Jack of all trades Steve Decusatis joins us this week to talk about snowboarding, Europe, and Philly's penchant for producing top tier design talent. 

Browse his site to discover more of his work and enjoy 20% off all of his on-demand items through Sunday, August 17 with coupon code featurefriday20 at checkout. Now on to the chat!

Before we get too deep into your process and experiences, I have to know: is there something in the water in Philadelphia? We've chatted with Martha Rich, Mario Zucca, Maria Tina Beddia… it's no question your city has produced the most interviewees in this series.

What's the design community there like? Is it so big that you have little interaction or is it tight knit with plenty of collaboration? Whatever the answer, Philly is doing it right. The collection of talent is impressive!

There just might be! Take the Schuylkill and mix in a splash from the Delaware, and there you have it. I'm in good company here with the people you mentioned. All great folks-and extremely talented!

I've known Mario since school; we studied together at Tyler School of Art and have collaborated a bunch over the years doing logos, apparel, icons, etc. We even spoke at a conference together about our collaborations. Big high-five to Mario!

Martha is super cool. Martha and Mario spoke at a Philly lecture that I hosted many years ago called Multifaceted. Come to think of it, Martha and Mario have both done some snowboard illustrations with me. Maria took part in two PhilaMRKT events as a vendor, and her illustrations are dope.

PhilaMRKT is a pop-up marketplace hosted by Mario Zucca, Josh Carter, and myself. We feature Philly's best designers, illustrators, printmakers, independent artists, and more.

The design community is wonderful here. It's one of those cities that feels like a small town; especially when you're at a design event. There are some very talented designers (and illustrators) in the Philly area and new talent emerges often. It's inspiring.

That's some sort of cocktail! Your city definitely has a few of our favorite CB folks (don't tell the others).

You mentioned two very interesting points that I want to followup on. First, and more simply, what's your favorite snowboard destination? You can certainly do worse than our Appalachian resorts in PA, but having recently experienced Breckenridge and Park City, holy moly the Rockys are a different animal.

Snowboarding is such a fun way to get outdoors and be creative. I started riding in 1994 and have immense passion for it, even though I don't get out too often.

My favorite destination would be Killington or Pico, and we lived nearby for a few years. From Philadelphia for a day trip, I would say Bear Creek or Blue Mountain are two solid options.

Vermont is next on my list! I've heard Killington is a great East Coast resort. And Blue Mountain looks pretty awesome. Really at this point I'll take any non-90°-full-humidity weather.

Okay a little more topical, tell me more about PhilaMRKT. How did it get started? What's unique about it? Does the city have the grease the lamp posts when you have the event?

I'm typing this on a day with a high of 95º, so any mountain right now would be incredible!

PhilaMRKT is super cool, I must admit. It's a pop-up event where we take over a space and fill it with graphic designers and illustrators. Most artist markets are more "artsy" and we're more "designy" if that makes sense. It's fun, community-focused, and we started it in 2017.

The vendors set up shop and sell their goods, and before the events we promote the heck out of it. No grease needed, haha. You can check out our website or @PhilaMRKT on Instagram for a glimpse into the events. Josh, Mario, and I are kinda on a bit of a hiatus, but PhilaMRKT could resurface again.

The 'designy' market is definitely evident. It's very cool to see the community creating such exposure. It's a great collection of talent but clearly features a lot of variety as well. That seems par for the course with you personally, no? An Italian study abroad program with history, language, and cinema courses… that's a full experience! How did the time away affect your work, in regards to both juggling projects and expanding your skillset?

Yes, I like variety. It's the generalist vs. specializing debate that's tough for me sometimes. I love designing logos, but I also like doing packaging design, apparel design, snowboard design, etc. I also love being a student as much as I can to learn new things.

Studying at Temple's Rome Campus has been amazing. I've completed their adult study abroad program twice now, with different classes, professors, and classmates each time. This time around, I had a wonderful drawing class-highly recommended. Luckily, I was able to juggle some ongoing design projects while being there. I usually spent my evening hours catching up on emails and keeping designs moving forward. A nightly gelato break didn't hurt the momentum.

