story

My love for t-shirts began during my junior year of high school in San Francisco (2001), when my design was selected for the class t-shirt contest winner.  It was like being an undercover superstar, having members of my 600 person class walking around wearing my design – many of them not even knowing who I was!

During college, I was able to land a job designing posters for our college events.  Naturally, they asked me to design their incoming class and staff t-shirts, through which I became familiar with the local screen-printing shop, Barrios Unidos in Santa Cruz.  People seemed to really like my designs, so I began work on my own projects.

    During the summer of 2003 I created 150 t-shirts of my own design and started hustling them in street fairs, to friends, family, and anyone who would listen.  This is a harder hustle than it seems – (feel free to ask me for advice if you are trying to do this yourself) – and I think I still have a few of these t-shirts tucked away in my closet.

    For a couple years I stayed out of the t-shirt business, while I focused on school and various activist movements.  However, the itch to make shirts returned in 2005 and I began interning at Barrios Unidos, cleaning screens and doing “grunt work” in exchange for the opportunity to learn the process and make a few of my own designs.

    People began knowing me as the “shirt guy”, and friends, acquaintances, college groups, etc. would approach me to ask how to go about getting their shirts produced.  I would sit and talk with them, give them advice, and then point them towards Juaquin’s desk over at Barrios.

    After college, I began to get serious about the idea of opening this company, but originally it would be solely my own designs.  I must have approached every printer in the Bay Area about a work-trade relationship, but either it was the wrong time of year or they didn’t like my hat because I could not get hired for the life of me!

    So I decided to just do it myself.  I worked full time jobs to save money to get my designs produced, and hustled them on the side.  Interestingly, as more people saw my designs, they began to approach me about getting their own custom jobs done.

    I had paid enough dues down in Santa Cruz that they let me order and print t-shirts through them.  I would drive down from SF to print for a day (or two), then come back and drop off people’s shirts.  I made some money on this, but mostly I gained experience.

    When a 500 shirt job landed my way, I decided to buy a press with the money I had saved.  I installed it in my dad’s garage (thanks dad!) and just started printing. and printing. and printing.  My friend Rob came up with the “Umbrella” name from the concept we were trying to capture (see above).

    We run a small, tight ship and we appreciate all of the customers, artists and retailers we are able to work with.  I look forward to continuing to keep it local and real while pushing towards broader goals and expectations.

Drop me an e-mail or come by to learn a little something about printing.  We’re never shy.

Peace.  Reuben
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