Tonic Studios - Screen Printing & Design

What Tonic Studios - Screen Printing & Design does

Tonic Studios is a privately held, bootstrapped screen printing and design studio founded in 2013 in Columbus, Ohio, operating from a single warehouse location at 1145 Chesapeake Ave, Suite G. The company provides custom apparel decoration services including screen printing (up to 10 colors with specialty inks such as metallic, glow-in-the-dark, puffy, discharge, and CMYK), embroidery priced by stitch count, hat decoration, and Pantone color matching, alongside bundled in-house design services with no separate setup or screen fees. Its customer base consists of local Columbus-area SMBs, independent designers and artists, creative and marketing agencies, and established brands seeking custom apparel for events, team gear, and branded merchandise.

The business operates on a direct-to-consumer and small-business B2B model, accepting custom orders via a website inquiry form and selling original Ohio-themed retail merchandise (Ohio Wildflowers Tee, From Ohio to the Moon Tee, Legit Ohio Tee, Hang In There Baby Tee, Mission Patch) through an e-commerce storefront. Pricing is per-piece, starting at $8-$12 per shirt with a 24-piece minimum, and turnarounds average 2-3 weeks thanks to in-house production. The company sources blank garments from wholesale brands including Bella + Canvas, Alternative, Independent Trading Co., Gildan, and Tultex, and is a registered distributor of Richardson headwear.

The studio has no disclosed outside funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and operates with 1-10 employees. Distribution and marketing are primarily organic, leveraging a Squarespace website and social profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, Tumblr, and Pinterest. The company presents itself as a founder-led, design-focused local operator rather than a scaling technology platform.

Name

Tonic Studios - Screen Printing & Design

Legal name

Tonic Studios

Website

https://tonicstudios614.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Tonic Studios is a privately held, bootstrapped Columbus, Ohio screen printing and design studio that provides custom apparel printing, embroidery, hat decoration, and in-house design services to local SMBs, designers, agencies, and brands, alongside a small line of original Ohio-themed retail merchandise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbus

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Custom Screen Printing Services: Primary revenue stream from custom screen printing on customer-provided or company-sourced apparel. Pricing based on number of colors, print locations, and quantity. Includes in-house design services at no additional cost. No setup or screen fees charged.
2. Branded Apparel Sales: Direct sales of pre-designed branded merchandise including Ohio-themed t-shirts (Ohio Wildflowers Tee at $25, From Ohio to the Moon Tee, Legit Ohio Tee, Hang In There Baby Tee) and mission patches ($6). Revenue from e-commerce storefront sales.
3. Embroidery Services: Embroidery decoration priced by stitch count, with flexible minimums. Typically used for hats, pockets, and accent decorations.
4. Hat Sales and Decoration: Sales of Richardson headwear with minimums of 36-48 hats depending on style. Decoration options include sewn patches, raised embroidery, etched leather, and other unique decorations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Tonic Studios is a Columbus, Ohio-based custom screen printing and design studio that produces decorated apparel and accessories for businesses, designers, artists, agencies, and brands. Services include custom screen printing (up to 10 colors with specialty inks), in-house graphic design, embroidery, private labeling, Pantone color matching, and Richardson brand headwear distribution. The studio also sells a small line of Ohio-themed branded merchandise (tees and patches) directly to consumers through its online shop.

