Meet Mike (Cube) Sherrill, Mitch Farrer and Daniel Petersen of TH!S Art-Print-Design

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Sherrill, Mitch Farrer and Daniel Petersen.

So, before we jump into specific questions about your art, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
TH!S is an Art, Print and Design firm based out of Denver, Colorado. We have been in business for eight years and counting. It was started as a creative outlet between five friends. Initially, we were doing various art projects and commissions for clients by ourselves, and occasionally helping each other out. We decided to team up under one roof. It allowed us to offer the services and capabilities of each member as a professional business and one name. We called it TH!S.

Our intention was to create our own art inspired brand of apparel, gear and artwork while offering our creative skills to help others accomplish their design needs. We have had owners, employees, interns and contributing artists come and go through the years, and none of TH!S would have been possible without the help of every last one of them. As it sits now, TH!S is ran by two of the original owners, Mike Sherrill and Mitch Farrer, along with a new member, Daniel Petersen, that has been with us for about a year.

Our original location was in Aurora, where we conducted business for over seven years. That shop was all tricked out with custom graphics throughout the complex. The shop included a mini-ramp and all sorts of other fun stuff. We recently moved into a new spot right in the heart of the 40West Art district in Lakewood. This area is really making great moves in the Denver art scene, and we could not be happier with our new location! First Fridays in this area are always popping off and offer us a great outlet to get our brand and business out to a broader audience. We look forward to growing TH!S in this new location, alongside the other creatives in the district here!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Creating and running a business is not an easy feat by any means. When you’re just an artist, your focus is making your own personal art. So, starting a professional brand and design firm, all of the sudden, you have to pivot and learn what it takes to run a business, which is a whole other skill set. There are many overhead costs that must be taken care of before we get paid and managing those funds while still trying to turn a profit can be daunting. We have structured a good system to help manage that, but it is always a work in progress balancing cost and competitive pricing, while also billing out what you are worth. Making a living in the creative/art industry is amazing but comes with its challenges. We put in a lot of time and it seems that we are always on the clock. Sometimes we do not feel that all that hard work is paying off as well as it should. Some months are better than others and some jobs pay better than others. You gotta take pride in what you do, and continue to stay creative while keeping it fun. A satisfied client that is really excited about their project is always a welcomed boost to remind us why we are here doing TH!S!

They say don’t ever go into business with your friends. We’ve definitely had our share of tough situations with that but have been fortunate to maintain solid relationships with everyone that has been involved. We have had some of the greatest people on board with TH!S since day one, and are lucky that it all has ran relatively smoothly with hardworking, dedicated people involved.

When we started TH!S, we had no real working capital or investment to get it going and keep it going. Over the years, we have built a bit of a buffer to make sure we stay afloat, especially in times like these, when the whole world seems to slow down. There is no promise or guarantee that TH!S will be there. It really is on all of us involved to make TH!S happen. If we don’t show up, the work does not get done. There is a lot riding on just staying motivated to show up and get things accomplished every day.

Getting your name out there and creating a customer base is a huge part as well. We are constantly networking and really rely on word of mouth and happy customers to spread the word of TH!S. We don’t really do any formal advertising, and never really have. The fact that we have been able to succeed and continue to grow purely on guerilla marketing is amazing. We keep growing slowly but surely and are grateful that it has been like that for TH!S! Once again, shout out to our customers, supporters and clients that make all TH!S happen for us!

So, as you know, we’re impressed with TH!S Art-Print-Design – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
We offer a whole slew of services geared towards Art, Print, and Design. Stickers/vinyl graphics, screen printed garments or posters and logo/graphic design are really our bread and butter. Murals/wall art and other creative outputs also fall in the realm of our capabilities.

We love making stickers! I mean, who doesn’t love an awesome sticker! Stickers can be digitally printed in full color all kinds of different ways and sizes. We print branding logos, custom art, large wall or vehicle graphics, and then down to tiny labels or packaging. If you want to print it and stick it to something, we can make it happen! We also offer decal style stickers, one color vinyl cut to any shape, in just about any color you want. These are great for logos on windows, doors, and vehicles or simple logo layouts for brands or products. This style of sticker can be utilized in a lot of creative ways too. We use them to create art pieces via sticker as stencil, and layer that vinyl to create unique effects that reach outside the box of standard graphics. We have actually used this technique to create a few large scale murals as well!

