Garage shops are the bread and butter of the manual screen printing industry. They’re perfect for printers interested in working close to home or making their real estate investment do double duty. One such shop is Boyd Creative Print Shop. Owners Andrew and Chantel Boyd opened the shop in 2020, running it out of their garage in Des Moines, Iowa. Their commitment to quality has made them a big hit in the print community.
COMMITTED TO QUALITY
From the start, Andrew and Chantel were committed to producing a high quality product and giving customers the best experience possible. Andrew learned to screen print more than 20 years ago when his dad taught him to screen print on a printing press he built himself.
After working in a tattoo shop for a few years, Andrew got a degree in graphic design as a focus and started working in screen print shops. He worked on autos and manuals, discovering the best practices for efficiency and quality. When the pair decided to open Boyd Creative Print Shop, quality was at the forefront of their business model.
QUALITY SERVICE MEANS QUALITY EQUIPMENT
Andrew has a degree in graphic design plus years of experience as a screen printer. Chantel has degrees in business and writing. Between the two, they provide a total customer package that keeps customers returning for more.
The first screen printing press Andrew printed on was a homemade press. After working in a handful of screen print shops, Andrew knew that a quality press makes creating quality prints easier. The Boyds invested first-thing in a Riley Hopkins Jr., now the Riley Hopkins 250 6x4. With six print heads, Andrew could provide more color options to customers.
Working with the 250 press, an old flash dryer, and an exposure unit, Andrew and Chantel knew they’d need to upgrade and expand their equipment to keep providing quality products. They
upgraded some equipment: a flash dryer, conveyor dryer, and LED exposure unit.
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THE SETUP
Fitting a 6x4 press, conveyor dryer and flash dryer, darkroom setup, ink mixing station, and reclaim station in a garage space is challenging no matter how you move things around. With the addition of two new heat presses, even the well-organized shop is getting crowded. The couple is looking to upgrade their press to an even larger model: the Riley Hopkins 300 8x6.
“We're looking to buy the biggest press we can fit in our garage!” Chantel laughed.
With a giant custom-built workbench taking up almost an entire wall of the garage, there’s space to house a drying cabinet, extra storage, and plenty of counter space for heat presses and more. The ink wall — organized into a rainbow by Chantel for maximum aesthetic — is tucked in a corner, but the mixing station itself is in need of an upgrade. So is the second-hand washout booth setup.
So what does a day in the life look like for this non-stop print family?
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A DAY IN THE LIFE
Since Andrew and Chantel work in their garage, they live in the studio more than in their actual house. They also have a daughter and two shop dogs, so every day is a bit different. One tradition they’ve started is called “Monday morning meetings.” The duo sit down and plan out the jobs for the week using project management software.
“It’s just the two of us on our big sectional sofa with our two laptops and two dogs,” Chantel said.
Before these Monday morning meetings, Chantel used to write their current jobs on their garage door-turned-chalkboard. When jobs started to pile up, the chalkboard got too messy and they had to figure out a new method of organizing their lives.
Once the jobs are organized and planned, it’s time to head to the print shop. The garage is the perfect printing space for Andrew and Chantel. During the pandemic, they renovated the space to fit their needs. It’s temperature-controlled and perfect for spending the day printing.
“From top to bottom, we renovated our garage – insulation, drywall, and paint- and had the electrical, floors, and plumbing redone,” Chantel said.
When the weather’s nice, most screen print shops open their garage doors. But the Boyds prefer to keep it closed. Besides having a mini-split air conditioner and heater in the print studio, Andrew prefers to work without the prying eyes of neighbors watching him.
This garage shop has everything they need, but it was a challenge to get to where they are now.
A WORK IN PROGRESS
Any screen printer who’s moved shops will tell you that making the switch is difficult. Moving and renovating at the same time? Even harder. And add the constraints of a global pandemic to the equation. Their undertaking was a pretty big deal.
The biggest challenge they’ve faced since opening their current garage shop is one they’ve chosen to make their motto: keeping up with quality.
“We want to do our best on every print job and keep up with our order intake,” Chantel said.
Since the shop is a family-run business, the shop has been able to find its niche in an interesting way.
LIFE AND SCREEN PRINTING DUO
Since Boyd Creative Print Shop is a family-owned business, they’re committed to supporting other family businesses. Andrew has a love of fishing and has been able to marry his hobby and business together.
Another highlight? Passing the love of screen printing to their daughter.
“The best part about these three years is seeing our dreams come to life by working together with our daughter and watching us do it. We know Andrew's dad would be proud, and now he gets to be the dad who passes his love of art to our daughter,” Chantel said.
The print pair has found its niche by keeping the business close to home and combining their shop with hobbies.
FINDING THEIR NICHE
Andrew’s love of fishing has fueled Boyd Creative Print Shop’s business. He’s a pro staff with many fishing brands, so he had contacts in the industry.
“He was already doing their designs and decals, so printing shirts and, eventually, patch hats was a natural extension. Since the beginning, we've grown to include tattoo shops and bands as additional adjacent niches, also our passions,” Chantel said.
Fishing brands use plenty of bright colors in their designs. This was just fine with Boyd, who purchased the FN-INK Mixing System the day it came out.
“We were probably the first ones to buy it,” Andrew joked.
Creating custom, vibrant color is an exciting task for Andrew, who loves the thrill of designing and separating colorful art that maxes out his press. They’re always looking for new ink colors to test to take their designs to the next level, like using FN-INK Pearl as a highlight color or experimenting with fluorescent inks (coming soon). With creativity, commitment to quality, and business savvy, there will always be more to discover.
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WHAT’S NEXT?
In the future, Boyd Creative Print Shop is going to need a bigger shop space. The pair is hoping to find a commercial shop space soon to accommodate the upgrades and expansions that are coming. While the garage shop has been the perfect print studio, they’re already outgrowing it.
“We've met every goal we set out to achieve, and now we're setting new ones. And we couldn't be here without the support of each other, our customer base, and this amazing screen-printing community,” Chantel said.
ADVICE TO PRINTERS
Any print shop will give similar advice: invest in quality, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, and make sure you’re passionate about what you do. But Andrew and Chantel have a few nuggets of advice you don’t hear very often.
First, there’s plenty of community within screen printing. It’s not a competition.
“Everyone needs t-shirts! It's a community, and you need people in your court who know the industry's ins and outs,” Chantel said.
Second, have fun in your shop, bring people along for the ride, and keep it looking nice.
“We have always cared about how our shop looked and showing how products are produced in our studio on social media because that showed our customers how much we cared,” Chantel said.
It’s not about where you print, it’s about how you print. Andrew and Chantel are one couple killing it and having fun while doing it. Follow them on social media to keep up with their prints, hobbies, and soon-to-be upgrades!
