Life & Work with Carl McMahon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carl McMahon.

Hi Carl, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The journey from manually pasting up a business card in my father’s printing company when I was nine years old to owning and operating Tiki Monkey Apparel Printing is quite a long story, and being a true Southerner I would gladly spend an hour telling it to you. But the short version is that I grew up in the printing industry, and as a result found an affinity for graphic design, which I enthusiastically pursued after the sale of the family business.

I have held design positions along the way in everything from a Speedy Print shop, to Fluor Global Engineering and Construction, to serving as the Graphic Designer/Art Director in Marketing for The Breakers Hotel, a Mobil Five Star, AAA Five Diamond resort in Palm Beach. The spark of inspiration that would eventually ignite Tiki Monkey, combining my print background and love of graphic design, came while pulling out of a gas station on Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach. The image of a t-shirt based on the then popular South Carolina flag trend flashed in my head, and an hour later I had my South Kakalaki t-shirt design ready to send to a screen-printer.

After successfully marketing and outsourcing this design for about two years the decision was made to produce them myself, and maybe do a little work for anyone else who might need shirts or design work. I took a job as an inexperienced production gopher in a local shop, learned the process from start to finish, and started a humble, inauspicious business by buying some used equipment from a friend who was getting out of the business.

Today we specialize in business-to-business and contract screen printing, and graphic design for a wide range of clients and groups which include The Department of Homeland Security, Proterra, The South Carolina Governor’s School, Clemson University, several area high schools as well as The Greenville County School System, The Blood Connection of the Carolinas and The Boys and Girls Clubs of America. We also perform work for many area businesses and groups, and design and produce our own line of proprietary merchandise.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The focus on my career has made many of my decisions very easy to make. But of course, there have been highs and lows. Mainly in transitioning from one aspect of this career path to the next. While design and print are symbiotic, they are not the same, not to mention that I was laser-focused on design, and then had to learn how to produce a physical product from the ground up.

During those lean days catching shirts and watching other people in order to learn how to produce them I became quite the connoisseur of the myriad choices in ramen noodles (and creative in its preparation, I might add). When I found myself in a room with my own equipment it became very clear very fast that I needed to learn how to run a business rather than simply work for one if I was to succeed.

But of course, loving what you do makes almost any adversity a challenge to be met with optimism and excitement, and this is probably what I love the most about this job.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
While I received training in art and graphic design, I didn’t go to SCAD, Ringling, Creative Circus, or Portfolio School. I am mostly self-taught, following something I learned from my childhood. I had asked for a drum kit when I was eleven years old, and in my years of playing never had a lesson. But I practiced religiously and listened to the greats, John Bonham, Stewart Copeland, Steve Gadd, and of course Neil Peart.

I put on their records and I played horribly every day until I could do what they did, and once that happened my own style started to emerge and it carried me to a skill level where I played professionally with a touring band, putting out an EP, a CD, and even getting a mention in SPIN Magazine. In fact, I’m still a drummer to this day. Same with design. Before I had any formal training I just dove into it, damned the torpedoes, and made all kinds of mistakes. It was awful. Too many fonts in one design, kerning so wide you could drive a truck through it, using all caps with a script typeface, making the design more important than the message it was supposed to communicate.

You name a design flaw and it probably happened, just like picking up those sticks for the first few years. But I paid attention to what I saw, emulated it, using what I had learned and produced to get accepted into the Greenville County Museum School of Art, and then furthered the training at my local tech school to round out proficiency in graphics programs. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I learned a lot more than what I had signed up for.

The point is that if you love it, whatever it is, just put your head down and do it. My father always taught me that 90% of success is just showing up to do the work. And I’ve found that this is really the key.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
We have worked with many artists, creatives, musicians, entrepreneurs, and established business owners who are looking to form brands, get their name out there and get noticed, and gain or increase visibility in their markets. We always say that a t-shirt is a walking billboard, and who wouldn’t love to have their logo or brand walking around all over town?

We listen to the client, find out what the need is, and then tailor the design and printing to that specific need. After that, just pick out the perfect shirt to put it on and you’re in business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thetikimonkey.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thetikimonkey
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thetikimonkey