When it comes to screen printing, we run it pretty old school hands-on. We have a manually operated six color four stations press. Pulling ink manually as opposed to automated can be a lot of work, but we really appreciate the art and attention to detail that comes from this process. Mitch is our screen printing master and crushes it! We print a lot of various types of apparel for businesses, brands, and artists. We also really enjoy printing posters for musicians, bands, and tours. We’ll print art they bring to us but also get excited to have the opportunity to create original designs that fit what those artists bring to the table musically. Getting to add our own taste to the world of show poster art is very gratifying! Silkscreen printing is a very adaptable art resource and we try to utilize it to its most potential to create awesome products for people.

One of our favorite type of projects to work on are murals. It is so satisfying and fun to make art on a large scale! Being a design firm, we are generally creating and tailoring the art to the business who contract us for the piece. We pride ourselves on making something that fits their aesthetic along with creating a finished piece that looks just like the digital mock-up of the design we provided. We use multiple techniques to do murals depending on wall type, size, graphic and end goal. Hand-painted, spray paint, vinyl stencil, or digitally printed wall wraps are all types of large scale art we are capable of. All are fun and end up looking great! I feel like the end product of a mural is one of the most satisfying types of projects we do. From start to finish, there’s a lot of work that goes into it, and we always go above and beyond for murals to make sure they are the best possible final product we can create. Seeing a project through on that scope is always amazing for us and for our customer!

Obviously, graphic design is the core piece everything we do here at TH!S. Every single project involves completely original design or some sort of editing/refining to accomplish! We love helping clients create logos/imagery and then using that in all of our various outlets to make a finished product. We try to offer a complete start to finish creative service. One thing that we run into often is people not having all the different types of files or high-quality imagery they need to make a polished product. Whenever we are tasked for design, we make sure to provide every type of file or layout they may need for a cohesive design/branding/production process. There really is no limit to the design side of what we do at TH!S!

Aside from our typical projects and services mentioned above, we try to take on the odd projects that provoke a different outlook or application to accomplish. We pride ourselves on thinking outside the box when it comes to solutions for those types of projects. Those things you may not be able to get from a big box firm that offers one type of service. We are happy to work closely and personally with customers to accomplish these types of unique projects.

Our client base is well spread throughout all industries, but a lot of our main clients come from the live music world through bands and venues. On top of everything we do here, we all also work at various music venues in town, helping us understand all types of music and their particular fan following/styles. That relationship is symbiotic and leads to tons of great business opportunities and networking connections for TH!S! We work with all sorts of other clientele as well, including small business, retail shops, restaurants and bars, dispensaries and the MMJ industry, trade and craftsman making unique items, and artists of all sorts. If you’re creative, TH!S has your back!

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are excited to expand and contribute here in the 40west Arts District! Lots of room for growth in this community and looking forward to where this leads us!

Being creatives ourselves, we would like to take TH!S to a new level in the near future. Potentially hiring on some people not only to help us but to support them in their creative ventures as well. Bringing in new eyes and perspectives to integrate into what we do will help us reach into a higher level of production and offerings. We have also looked into new equipment and products that can expand on what TH!S can provide. Higher production printing capabilities and a broader variety of materials that we can print to. Once budget allows, we will grow that aspect of TH!S as we can. Having a family to help us out will be crucial.

TH!S will keep cranking as long as this city and the glorious people here continue to support us! We want to be known as a creative force here in Denver. We are going to continue to grow our client base and spread our art all over this wonderful city! There’s no end in sight for TH!S and we look forward to many years to come!

Contact Info:

• Address: 7055 W. 16th Ave.
  Lakewood, CO 80214
• Website: www.thisproject.net
• Phone: 303-341-4123
• Email: thisinfo@thisproject.net
• Instagram: @thisdenver
• Facebook: TH!S

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