We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brian Vanderpool a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brian, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Our mission at the Design Lab is to provide a creative space for local and out of town creators, while putting out our own creative works, as well. We are more than your average screen printing/graphic design company. In addition to the normal screen printing and embroidery work, we also offer photography services and studio time for up and coming photographers to produce and edit their work in a more creative space. We also provide consultation and production services for those looking to start and produce their own clothing lines.

Brian, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Being into fashion practically all of my life pushed me into wanting to customize clothing for myself. Wearing my own custom gear sparked others to want their own custom gear. A lot of times our clients have no idea what they actually want, they just know they want their ideas on clothing. We get to know them a little better by talking to them and asking the right questions to bring out their vision. Then we add our design ideas and we eventually create greatness. We provide an exciting opportunity for aspiring clothing brand owners to design, produce, market and launch their vision.

Moments that are the proudest are when we see these brands succeed. We are just a fraction of what their vision can become. To see their passion come to life and bloom into a profitable business for them is priceless.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I’m originally from Syracuse, NY. When I moved to Jacksonville I wanted to make a name for myself. So, I started designing custom Dickie work shirts for local artists and DJs in the city. I made sure I was in the clubs every weekend. Once the shirts started taking off, there became a demand for them. Then I opened up a store in the local flea market for a few years. Then I got into opening up my own barbershop and sold clothes and sneakers out of there. I had a barber by the name of Angel Raws who was starting to compete in barber battles. After winning his first battle I told him he couldn’t compete in anymore battles without a custom shirt or barber jacket. Needless to say, we had to keep up with customizing new gear for every battle. Not only was his barbering skills being recognized, but so was his one of a kind clothing. That started the demand for custom barber apparel everywhere he went. We then created and launched the Barber Life brand, offering custom barber jackets and Barber Life t-shirts. We slowly added hats, keychains, towels and aprons.

All of this happened as I was working full time as a state juvenile correctional officer. Orders for barber apparel and custom gear in the local club scene was becoming more and more demanding. Creating designs and actually printing them myself gave me the opportunity to see firsthand how the business worked. Then after trying to breakup a fight in the correctional facility, I was injured and had to be out for knee surgery. This gave me time to work on more designs and put together a plan so that I didn’t have to wear that uniform again. After healing from the surgery, I went back for almost a month and then gave my resignation and made my side hustle a full time career.

Ultimately, outside screen printing jobs and the constant designing of barber apparel helped launch the Design Lab. Having to keep the marketing aspect of the brand gave me the idea to offer complete branding services from development to retail. Designs, merchandise, production, advertising, marketing and an overall presentation for customers all in one stop is what sets us apart in this industry.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

There was a restaurant next to my barbershop. One day I went over to pick up lunch and a guy was passing out flyers for his screen printing business. I contacted him a few times to do some shirts for the barbershop. Then one day I told him I wanted to learn how to screen print and asked if he could he teach me. He said “sure” and the rest is history.

Being self-taught himself, Dave Meyer showed me all he knew about screen printing. Since that day we have been learning and growing together in this industry. Little did I know that he had lost his job the day before I initially saw him and his wife told him to make some flyers and go pass them out. I actually met him on his first day passing out his flyers.

Contact Info:

• Website: Working on it
• Instagram: DESIGNLABJAX
• Facebook: DESIGN LAB JAX

Image Credits
@RDMuzik and Rashotya