Feature Story

Custom Printing, an Artistic Enterprise:

RetroDuck owner Adam Van Lent tests screens for a project on a blank t-shirt Tuesday afternoon. Van Lent finely tunes the designs and screens before beginning the final steps to printing an entire order. "You have to make sure that the screens aren't missing spots they aren't supposed to and that the spots that should have are not blocked," said Van Lent.

RetroDuck graphic designer Dustin Grimes works on a project Tuesday afternoon. Grimes has been working at the East Lansing based t-shirt custom printing business for only a month but his work is already being seen all over. RetroDuck creates and prints t-shirts for anything from date parties to bar crawls.

RetroDuck owner Adam Van Lent, right, and graphic designer Dustin Grimes go over a current project shortly before closing Monday evening. Van Lent and Grimes along with a print expert make up the custom print shop which was founded by Van Lent and fellow MSU alumnus Sean Maday in 2003.

A map of North America is riddled with push-pins indicating locations where RetroDuck Custom Screen Printing has done business. The East Lansing based t-shirt printing company, which was created in 2003 by two MSU students has seen business all across the globe.

RetroDuck owner Adam Van Lent looks over laminates before pressing them onto screens Tuesday afternoon in the back room of the East Lansing based t-shirt custom print shop. RetroDuck was founded by Sean Maday in 2003 while Van Lent was enrolled at Northern Arizona University. Van Lent transferred to MSU and joined Maday in co-owning the small but efficient business. Van Lent runs RetroDuck now that Maday has left the state.