Speaking as a fellow generalist, I 100% get this mentality. And I have a few questions about your versatility, but we're going to keep this one simple: What was the best thing you saw or did in Rome and will there be a third trip some day?

Trying to keep this one simple: Arriving in Rome on the first day of the Conclave was special. Witnessing the energy and global news reporters in St. Peter's Square during such a historic time was unique. Another trip to Rome? Absolutely.

That's so cool! It's definitely a bucket list trip. And with minimal interruption to your work projects, it sounds like you're getting the best of both worlds. But I do want to focus on the business side of things for a second…

Clearly AI design has become more prevalent over the past few years. Have you seen an impact to your logo or packaging work? Either positively through its usefulness as a tool or negatively with client expectations and demand? I also wonder if you're set up to be in a stronger long term position because of your proficiency in multiple areas. A wider scope means more security, no?

It's hard to say too much about the direct impact of AI. I think having a diverse set of skills is important for designers. Adaptability, creativity, and flexibility are crucial. I've been leaning into teaching a bit more lately as well.

Teaching is such a great way to give back to a community you're active in. I don't think there's anything more valuable than hearing from successful business owners and accomplished designers about their methods and experiences.

Has the teaching process mainly been facilitated through a studio, online classes, or more student based school systems? I'd expect to see a younger demographic more invested and enthusiastic about generated art. Have you noticed a similar theme?

Thank you! Teaching is wonderful. Challenging at times, but overall impactful. I've been teaching at Philadelphia and NJ universities part-time for almost 20 years.

I touch on some of the generative AI tools via Adobe. For example, the Generative Color feature in Illustrator and the Generative Fill feature in Photoshop. Some of the students are into it. These tools are useful at times. I like to show multiple ways to handle design scenarios. It's important to explore and improvise. Generative Fill is insanely powerful. Adobe even has a similar feature in InDesign now. It's totally wild what you can do!

Agreed. The possibilities are some weird combination of exciting, scary, and intimidating. I think we've done our due diligence on your process and experience. Let's wrap up with this one…

Many of your CB designs revolve around Philly even though it's the second best city in the state (😉). If the Acme cheesesteak factory exploded tomorrow and buried the city in whiz, what does your fresh start look like? Maybe a new location, different industry, or focusing on passion projects… anything is on the table.

Anything is possible. My wife and I are both close to getting dual citizenship in Italy. That opens up some doors to the EU. Winning the lottery and/or retiring early would be amazing too! Working less and traveling more is an ideal scenario.

Thanks so much for your time and fun questions, Joel! Much appreciated! Also, much love to Pittsburgh. Cheers!

Appreciate the time, Steve. This was a lot of fun!

Big news! While we started Cotton Bureau over a decade ago with a simple pre-order campaign model for screenprinted tees, each year we’ve been able to grow our offerings, gradually increasing not only the ways to sell (adding stock and on demand) but the also types of products available, which now includes hats, drinkware, totes, phone cases, and, as of last month, stickers.

We’re thrilled to announce today the most recent expansion: we’re bringing our ultra-premium on demand embroidery program to t-shirts and sweatshirts, effective immediately. Get started with apparel embroidery now.

Though our on demand hat program has been met with universal acclaim, there’s one small problem: not everyone wears hats. As far as we know, however, pretty much everyone wears a shirt, most of the time.

Graphic tees have been popular at least since the ’90s. Nobody knows if they were popular before then because the internet did not exist. Embroidered tees though present an entirely new fashion frontier, a frontier that we humbly invite you to explore with us.

From day one (today), most core apparel products are included in our new on demand catalog, from all-time favorites like the premium lightweight Next Level 6010 tri-blend tee and outrageously soft Bella + Canvas 3901 raglan crewneck sweatshirt to popular newcomers like the 100% cotton vintage Comfort Colors 1717 tee and the premium midweight Bella + Canvas 3739 zip hoodie. Chances are if you have bought (or sold) a shirt on Cotton Bureau, it’s now eligible for some fancy stitching.

