A t-shirt can do a lot of things: keep you warm or protected from the elements, show your pride in a place or team, convey to others what you’re interested in (and maybe even start a conversation), remind you of your travels when purchased as a souvenir, and serve as a thoughtful gift for others.
Did you know that your t-shirts purchased through the PA Wilds Conservation Shops (at Kinzua Bridge State Park, Leonard Harrison State Park, and the Marienville former train deport) and online at ShopThePAWilds.com also do one more thing? They give back to the mission of the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship and help small businesses throughout this rural 13-county region.
Let’s take an inside look at who is behind the process of printing your favorite PA Wilds-themed t-shirts! Many of the shirts you see at the PA Wilds Conservation Shops are printed by Xtreme Wear in DuBois, Clearfield County, along the I-80 Frontier landscape of the PA Wilds.
Hear directly from the staff at Xtreme Wear about the printing process, who their clients are, and their favorite things about the PA Wilds region.
Here’s who you’ll hear from:
Our design process always starts with talking to the customer about what they’re envisioning. Every customer is different – some have everything completely planned out, others they give us a doodle on a napkin, and sometimes they aren’t really sure what they want at all… but that’s okay! We use all that information and do a little brainstorming for the design, based on our knowledge of the screen printing process and what generally looks/feels best on the final product. We send digital proofs to the customer of our ideas, get their feedback, and make any necessary changes to the design to make it perfect for them. Once we have their final approval, it’s off to the presses!
My process typically starts with the customer, getting their thoughts and which direction they’d like to go. Most of our customers have an idea to start with, or maybe some reference material, and then we take it from there, adding in our own touches and personality to the concept. If our customer has a very specific idea, we may focus on one design that is centered around that idea. If it’s more of an open thought, we may then try two or three different layouts and let our customer decide which way they’d like to go. It’s great to be able to nail it on the first shot, but we also work with our customers to revise the designs and get them to a point where the design is what our customers had in mind. Once our customer is happy (and often excited) with the design, we mark the artwork approved and forward it onto our production process.
We begin by creating screens for each design. Each color in the design gets a different screen. These are made a few days before screen printing the order.
When the team is getting ready to screenprint an order, each of the screens are placed into one of the twelve heads on our automatic screen printing press. Our screen printing techs then fill each screen with the corresponding ink color for each screen.
The design is then carefully aligned by the techs. This ensures that everything is in the proper place before printing the order.
The shirts then are placed on the press and begin being decorated.
After the shirts take their trip around the press, they are pulled off and sent down the dryer. The dryer runs at around 400 degrees and is used to cure the ink.
They are then counted and placed in the box and make their way to your business!
Xtreme Wear offers custom screen printing, embroidery, and promotional products. With top-tier customer service and art services, we specialize in corporate apparel and bulk quantity orders.
We have such a great atmosphere to work in at Xtreme Wear. All of my coworkers are friendly and outgoing and we have some of the best customers! I love seeing all of our customer’s ideas come to life. It is always so exciting to see each finished product!
Design work can be really gratifying. You work with and get to know a lot of customers, and they really do start to feel more like friends after a while. Seeing just how excited the customer is about the final product… it’s an awesome feeling. And seeing your designs out “in the wild” is always a hoot! A few years ago I was in Dallas to catch a flight, and while I was walking to my terminal, I walked by someone wearing a t-shirt we designed for a company in Georgia. It was exciting, but definitely surreal.
This is a 2-parter for me! My favorite part is having such creative freedom in what we do, not looking at the computer screen day in, day out. Everyday it’s something new, each with its own challenges and opportunities to build my design skills. Equally, my other favorite part is creating a design from start to finish and seeing the faces of our customers light up when you show them how cool their product came out.
I love to go fishing. My favorite place to visit within the PA Wilds would be any lake, river, pond, or creek! Kayaking down the Susquehanna River is one of my favorite summer activities!
The Marion Brooks Natural Area, which is a really lovely white birch forest out in the Quehanna Wild Area. White birch are my favorite kind of tree, and it just so happens that Quehanna hosts one of the largest stands of white birch in the eastern United States. You almost feel like you’re in a fantasy world, it’s so beautiful. And there’s a good chance you’ll see wild elk, too!
So far, my favorite has been Kinzua Bridge, but I hope to cross a few more places off my list soon! Driving from home to Kinzua Bridge itself is a wonderful and scenic drive as well! I definitely need to make it to the PA Grand Canyon in Leonard Harrison State Park.
This is where I grew up. All of my family lives within the PA Wilds. It is so nice to call this area of Pennsylvania my home! From the beauty of all of the seasons to all of the wildlife we have in the area, it is truly a wonderful place to live.
I was born and raised in Elk County, so obviously I have family and lots of memories here that will always be special to me. But I think we sometimes take for granted just how special the natural scenery is in this area. When my Texan in-laws came to visit Pennsylvania for the first time, they were STUNNED by our rolling hills, and how lush and expansive our forests are.
I love the woods, wilderness, hills, small towns, and scenic views.
We specialize in all things imprintable! From screen-printed t-shirts, sweatshirts, and bags, to embroidered jackets and hats, we’ve got everything you need to spread the word about your business. We also do specialty items, perfect for giveaways!
We strive to make the entire process easy. Our knowledgeable sales team can help you find the perfect garment, while our talented artists will ensure your logo or design looks top-notch.
“You’ll love the process as much as the product!”
You can find PA Wilds-themed t-shirts that have been printed by Xtreme Wear at any of the three PA Wilds Conservation Shops (at Kinzua Bridge State Park, Leonard Harrison State Park, and the Marienville former train deport) or online at ShopThePAWilds.com.
Remember, anytime that you make a purchase from the PA Wilds Conservation Shops, you are making a difference. Part of the proceeds give back to the mission of the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship and help small businesses throughout this rural 13-county region.
Author: Britt Madera
Britt joined the PA Wilds team as communications manager in 2022, helping to tell the stories that make our region so unique, whether that is covering our beautiful landscapes, the innovative businesses, or the spunky people that call it home. She had worked the last 10 years in radio and news broadcasting, and now she’s continuing to connect media outlets with positive news stories. Britt oversees external communications, media relations, and paid and volunteer content on the blog. As someone who grew up in Clearfield County and moved back shortly after college, Britt is eager to share her passion for the PA Wilds and help our area grow and shine.