How We Started Our Small Business: Barrel Maker Printing

How We Started Our Small Business: Barrel Maker Printing

My name is Justin and together with my wife Erin, we are the co-owners of Barrel Maker, a print shop in Chicago, Illinois. While we may have a lot of customers that place a lot of large orders, when I say that we have very humble beginnings, I mean it.  When we first...

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How we host live screen printing events (With Video)

How we host live screen printing events (With Video)

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...

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What should I look for when approving a proof?

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...

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We aren’t babies, no more wipes!

We aren’t babies, no more wipes!

I’m sure there have been times you’ve spent money on “eco-friendly” products to help lead a sustainable future. Let’s take it a step further, have you ever researched how a company operates and purchased products from them because they are environmentally conscious?...

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All your underbase are belong to us.

All your underbase are belong to us.

Screen printers call it different things. Underbase, base, underlay, base layer, an extra layer, and I’m sure other things. It all stems from the same thing. Screen printing ink isn’t always 100% opaque, and it needs a layer underneath it to keep the prints vibrant....

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Band Merch: Managed, Printed and Fulfilled by Barrel Maker!

Have you played an awesome show but didn’t have any merch to sell? Doesn’t it feel like you could have paid for a day of recording or a tank of gas if you had some shirts to sell? That’s because it’s true. Whether you are between shows or stuck woodshedding in your...

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