Here’s the full list of available styles for 2025:

• Comfort Colors 1717 — 100% cotton, premium heavyweight tee
• Next Level 3600 — 100% cotton, premium lightweight tee
• Next Level 3900 — 100% cotton, premium lightweight women’s junior fit tee
• Next Level 6010 — tri-blend premium lightweight tee
• Next Level 6710 — tri-blend, premium lightweight women’s junior fit tee
• Bella + Canvas 6400 — 100% cotton, premium lightweight women’s regular fit tee
• Gildan 18000 — basic midweight 100% cotton hoodie
• Bella + Canvas 3901 — premium midweight crewneck sweatshirt
• Bella + Canvas 3719 — premium midweight hoodie
• Bella + Canvas 3739 — premium midweight zip hoodie
• Bella + Canvas 3501 — premium lightweight 100% cotton longsleeve tee
• Bella + Canvas 3501CVC — premium lightweight poly-cotton longsleeve tee
• Independent IND4000 — premium heavyweight hoodie

We hope (and expect) that list to grow over time. Let us know if we missed your go-to tee.

FAQs for On Demand Apparel Embroidery

Where can I position my artwork?

The pocket. We may eventually expand to more locations, but for now, your only choice is the left chest pocket. Sorry.

How big can I make it?

Maximum size is 3.75" ⅹ 3.75". That’s pretty big. You can set a custom size anywhere from there down to 1" ⅹ 1". Anything smaller than that and it’s pretty hard to embroider. Speaking of…

What else should I know about apparel embroidery?

The same embroidery limitations apply to clothing as apply to hats.

In general, the smallest details that can be rendered are about 0.04" (1mm). The smallest gaps that can be maintained are 0.01" (0.25mm). Here’s a good way to think about it: for a design of 1.5", you have a canvas that is roughly 75 x 75 pixels. It’s possible to get creative with running stitches and contrasting stitch directions to show subtle detail, but the best designs are going to avoid squishing too much detail into too small a space. When in doubt, err in favor of smaller and simpler.

Unlike the hats we offer, shirts range from extremely thin and light fabric to heavy-duty fleece. Please be advised that the larger and heavier your artwork, the more prone to puckering and pulling on lighter weight fabrics. Less is better, usually.

I have a Cotton Bureau account. Can I offer on demand embroidery?

Maybe. Embroidery is limited (for now) to accounts with a strong sales history because of the complexity and hard costs associated. That said, if you think you’re hot stuff, just email us. We’ve been known to make an exception from time to time.

As with hats, we’re extremely excited to see what new and existing designs you’ve got up your sleeve, so to speak, and we can’t wait to share them with everyone else as well. Get started creating on demand embroidery apparel now. The next Cotton Bureau t-shirt Tuesday just got a whole lot more interesting. 👕

While we’re not in the habit of pre-announcing new products and features, once we’re getting close, we do occasionally drop a hint or two. When you see the timeline for on demand stickers, you’ll understand why it’s best to ship first, talk later.

The first public mention of on demand stickers was in our 2023 in review email way back in January of 2024. At the time, we felt confident enough that stickers were happening to tease them. Well. Fast forward to the 2024 year in review email six months ago, and, as they say, even the best laid plans often go awry. Believe it or not, as recently as April we were still confident stickers would ship sooner rather than later. Our best guess at the time was just prior to our big birthday celebration in June. Mmhmm.

In the end, here we are. A task that was originally created in February of 2022 and conceived as a possibility long before then can finally be checked off in July of 2025. We’re so pleased to be able to finally, finally, finally deliver on demand stickers. 😅

If you, like us, have been champing at the bit for high quality vinyl on demand stickers, your wait is over. All Cotton Bureau accounts (including Custom accounts), are immediately eligible and can create new on demand stickers right now.

Keep reading if you’re one of those people that likes to ask questions.

On Demand Sticker FAQs

While we’ve had plenty of folks offer stickers over the years, the only way to do that in the past was by purchasing hundreds of stickers upfront and storing them to be sold as a stock product. That’s great if you’re offering something more exotic like holographic or unicorn dust. For your everyday, basic, just-the-facts-ma’am stickers, the new on demand stickers are just the ticket.

