SOUTH DEERFIELD — While Dead Eye Prints, a company that produces customized T-shirts, posters and patches out of Alex Noonan’s basement, may look modest from the outside, Noonan went through a lot to get here.
Noonan founded her company in 2017 and made T-shirts in her Hadley kitchen. Screen printing was something she first learned at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. She fell in love with it.
Noonan, tired of her tech job and wishing to be a full-time printer, decided to take a leap of faith and work for her printing company full time. She quit her job in tech and decided to start her own business, based at her River Road home in South Deerfield.
Part of Noonan’s career change involved saving up to buy an expensive piece of equipment called a direct-to-garment printer, or DTG.
“Buying this meant I could never turn down an order,” Noonan said, elaborating that her DTG can print infinite colors and on a variety of products including hats and shoes.
Noonan enjoys screen printing but it is time-consuming and can lead to errors. “Screen printing is time-consuming and frustrating,” she said.
Noonan worked in New England for several printing companies before she opened Dead Eye Prints. Most of these were run by men. She felt compelled to create her own business because she didn’t like working under male bosses. She hopes to one day run a shop with employees where she may cultivate a less stressful work environment than the ones she’s experienced, and where she can offer classes to share her skills with others.
Western Massachusetts residents have embraced her “leap of faith,” Noonan said.
“There is excitement and appreciation to have a local artist doing this work,” she said. “When you order from large companies, you have no clue what the quality will be.”
She said that her equipment is of high quality and that she puts a lot effort into every product she makes.
“I’m an artist,” she said. “I want stuff to look good.”
Noonan explained that customers can bring their ideas to her and she will help them create designs for T-shirts. There are no minimum order requirements, unlike other printing companies.
For more information, visit deadeyeprints.com.