Seahawks Make their Mark with Color Graphics

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By Kathryn Millhorn

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Co-owner Kiley Gustafson and his dad–company founder Fred Gustafson–affix the NFL’s official hologram sticker to a finished NFC Championship shirt.

Everywhere you turn you’ll hear, “wow, what a game!” One sports announcer acknowledged that the Seahawks played the entire NFC Championship in the last five minutes, keeping everyone on the edge of their seats (if they hadn’t left already!).

Nail-biters like these are what game day is all about. But when the outcome is a championship title, with merchandise commemorating the big win, NFL licensed screenprinters like Tumwater’s Color Graphics are on their feet well past the game’s final call.

The road to the Seahawks glory began many months ago for Color Graphics. After 30 years in the business, they’d built strong relationships throughout their industry. Recommendations from friends in California, which worked their way through NFL channels, resulted in a contract to print officially licensed shirts celebrating the 2014 Superbowl and now the 2015 Division Championships.

Once they’d been granted the contract, based on decades of professional workmanship, precision, and skilled employees, Color Graphics had to engage in many back and forth test prints to guarantee accuracy, color saturation, and overall quality. But, says co-owner Voshte Demmert-Gustafson, it was worth every step because “we were excited and proud, passionate even; we love the Seahawks too!” Case in point: she attended the big game on Sunday, but kept in touch with her family by text throughout the day.

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At peak output, Color Graphics printed 450 shirts per hour throughout Sunday night.

This division title meant that approximately 4,300 shirts were printed, packed, and shipped, with the first delivery truck arriving for pick-up at 9:00 p.m. Sunday night. After that there were pick-ups at 1:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. with merchandise going to many local Target and Wal-Mart stores around the region. While sales and marketing staff had the weekend off, it was all hands on deck (kids and dogs too!), for Sunday’s massive job. Voshte’s husband and business co-owner Kiley Gustafson’s mom brought snacks and soda while his dad helped with the printing.

Compared to the Superbowl print-job of more than 7,500 shirts, the division title is a marginally easier task. The huge, rotating screen-print machine used for the night is their highest quality printer, with flash drying lights to set and seal between color applications. This multi-head color application and drying process ensures, as Kiley’s father Fred—the shop’s founder—explained “the sharpest color saturation, especially for the bright whites.” Kiley estimated that they’d be producing 450 shirts each hour at the peak. The NFL strives to use local printers for their shirts, so this was one of only a handful in the state working on championship memorabilia.

color graphics
Color Graphic’s Seahawks 2015 NFC Championship shirts will be sold at Target and Wal-Mart stores around our region.

Color Graphics is a union and Alaska-native owned shop that has been around since 1984. They provide embroidery, awards, and promotional products as well as screenprinting, and work with many local businesses and Tribes. Voshte calls it a “full service operation” and “great local resource” to groups and organizations with advertising needs. They also create trade show marketing and corporate giveaway items as well.

Hopefully the dust has settled and a majority of the Color Graphics staff got to sleep in after putting in a long, loud, smelly, festive, caffeine-fueled night. They’ll need to rest up so they can be ready for the big Superbowl push in less than two weeks. Yup, they’ll be printing those shirts when—not ‘if’—we win.

Color Graphics is located at 2540 Crites St SW in Tumwater, off Mottman road near South Puget Sound Community College. Companies interested in their services should call 360-352-3970 for a quote.

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