Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Fletterick
Hi Ryan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The idea of Cleveland Print Co. was initially started in late 2017 by Jeff Lee and Garth Phillips who set out to create a print shop that was affordable to musicians and artists alike. Following a healthy workflow right out of the gate, Ryan Fletterick was brought on to help with production, networking, and sales.
Tragedy would strike in early 2018 with the death of our initial founder/financier Jeff Lee. It was an unfortunate turning point which forced Phillips and Fletterick to now sit in the driver’s seat of being unexperienced proprietors wondering how to adequately run a business. The tone of 2018 was somber due to the inheritance of a business that was never really meant to be Phillips and Fletterick’s, however it was fully endorsed by Jeff Lee’s family to continue with Cleveland Print Co. and to finish what Jeff had started. Having the unwavering support of the Lee family made this unwanted transition much more bearable and without them Cleveland Print Co. may not be what it is today.
As time went on it was clear that both Phillips and Fletterick could run a healthy working business. They began working in tandem figuring out solutions to better serve the customer, coming up with sales to attract new clients, and also improving production strategies to improve efficiency. From 2018-2020 Cleveland Print Co. was a freshly greased machine humming with a potent consistency of quality work and a drive only comparable to the dedication of a migratory bird. Everything seemed to be falling in place until the world shut down in 2020.
It was a dreary Sunday on March 15th, 2020. Not much life existed in the streets and few cars were on the road. You could tell that the clouds in the sky wanted to rain but couldn’t muster the strength. Earlier on this day Mike Dewine would issue a lockdown forcing all non essential businesses to cease operations until further notice. Dewine’s speech coincided perfectly with the nature of the day: Cold, unnerving, and through no fault of his own, lacking any real direction. The news was unsettling, how could Cleveland Print Co. exist without production? How could Phillips and Fletterick maintain profitability without being able to function normally? The answer was simple: The business could sustain through e-commerce and on a tiny bit of frugality. Although 2020 was the least profitable year for Cleveland Print Co. it will still be regarded as one of the most rewarding years knowing that CPC was not defeated.
After overcoming lockdown there was a new sense of revitalized confidence for Cleveland Print Co. knowing that they could prevail over anything. The economy in 2021 was rebounding and folks were looking to print t-shirts for their bands, galleries, restaurants, events, or anything in between. Although Fletterick and Phillips were still adjusting to a new life outside of lockdown, the acclimation process did not take long and soon after they began seeing printing requests from new and bigger customers like Market Garden Brewery, Earthquaker Devices, Heartwood Coffee Roasters, and even Rover’s Morning Glory. Having larger clients allowed Fletterick and Phillips to spend more time on their smaller clients since the profits were already there. This outlook has shaped Cleveland Print Co. into the print shop it is today bringing in a healthy expansion of networks, improved output, faster communications, and even an additional partner, Logan Shepard.
Resilient to change, Cleveland Print Co. still maintains their initial ethos of serving artists and musicians first. Cleveland Print Co. consists of three owners: Garth Phillips, Ryan Fletterick, and Logan Shepard all of whom are dedicated artists serving the greater Cleveland Scene in both visual and auditory arts.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Some of the challenges and lessons I’ve learned along the way are to be patient and to never feel that your effort is wasted time; regardless of how much time you spend on something- even if it doesn’t work out- there’s still valuable knowledge to be gained from that experience. One of my favorite t-shirts we ever printed was from a design sent to us by a friend named Matthew Goik. On the back print of said t-shirt it read “Effort Won’t Betray You” and I kid you not ever since seeing that I’ve kind of utilized that in my head as words to live by. We as humans experience many failures and it’s easy to overlook the knowledge gained in a failure, which is a lesson in itself.
Another challenging aspect that me and my team has learned is that the only constant is change in the screen printing world. You might receive a product/chemical that works brilliantly for a couple years, only to order it one day and have it not work the same way it did on your previous purchase. This can literally be so frustrating and when it happens you will need to not only report the incident to your distributor in hopes of a refund, but you will then need to find a new alternative product that works in the same way. Because chemicals that work in screen printing can also work in other industries, suppliers are often caught attempting to alter/reuse chemicals to stretch its sellability, functional use, and overall profitability. We first started seeing this happen around the Covid era.
To say whether or not it’s been smooth or easy is a matter of relevancy. On one hand you need to go through rocky waters to ultimately get spit out by a waterfall only to land in a smooth lake or pool, but what if we could just bypass the rocky waters and waterfall to just be in the pool? While you’d think that you could source any question you want from an online search engine, with screen printing there is a finesse that requires pure trial and error: You simply must traverse through the rocky waters in order to get to salvation, there is no way to bypass the rocky waters. I think that’s why most screen printers are passionate about their skills! Chances are they’ve worked on their knowledge for many years and had to deal with some pretty intense hurdles.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in the production of music and video! In Cleveland I am known to be a musician however I run a instagram page that’s filled with quirky and artistic videos which serve as a vessel to attach self produced songs to. My stage and online persona is called Songs For An Unknown God. The name itself is ambiguous and needs not to be overthought however I do enjoy hearing how people analyze it.
I think what I’m most proud about myself is having the ability to be a multi-faceted artist which allows for me to complete most things on my own from video, printing t-shirts, some design work, writing music, recording music, etc. In this world- so hyper and eager for the next best thing- we as artists simply cannot rely on other people to fulfill their own visions. I believe we need to immerse ourselves in the new medium and simply figure it out. Unless you are balling that is… Which I am not haha.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite Childhood memory is watching early VH1 and MTV music videos and gaining inspiration to dress cool and think outside of the status quo. I never enjoyed TRL or some of the reality shows that came around the Y2K era, but to deny that these stations weren’t onto something releasing videos like Prodigy’s “Breathe” or Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity” would be preposterous! Another cool video that will stick with me forever is TLC’s “Scrub.” The set designs, choreography, music, etc had such a profound effect on shaping my outlook on music and art. I have always enjoyed most genres of music and I’d have to say this is where it all comes from. Fortunately music goes hand and hand with screen printing as artists need shirts, so in typing these responses I can really see how and why I ended up a screen printer (haha). Also and most importantly, my early appreciation for music and video has clearly shaped who I am as a multimedia artist: I don’t think I would exist as Songs For An Unknown God without these memories.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.clevelandprintco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clevelandprintco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clevelandprintco
Image Credits
First Image of Ryan Fletterick playing guitar was taken by Cidney Bundon
All other photos were done by Dan Laguardia