First, to be clear, on demand stickers are… on demand. That means they’re printed (and shipped) when you order them, and you can have as many or as few in your store as you want.

The standard sizes are 2" and 3", but you can create custom sizes between 1" and 4" as well. Max of three sizes per sticker.

On demand stickers are kiss-cut only and are printed on a matte white vinyl backing with a 0.15" border. The cut is automatically determined, so if you want full control and a smooth border, we recommend filling any little gaps with an opaque white background, or even augmenting the border to create circles, squares, and other containing shapes.

As with everything else, only one artwork file per product which means alternate colorways need to be additional products.

Could you make a mini sticker sheet? If you’re careful… yes. Any colored area at least 0.25" away from another area will receive its own cutout. (Stickers can’t have holes, fyi. No donuts.)

Recommended sticker retail price is $3, shipping is a flat $1.99. That’s a sticker delivered anywhere in the US for less than $5.

One unfortunate but necessary caveat: on demand stickers can only be shipped independently inside the United States. We’re working on finding an affordable way to have them shipped internationally. (It is possible to order a sticker with a t-shirt or other on demand product for shipment outside the US.)

Sticker-only orders are currently completely untracked and usually take about a week to arrive.

Okay, let us have it. What are you thinking? We’d love to offer more styles and options in the future (transparent stickers anyone?), so if you have questions or suggestions, let us know.

If you like stickers, try adding a few of your existing designs as sticker products or creating something new. We’ll be heavily promoting stickers all through July, so kick back by the pool and fire some products into the sun.

That’s it for now. We (hopefully) will have another big announcement for you in a month, though we’re keeping this one mum.

It’s Throwback Thursday, and we’re tossing it allll the way back to the mid-90s with some freaking good tees.

We’re not going to dwell on the fact that we’re 40 years old now and that, since launching in 2013, Cotton Bureau has been both the foreground and background of an inconceivable 30% of our lives. We’re really not.

Let’s just chill and reminisce about the time when the most difficult thing we had to do in a day was try to beat Goldeneye (🎵) on 007 mode after school. This is a celebration. We’re just happy to be here, and we’re glad you’re here too.

Free Shipping On Everything

Let’s keep it simple. You like us, we like you. Let’s do free shipping on everything today through next Thursday, June 19th. Boomshakalaka!

If you’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to snag a mug, t-shirt, phone case, mug, embroidered hat, or canvas tote, you’d be silly to miss this chance. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Use code HAPPY12 at checkout. (International shipping is half-off, cool?)

Year Two of the Ultra Cheap Birthday Tee

In what we hope will become an annual tradition, we’re heavily discounting a sick, screenprinted Cotton Bureau tee created just for the occasion, this time by one of our good friends and favorite designers, Annica Lydenberg.

For the next week only, limited edition “High Quality, Low Key” apparel is available for sale. Get either vibrant, paint-splattered CMYK or minimalist black foil on your choice of garments including super fresh 100% cotton heavyweight Comfort Colors 1717 tees just the way your remember plus our usual variety of lightweight tri-blend men’s and women’s tees, soft Bella + Canvas fleece, casual tank tops for lounging around the pool. Touchdown!

Tees are available for the low, low, we’re-definitely-losing-money-on-these price of $12 each. Fleece is obtainable for the equally ridiculous price of $25. Get ‘em while they last, because like last year’s Cotton Burro tee to celebrate our 11th birthday and the appliqué sweatshirts and floral tees from our 10th birthday, they won’t be back.

One (?) More Thing

We liked Annica’s work so much, we couldn’t resist dropping a few more styles.

If you’re into simple scripts, we’ve got the shirt (and hats) for you.

The full hat lineup runs the CMYK gamut from cyan script to pretty in pink to PGH edition black and yellow to mega minimal black-on-black.

Okay, that’s it! Thank you again for 12 phenomenal years. Go shop all styles, and feel free to say something nice to us on Bluesky or Instagram. We’re not above fishing for compliments on our special day.