in to Sprout’s company culture?

SS: The Great Sproutdoors is a Sprout Social tradition where we take one Friday off in the summer to canoe down the Fox River in Ottawa, IL—and this year we’re adding a Sproutdoors event on the West Coast for our Seattle and SF teams, as well! Inclusion and open communication are two of our core beliefs, and the Great Sproutdoors is a unique event that encourages team members to get out of the office, connect, and build relationships. As we continue to grow, it’s a great opportunity to enjoy a day of sun, canoeing and getting to know our co-workers outside of work a little better. Having a shirt and theme to go along with the event each year is really special to us. The shirt design ties in with other event materials we create and is a great piece of memorabilia from the day that keeps the memories alive year-round.

BM: I feel like everyone struggles with this one from time to time – how do you decide on size breakdowns?

SS: Tough question, haha. Our events team generally takes the lead on this. We typically do 40% M, 40% L and then 20% S, XL, XXL. That seems to work best for us.

BM: Do your employees ever vote on designs? Or is everything created in one team?

SS: That’s a really cool idea! We’ve never voted on designs at Sprout, although that is definitely something we could do in the future. While we often have ideas that originate from other departments, our design team takes the lead on submitting orders and giving a final sign off.

BM: Do you have any advice on how companies can find a good printing partner and what they should expect? Have you worked with a few other companies before you found the right fit?

SS: Finding a good printer can be tough. One of the many reasons why we love Barrel Maker is because it’s local. Having a printer nearby is a huge benefit since we can check out a new design in-person before approving a full run of shirts. Another thing that we love about you guys is how responsive and personal you are. Each order is carefully handled and you make sure that every detail is taken into consideration. Having a reliable and knowledgeable printer eases the process and we love the relationship we’ve built with Barrel Maker as a result. The biggest piece of advice we have for other companies is to take the time to be sure the printer is a good fit and will be a good partner with their best interests at heart.

The post Client Spotlights – Sprout Social first appeared on Barrel Maker.

RACHEL: I’ve worked for Barrel Maker for about 4.5 years. At the beginning I did lots of different stuff, and now I still do lots of different stuff – it’s just shifted significantly over time. When I first started, I was handling almost everything – most of the customer service, separating artwork, creating mockups, ordering garments, catching, boxing, shipping, and checking in garments. Slowly, all of these tasks were taken over by other people as we grew. Now that I work remotely in St. Louis, I still handle some customer service, all promo and embroidery orders, and I manage live printing events, online stores, and fulfillment. I’m constantly learning new things and trying to figure out new ways to better our current processes, so Barrel Maker definitely keeps me on my toes!

This is also one of Rachel’s (more dangerous) highlights:

BM: You’ve worked a lot of events. What do you think makes a successful event? What do you think makes an event a total mess?

RACHEL: Keep things simple! The less options you have available keeps the process running smoothly, and this makes it MUCH more fun for participants. They get to see the process and they get their merch quickly! And I would say that exactly the opposite can make things a mess – having too many options makes us run much more slowly, and the more variables you have, the more things can go wrong.

BM: What’s the best thing to do in St. Louis? Can we come visit?

RACHEL: The City Museum is pretty cool, if you’ve never been there check it out! Just wear knee pads. There are also lots of really great breweries to visit! Also, everything is free here too – the zoo, the art museum, the science center, the history museum. And of course, you can come visit but you’ll have to fight my cats for the guest bed.

BM: Wait why do you have to wear knee pads to a museum?

RACHEL: Because these things hurt –

BM: Oh woah. That’s rad. If you’re living in the same city as that tight museum, how do you get yourself to focus while working at home? Do you get to hang out in your pajamas all day?

RACHEL: I just pretend that I’m in the office every day. I get up, shower, and make tons of coffee. Having a space that is set aside just for working helps, so when I enter this space, it’s a work environment. I don’t wear the actual PJs that I wore to bed during the day, but I do get ready for the day and put different PJ/comfy clothes back on. So kinda like fake PJs. And a dragon onesie once or twice.

BM: What’s your advice for being a good client? What are the tips to make your print rep love you? What’s the worst thing a client can do while trying to order shirts?

RACHEL: I love it when clients know exactly what they want, but I understand that not everyone has that luxury! If customers knew what they wanted all the time I wouldn’t have a job, so I’m here to help ?. I also LOVE it when people have nice clean vector artwork, that makes me happy. I think the worst thing a client can do when placing an order is to not communicate what you want. If you expect your print to feel like dragon scales and your print comes out nice and soft, you might be upset. Now if you had just communicated that you wanted it to feel like dragon scales, I can either educate you that it’s not really something we can do or we can figure out a way to make that happen.

BM: Dragon scale shirts are very popular, you’re right.  So – after a long day of work, what’s your favorite beer to drink?

RACHEL: I like citrusy IPAs, cause it’s the cool thing to do. And being cool is what’s important in life.

BM: Name your top ten places to hide pistachios.

RACHEL: PJ drawer, under the cat, between the mattresses, in my mouth, vents. That’s all I got.

BM: We’ll remember this for next time. Thanks Rachel!

The post Team Spotlights – Rachel, the ride or die first appeared on Barrel Maker.