Artistic Invasion is a decorated apparel and customization business built on grit, reinvention, and deep community roots. Owner Bill Richardson started the Anderson, Indiana-based business after a career change and has grown it from a small laser engraving side hustle into a diversified operation that spans contract screen printing, embroidery, UV printing, lasers, and digital decoration. He’s integrated InkSoft and Printavo into his workflow to improve how he sells online, schedules jobs, automates tasks, and fine-tunes customer quotes. 

A Career Change and a New Business

Before stepping into the apparel and customization world, Bill spent over 20 years in law enforcement. Around 2008, he decided it was time for a change. 

“I didn’t want to do it the rest of my life, so I started looking at other things,” he explains. 

Initially, Bill was interested in the booming car wrap market, but during his market research, he developed an interest in laser engraving. From his background in law enforcement, he had experience with Photoshop and digital forensics, both of which translated well to custom engraving work.

Around 2010, he purchased his first laser and started taking on industrial marking and trophy work. From there, demand naturally expanded to complementary products, such as banners and decals. 

As customer requests grew, Bill noticed that many customers were also interested in custom apparel, so he began exploring how to expand into that category. 

Scaling Up Through Smart Investments

Starting with a direct-to-garment printer, Bill’s apparel orders started to grow, and he began outsourcing screen printing orders to the original owner of Artistic Invasion. 

“It got to the point where I was sending him about as much as what he was bringing in, so we ended up merging companies,” Bill explains. Two years later, he bought him out and took over Artistic Invasion. 

For the remainder of the 2010s, Artistic Invasion continued to evolve and solidify its position as a one-stop shop for all things customization, ensuring that Bill and his team maintained long-term customers. They added more equipment, including roll-to-roll and flatbed UV printers, as well as embroidery machinery. Eventually, the business also adopted DTF production as its popularity grew, too. 

Building a Community with InkSoft Stores 

Bill’s relationships from his years in law enforcement helped accelerate Artistic Invasion’s growth, and the business began growing its name as a community asset in its own right.

DTF dramatically sped up fulfillment and became a cornerstone for their 60+ year-round online stores.

“Online stores were the catalyst,” Bill adds. “Business ramped up with DTF once we started using them.”

InkSoft stores streamline how Artistic Invasion’s customers, such as schools, nonprofits, and community groups, manage fundraising campaigns and fulfillment, without slowing down production. 

During the pandemic, Bill and his team also pivoted and partnered with other creative businesses. They joined forces with local tattoo artists, including his former business partner at Artistic Invasion, to create custom shirts and swag that they sold online, helping to keep them afloat.

“The tattoo artists had huge followings, so we would screen print the orders and give them some money back for their artistry,” Bill notes. 

Meanwhile, Artistic Invasion was also able to generate enough revenue to weather the lockdown, alongside printing for a handful of essential and government clients.
Since then, they’ve helped revive local traditions, such as the Gas Light Festival, a local annual event that highlights Anderson’s legacy in natural gas innovations, by designing a new logo and assisting with promotional materials. For regional sports, they support low-income youth basketball leagues, discounting jerseys to ensure access for every player. 

They also partner closely with their local fire department, running fundraisers that feature merchandise with cultural significance.

“For our fire department fundraiser, InkSoft stores made it easy to facilitate all the orders and write them a nice check at the end,” says Bill. 

Refining Operations with Printavo 

Beyond community outreach, Artistic Invasion utilizes Printavo to maintain smooth and organized daily production across its services. 

Bill’s team relies heavily on:

  • Automations
  • Tasks
  • Non-apparel product workflows
  • Flexible quoting for diverse product types

“We do so much beyond apparel, like printed products, lasered goods, trophies, and signage,” he notes. “Printavo made it easier to incorporate those different types of businesses.”

Still Growing and Looking Ahead 

Today, nearly every local school has an InkSoft store through Artistic Invasion, keeping them deeply rooted in the community. 

They’ve also expanded, with a second location that focuses on contract screen printing work. The contract operation is located about two and a half hours north of Anderson in Mishawaka, where they utilize a proprietary production management software setup. The company also now collaborates with multiple marketing agencies across the U.S., taking on short turnaround branding jobs that range from alcohol brands to unconventional items, such as Ooni pizza ovens.

As Artistic Invasion continues to expand, Bill is focused on integrating logistics between the two locations, expanding the staff, and continually growing their online store lineup. 

More recently, the business won the Inktavo Shop of the Year Award for its creativity and community leadership. 

“At this phase, we’re regrouping, analyzing the market, and seeing where it takes us,” Bill adds. “With the online stores, we’re going to grow even further, and I think it’s one of the easiest tools out there to process orders.”