Product overview

Tonic Studios is a screen printing and design studio offering custom apparel printing services as its core offering, supplemented by in-house design services, embroidery, and hat distribution. The company operates as a registered Richardson Distributor for headwear and provides private labeling and Pantone color matching as add-on services. The business also maintains a retail shop selling pre-designed merchandise including themed t-shirts (Ohio Wildflowers, Hang In There Baby, From Ohio to the Moon, Legit Ohio) and embroidered patches (Mission Patch). Screen printing supports up to 10 colors with specialty ink options, embroidery is priced by stitch count, and the company sources blank apparel from wholesalers including Bella + Canvas, Alternative, Independent, Gildan, and Tultex.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom Screen Printing Multi-color custom screen printing (up to 10 colors) with specialty inks, offered to businesses, designers, artists, agencies, and established brands for custom branded apparel. Requires a 24-piece minimum order and ships within a 2-3 week turnaround.
• In-House Graphic Design Graphic design services bundled with custom apparel orders, supporting artwork creation, refinement, and Pantone color matching for screen printing and embroidery projects.
• Custom Embroidery Custom embroidery services for apparel and headwear, provided as an alternative or complement to screen printing for branded merchandise programs.
• Headwear Distribution (Richardson) Distribution of Richardson brand headwear, allowing customers to source premium branded hats alongside custom printing and embroidery services.
• Private Labeling Private label and relabeling services that allow brands to deliver retail-ready apparel and accessories under their own labeling.
• Pantone Color Matching Pantone color matching service that ensures printed apparel and accessories match brand-specified colors precisely across screen printing and embroidery.
• Ohio Wildflowers Tee Ohio-themed branded t-shirt sold directly to individual consumers through the Tonic Studios online shop at a fixed retail price.
• Hang In There Baby Tee Ohio-themed branded baby tee sold directly to individual consumers through the Tonic Studios online shop at a fixed retail price.
• From Ohio to the Moon Tee Ohio-themed branded t-shirt sold directly to individual consumers through the Tonic Studios online shop at a fixed retail price.
• Legit Ohio Tee Ohio-themed branded t-shirt sold directly to individual consumers through the Tonic Studios online shop at a fixed retail price.
• Mission Patch Branded patch sold directly to individual consumers through the Tonic Studios online shop at a fixed retail price.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2-3 week average turnaround time for custom orders
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• RichardsoncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTonic Studios is a registered Richardson Distributor, offering hundreds of exclusive, high-quality headwear options for any occasion. They provide decoration services including sewn patches, raised embroidery, etched leather, and various unique decorations on Richardson hats.
• Bella + CanvasminorOthersPreferred apparel supplier for blank garments. Bella + Canvas is one of the wholesale brands they source shirts from for custom printing orders.
• Alternative ApparelminorOthersPreferred apparel supplier for blank garments. Alternative is one of the wholesale brands they source shirts from for custom printing orders.
• Independent Trading Co.minorOthersPreferred apparel supplier for blank garments. Independent (Independent Trading Co.) is one of the wholesale brands they source shirts from for custom printing orders.
• GildanminorOthersPreferred apparel supplier for blank garments. Gildan is one of the wholesale brands they source shirts from for custom printing orders.
• TultexminorOthersPreferred apparel supplier for blank garments. Tultex is one of the wholesale brands they source shirts from for custom printing orders.
• Bria DavisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with illustrator Bria Davis on the 'Hang In There Baby' t-shirt design. Davis illustrated the North American marsupial (opossum) character featured on the shirt.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Printful: On-demand print and fulfillment platform for custom apparel. Comparable as a competing route for customers seeking custom-printed apparel, but uses print-on-demand/digital printing rather than traditional screen printing at scale.

Direct peers

• Underground Printing: Custom screen printing and apparel decoration company with multiple production locations. Closely comparable as a custom screen printing service provider offering decoration services to businesses, designers, and brands, but operating at much larger scale.
• Broken Arrow Wear: Custom apparel screen printer serving brands and organizations. Comparable as a custom screen printing service provider with similar SMB-to-mid-market customer orientation.
• Rush Order Tees: Custom screen-printed apparel provider specializing in quick turnaround orders. Comparable because it competes directly on custom t-shirt and apparel printing with a focus on speed — Tonic's stated 2-3 week turnaround is in the same competitive lane.
• Real Thread: Custom apparel decoration company offering screen printing, embroidery, and related services. Comparable in service mix (screen print + embroidery) and target customers (brands, agencies, organizations), though larger in scale.

Broad incumbents

• CustomInk: National custom apparel and screen printing platform serving businesses, teams, and organizations. Directly comparable because it offers the same core custom screen-printed apparel use case as Tonic, but at significantly larger scale with self-serve online design tooling.
• Vistaprint: Large-scale custom printing and marketing products provider. Comparable as a competitor in the broader custom apparel and branded merchandise space, but with a much wider product portfolio beyond apparel decoration.

Others

• Alphabroder: Wholesale apparel distributor supplying blank garments to the decoration industry. Comparable because Tonic sources from similar wholesale apparel suppliers; they sit on the upstream side of the same value chain.
• SanMar: Wholesale apparel and accessories supplier serving the imprintable apparel industry. Comparable as an upstream supplier relationship — Tonic sources comparable blank apparel brands (e.g., Gildan, Alternative) from similar wholesale channels.
• Richardson (headwear brand): Premium headwear brand whose products Tonic distributes and decorates. Comparable as a partnership-tier relationship and shared customer base in the decorated headwear segment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/tonicstudios614
• Xtwitter.com/tonicstudios614
• Instagraminstagram.com/tonicstudios614
• Pinterestpinterest.com/tonicstudios614

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tonic Studios - Screen Printing & Design