Crusin' t's

Full-Time Work – 2009~2010

Color Separation & Design

Inland Empire, CA

While working on my Master’s, I needed a source of income, and was able to get a great job working at a local T-Shirt shop. “Crusin’ T’s” was about half-way in between my home in Perris and the ArtCenter campus in Pasadena. It was a great fit in my situation.

The compensation was not great, the experience was the real value in working this position. I learned every step of the process in printing shirts. Since this was a smaller shop, they had to do everything themselves. I also learned how to fold shirts really well!

Working here gave me the immense honor to make shirts for Bob’s Big Boy. I used to love going there as a kid. It was like a childhood dream come true. This opportunity came at the perfect time for me to also use it as a capstone project for my Master’s Degree. It was one of the more impressive projects in that regard, as not many students had real-world projects to present for their degrees.

During my time working here we made lots of shirts. Sometimes I was able to work on the designs themselves and even color separations. Sometimes I had to operate the screen printer and help prep shirts for an event on the weekend. Of course, I always handled what needed to be done.

Shout out to Cary Perez, thanks for showing me the ropes and helping to develop more talents. This time helped me understand how mentoring can be a very helpful tool for both parties. You’re never too old to learn a new trick IMO.