About Us

Who Are We?

The Art Department Custom T-shirt Printer in 1982

The Art Department was started to provide quality custom printed apparel. We started in a small garage on April 20th, 1982 in Redondo Beach, CA.

We opened our first shop location in Hermosa Beach, CA in November the same year. We quickly outgrew the location and moved back to Redondo Beach in 1986 where we’ve been since.

We don’t just print custom t-shirts, we supply embroidery, custom banners, printing on banners, signs, business cards, etc. We are a one-stop shop. If we don’t provide the printing services you need, we’ll help you find someone who will. We serve people through relationships, working to maintain lifelong connections, from school t-shirts to Family Reunions and much more in Redondo Beach, Hawthorne, Torrance, and Gardena, CA. Contact us today to learn more!

“The Art Department has been fabulous with all of our printing needs including business cards, Christmas cards, marketing signs, T-shirts, embroidering messenger bags for employee gifts, etc. Phil is a wonderful artist in his own right and has gone above and beyond in helping us design our T-shirts and cards. The quality has always been spot on, quick turnaround (even during the holiday season) and the price is reasonable.” Katie B

Phil’s Story

T-shirt Printing Redondo Beach

I knew I was going to start my own business. My choice of business would have to be in the art field. After school, I was hired by a small graphics company (REP Graphics) as an artist’s apprentice. I learned all types of Custom Printing on just about every service. I later worked for Hughes aircraft in their art department and later in their drafting department. After Hughes, I was hired as an artist in a resort wear company printing customized shirts, California Lifestyles, I knew what kind of business I wanted to start. It took over two years working in my spare time to build a 4 color custom tees printing press and shirt dryer.

On April 20th,1982, I launched out on my own from a garage in Redondo Beach, CA.

Best T-shirt Printer, Torrance, CA

I opened my t shirt shop location later that year and within 3 years, had outgrown it.

I moved to our present custom shop location in 1985 and have been growing ever since. Today, The Art Department has 2 manual t-shirt presses and 2 automatic shirt presses capable of printing over 5000 impressions a day.