July Issue, Page 11.

SOUTH-PHILLY DUO MAKES AWESOME DUDES PRINTING A CREATIVE HOTSPOT

For art school friends Ralph Stollenwark and Sean “Shaky’ Doherty, starting a business together was almost an accident. In 2006, the two were working as graphic designers and part-time bartenders when they began printing posters and T-shirts to help advertise local rock shows.

With the help of a four-color screen printer they bought for $1,000 on Craigslist, the two managed to crank out orders in their spare time. That changed in 2007 when a client asked if they could print 2,100 shirts in one week. Friends and family volunteered to work around the clock with Stollenwark and Doherty to get the job done.

That was when they knew they had to expand to a full-time business.

Now, with four part-time employees and two interns, Awesome Dudes Printing turns out 500 to 600 T-shirts and posters every day, filling orders that come in from clients all over the East Coast. And they’ve gotten all their business through word of mouth.

“We’ve never advertised,” says Stollenwark. “It’s really just small businesses, bands, bars. Our clients give our name to their friends, and they keep coming in.”

Awesome Dudes Printing offers more than just T-shirts and posters – they’ll print tote bags, aprons, bar coasters, binders – and even chocolate.

Based in a converted garage in South Philadelphia, they get most of the products they need to run the shop locally, including T-shirts and screen supplies from Northeast Philadelphia and inks from Pennsauken, NJ.

Keeping it local is part of the business plan for Awesome Dudes Printing. They’re planning to expand their on-site screen-printing service for events in the city and hope to bring their work to neighborhood block parties, graduations and other celebrations.