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Charleston print shop offers customers artificial intelligence-powered graphic design to create company logos, branded materials, and more in just minutes, allowing same-day printing on popular marketing items.
Clifford Thompson, owner of Dream It Print It in Citadel Mall, wants to transform an industry that has traditionally relied on wholesale minimum quantity orders and generic templates for branding and logos.
Generally speaking, if a company wants to brand their logo on t-shirts, banners, posters, canvas, koozies, hats, pens, or other items, they will need to go through a wholesale printing company and choose from a template to place it. did. Achieve low-cost options by setting minimum order quantities.
Thompson's model allows for small-lot orders and no minimum prices, with the added perk of being able to create designs and logos using computer-generated AI software.
Customers pay $11 for 15 minutes in-store for an iPad called the “Dream Station,” which allows them to create designs and print them on many products in seconds.
Customers can create a design from scratch or enhance their current design or logo with free public AI images that can be created in seconds. Thompson guides customers through the process and explains how the software scrapes thousands of images to choose from, always online.
A rainbow over Ravenel Bridge? A leprechaun at Folly Beach? There's an AI image for that.
Thompson, who moved to Charleston from Nashville after a career in graphic design and golf flag embroidery, came up with the idea when she saw how effectively artificial intelligence could design images.
“It costs at least $50 to $200 to have a graphic designer create a logo. When AI came along, it occurred to me that people could now create their own designs. I thought, “It would be great if this was a kiosk and I could print people's (designs) on the spot.'' 90% (of what I print) is AI art,” he said.
Thompson invested in a state-of-the-art UV printer that uses light to harden images on products. The company prints designs on many products, both common and not-so-common, that customers can print while shopping at Citadel Mall.
“I'm the first person in this area to do something like this,” Thompson said. “People aren't used to being able to go somewhere and design something on the spot.”
Customers can create a logo or any design from scratch, or bring in an existing photo or logo that can be highly stylized. Retouch your images in the style of famous artists, or turn them into pixelated versions or cartoons.
“You can look for a Salvador Dali-style Ravenel Bridge,” Thompson said. “AI can take a photo and turn it into an oil painting.”
The logo can be surrounded by additional images and additional text.
These variations are useful for company parties and picnics, anniversaries, and other company milestones and team building. The cost is approximately $30 to print a custom design on an adult T-shirt and $20 to print a custom shirt for a child, which includes the purchase of the T-shirt. Print prices are lower when you bring your own clothing, and we offer further discounts on bulk orders.
Thompson's has a wide selection of high-quality T-shirts, mugs, cups, canvas, posters, whiskey rocks, skateboards, poker chips, socks, and more in store.
Dream It Print It held a ribbon-cutting in October, but Thompson is building a customer list and showing how more people can get excited about AI graphic design and the ability to design and create anything you can imagine. It's been a few months since we opened while we were thinking about it. .
“I can customize anything. I can even print on golf balls, baseballs…I have over 100 products on my website,” Thompson said, adding that T-shirts and canvas are the most popular. It added that it was a product.
“We keep our prices affordable, and we also handle bulk orders. With two different printers, you can print one thing or print 1,000 things. That's why. , which allows us to keep prices affordable,” Thomspon said.
He aims to make the store available for children's parties, where each guest can use the iPad's AI technology to create their own T-shirts and images. He likens it to Build-a-Bear.
“Kids can create their own character, print it on a white shirt, and use fabric markers to color the shirt,” he said.
Thompson said the possibilities are endless. My current client is a graphic artist who prints my designs on his T-shirts and hats and sells them right away.
Mr. Thompson also plans to add a subscription service that will allow groups and organizations to place their logos on the Dream It Print It website, allowing customers to create a formal “design” suitable for church groups, social leagues, and even music artists. Goods can be purchased directly. Mr. Thompson and his customers will split the revenue once the product is ordered.
“My goal is to have everything ready by the next morning after someone orders,” he said.
Thompson said the only company in the region offering on-demand printing is a franchise company called Big Frog that prints custom T-shirts, but doesn't offer AI technology to make designs quick and easy. added. Thompson says it's a game. changer.
“My goal is to prove it works within the next year and then start opening other stores,” he said.
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