The Emo Tween
Drawer & 16-Color
Separations
The artwork was ready. Now it needed the right
blank, the right printer, and someone willing
to take on sixteen separations.
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The Emo Tween Drawer & 16-Color Separations: Bringing a Custom T-Shirt to Life
24 days ago
Picking up right where my creative outburst
left off last week…it was time to turn
mockups into an actual product.
The artwork was there. The concept was
there. But a good design on the wrong tee
can kill the whole thing before it ever gets
a chance. Which brings me to the first rule
of promo tees: Never put good art on bad
fabric.
Which brings me to the first rule of
promo tees:
Never put good art on bad fabric.
And when it came time to find the right
canvas for this project, I knew exactly
where to look.
THE EMO
TWEEN DRAWER
When in Doubt, Ask the
Absolute Consumers of Cool
To pick the canvas, I consulted the absolute
consumers of cool in my house:
my emo tweens.
I opened their closet drawer.
And sitting right at the top?
None other than the PRM180PT Garment-
Dyed Tee from Independent Trading Co.
If you haven’t put this blank in your hands
yet…stop reading, run, and order a sample.
I will never steer you wrong when it comes to
chasing the perfect blank: premium weight,
lived-in vintage feel, and a drape that doesn't
feel like cardboard.
For a project where the artwork was going
to do a lot of talking, this was exactly the kind
of canvas it needed.
NOW, WHO’S
GOING TO PRINT
THIS THING?
Enter Screenplay Shirts
Blank selected. Art ready.
Now, which sucker of a printer
that I dearly love was going to
take on my passion project
of the month?
Enter Screenplay Shirts down
in Vineyard, Utah.
If you’ve ever worked with
Troy Snarr or John Summison,
you know the deal:
zero BS on turnaround times,
and the print quality
is bulletproof.
So I handed over the file.
And then Troy took a look.
SIXTEEN.
DIFFERENT.
SEPARATIONS.
Troy takes one look at my file:
“Ryan… your art has sixteen different
separations.”
Poor Troy.
Little did he know I am THAT Client.
“Can you fix it?”
“…Absolutely.”
Twenty-four hours later, Troy had the proof
dialed in.
Of course, that meant it was time for me
to hit him with the classic client
contradiction:
“I know it’s a million colors, but I need it b
old, vibrant, and ultra-soft on the chest—
even with 16 screens.”
“Yeah, we got you.”
Challenge officially accepted.
Troy worked his magic and reduced the
colors down to 8 - Thank God for T-Shirt
artists.
Four Days Later...
The message lands:
“You’re gonna love these.”
And honestly?
They came out unreal.
The art stayed bold. The colors
stayed vibrant. And even with
sixteen screens involved, the
finished print delivered the soft
feel I was chasing from the
beginning.
The right artwork had found the
right blank—and the right printer
brought the whole thing home.
BUILT ON GRATITUDE
Because this entire project was built on
gratitude,I had the finished run delivered
straight to the show director’s house.
Okay, fine—I skimmed a couple off the top
for my better half and my favorite little
rider.
I had to.
But everything else? Straight to the people
this project was made for.
Now there’s only one thing left to do:
Wait for show day and see if they land.
FROM MOCKUP TO FINISHED TEE
What started as a creative outburst had
officially become something real.
The Independent Trading Co. PRM180PT
Garment-Dyed Tee gave the artwork the
canvas it deserved. Screenplay Shirts took
a sixteen-separation challenge and turned
it into a finished print that delivered exactly
what I was hoping for.
But this project was never really just about
making another tee.
It was about making something people
would actually want to wear—and using it
to show a little gratitude along the way.
Now we wait for show day.
Sixteen separations,
one very patient printer,
a few tees mysteriously missing from the final delivery,
and a finished product I couldn’t be happier with.
Show day arrived, and the participants, the supportive
parents, the show volunteers lined up for a chance
to snag these beautiful t-shirts.
From the Show coordinator, " Wear these T-shirts
with pride as they are they perfect way to celebrate
our breed "
