We're continuing our 20 year celebration by highlighting our amazing customers. Our next spotlight is on Dom from Superior Ink, a leading-edge, eco-conscious screen printing company from Colorado, USA.
What began as a high school project in Denver, Colorado, designing and printing streetwear, quickly evolved into a thriving business, delivering premium-quality custom apparel to brands nationwide. From the outset, Superior Ink Printing has been guided by a strong commitment to sustainability and community impact.
We're incredibly proud of our relationship with a customer who is committed to providing the highest quality products servicing their customers needs.
What’s your story?
I grew up in rural Colorado, far from the culture that inspired me. But that distance fuelled my imagination. Watching trains covered in graffiti roll past the ranch, I felt the collision of two worlds. The raw beauty of nature and the energy of street art. In high school, I channeled that inspiration into my first brand, Neovolt, which meant “see in a new light.” It symbolised the juxtaposition of nature and technology, and it became my way of making sense of a rapidly changing world. Long before Shopify or modern e-commerce tools, I was hand-printing shirts on a manual press in my basement, then hopping flights to LA to sell art and apparel. From there, I hustled my way into local skate and snowboard shops, selling on consignment and recruiting some of the best artists within reach. By junior year, I made the decision to leave school and commit fully to the long, often uncertain, but deeply fulfilling journey of building brands.
Why did you start decorating?
At the time, there was a massive gap between what was possible online and what I knew could exist. I wanted more than what companies were offering. I wanted full creative freedom. So I spent two years working at my grandpa’s market, saving every dollar until I could afford my own manual press. That press became my canvas, a tool that let me bring anything I imagined to life. What started as printing for myself soon became something bigger. Other people saw the quality, the passion, and the possibility, and I realized I could help them tell their own stories through merchandise. That pivot, from chasing my own vision to empowering others to create theirs, became the foundation of everything I’ve built since.
What gets you out of bed in the morning & motivated and passionate about what you do?
What gets me out of bed is the tangible connection I have to the dreamers, the visionaries and the brands that push beyond limits to make merch more than the fabric on your back. It's the connection between vision and execution that we get to lay the stones between idea, and real time projection of thought that creates conversation. Oh and art. I get to see and be a part of ideas and art every single day.
What sets your decoration and Superior Ink apart from the rest in the industry?
Carrying the name Superior is both an honor and a burden. It demands a relentless commitment to craft and a mindset that every project deserves the same care and innovation as if it were our own. At our core is sustainability not as a marketing slogan, but as a responsibility. I’ve had the opportunity to see firsthand what lies behind the curtain of apparel manufacturing, and it shaped my conviction that the most sustainable garment is the one that truly lasts. That belief drives everything we do from educating our customers about responsible sourcing to refining our own print processes to be as sustainable as possible. For us, it’s about leaving an impact that outlives the garment itself one rooted in quality, longevity, and responsibility.
How do you think your region’s industry and scene are different from the rest of the world? Does your region influence your decoration?
Colorado is a wild place both politically and geographically. It's a state where rugged mountains meet growing cities, where you’ll find nature enthusiasts, artists, environmentalists, and innovators all woven into the same community. We are a relatively large city in comparison to other surrounding states in the midwest. Many who live here are transplants or nomads, but they share a common ground: an appreciation for beauty, a spirit of adventure, and an openness to new ideas. That openness makes Colorado fertile ground for conversations about sustainability and creativity, and it continues to push us forward in a positive direction.
How did you find out about AS Colour? Who’s your go to person?
I don't remember honestly. I think we were initially drawn to the branding. The crispy black and white caught our attention and the quality made us stay. My go to person is Wyatt Strassner! Legend.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
There’s a lot to be proud of when it comes to the projects we’ve delivered and the solid foundation we've built through our systems and brand development. But if I had to name our greatest achievement, it would be the culture we’ve created and the leadership team we’ve built. Recruiting the right people and laying down the infrastructure for the brand to be self-governing to operate beyond the limits of any single individual is one of the most important principles in building something truly special. When one person has a vision, it’s powerful. But when that vision is shared by many, it becomes unstoppable.
What is a business challenge you faced and how did you overcome it?
One business challenge we faced in the past is how to properly curate a blanks program to customers. Its always friction when you have to pass over links of brands and have them choose what they like. We solved this problem by integrating the AS Colour API into our site as a product catalog. Not only can they view all products but they can submit and interactive quote request for each style choosing colors, picking sizes and submitting art.
What is one job that stands out, above the rest, for you in the history of your company?
Some of our most memorable projects will always be hot market printing for the Broncos and Nuggets those moments felt electric and connected us directly to the heartbeat of Denver. But honestly, what stands out even more are the jobs from our early days, before automation and high-tech equipment. Back in the mid-2000s, oversized printing was all the rage. We didn’t have specialty equipment for it, so we built our own custom oversized pallets for the manual press and rigged a flash dryer just to make it work. Each shirt had to be dried in four sections, sometimes taking 10–20 minutes per piece. It was arduous, but it felt like every single shirt was a one-of-a-kind work of art hand-crafted with patience, grit, and a lot of problem-solving.Those challenges defined our foundation: innovation through necessity, an obsession with quality, and the pride that comes from truly making something by hand.
What embellishment are you using the most these days and why?
Puff has been huge recently. Its something fairly easy to execute if done properly and has a great result that customers love.
What innovations in screen printing are you currently exploring or implementing? What excites you about the future?
While the core craft of screen printing hasn’t changed much over the decades, the technology that surrounds it is constantly evolving. Our mission looking ahead is less about reinventing the print process itself, and more about reimagining the experience around it. The question we ask ourselves every day is: How do we deliver faster, smarter, and with a better end-to-end experience for creators? From the moment someone dreams up an idea, to the instant their product is live in a store, to the second it’s shipped into the hands of a customer our role is to make that journey seamless.
I am excited to see where AI and automation leads us. I think that it can be scary but if you evolve with it, it can be a useful too to cut back waste, time and bring forth a better product faster.
Making merch will never be simple behind the scenes, but if our systems are dialed in, it should feel effortless to the end user. That’s where technology meets craft, removing the friction so creators can focus on vision, while we handle the execution.
Anything else you want the world to know about Superior Ink?
You gotta stay sharp in a sea of wealth and bland entrepreneurialism. This is a mantra I live by to make sure we are constantly innovating and evolving. A brand built for money is a brand that will never have true life.
Superior Ink's next chapter in Fountain, Colorado
After 12 years in Denver, we’ve taken a leap and this story comes at the perfect time in our new chapter. It's one fueled by belief, not comfort. Moving a plant of this scale comes with risk, but growth always does. The truth is, risk is what keeps us alive. It’s the friction that sharpens our edge and reminds us why we started in the first place.
This move to Fountain, CO isn’t just about a new building, it’s about momentum, evolution, an shaking off the past to make room to grow. Because the moment you become comfortable is the moment you stop dreaming, and dreaming is what we live for.
Check out the ‘AS Colour x Superior Ink’ artwork on our 5151 Made Hood. Our Made franchise was carefully selected for this collaboration for our 20th year.
Get in touch with Superior Ink
Photographed by Zach Rawles