# Custom Ink

> Custom Ink is an online retailer that lets anyone design and order custom apparel and promotional products - t-shirts, hoodies, hats, drinkware and swag - without order minimums or design software. Founded in 2000 in a Virginia basement, the company built an easy online Design Lab plus human design and support help, turning group orders for teams, schools, businesses, nonprofits and events into a business that has grown to roughly $500 million in revenue. It has since expanded into corporate swag management through acquisitions like Swag.com and Printfection.

- **Founded:** 2000
- **Headquarters:** Fairfax, Virginia, United States
- **Founders:** Marc Katz (Co-founder, former CEO, Board Chair), Dave Christensen (Co-founder), Mike Driscoll (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** ~800-2,000 employees (sources vary; ~800 commonly cited)
- **Products:** Online Design Lab, Custom apparel printing, Promotional products & specialty items, Group orders & fundraising, Corporate swag management
- **Notable:** Pioneered online custom t-shirt design and grew to roughly $500M in revenue., Ranked 55th fastest-growing U.S. business by Inc. magazine (2005)., Named a Fortune / Great Place to Work Top 100 employer (2014).

## Products & services

- **Online Design Lab** — Free web-based design tool to upload graphics, add text and clip art, and preview custom apparel before ordering, with no design software required.
- **Custom apparel printing** — Screen printing, digital printing and embroidery on t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, hats and activewear for groups of any size with no order minimums.
- **Promotional products & specialty items** — Custom drinkware, bags, tech accessories, hats and other branded swag and giveaways.
- **Group orders & fundraising** — Tools for organizing group buys, team uniforms, event apparel and fundraising campaigns where individuals can order and pay separately.
- **Corporate swag management** — End-to-end swag sourcing, warehousing and distribution for businesses via Swag.com, Printfection and the Swag Space distributor platform.

## Achievements

- Pioneered online custom t-shirt design and grew to roughly $500M in revenue.
- Ranked 55th fastest-growing U.S. business by Inc. magazine (2005).
- Named a Fortune / Great Place to Work Top 100 employer (2014).
- Pivoted to cloth masks and work-from-home kits within weeks during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, preserving the business.
- Acquired Represent.com (2016), Sidestep (2019), Swag.com (2021) and Printfection (2022) to expand into merch and corporate swag.

## Latest updates

- **2024-08** — David Doctorow, former CEO of Realtor.com, became CEO of Custom Ink; co-founder Marc Katz moved to Board Chair.
- **2023-12** — Launched Swag Space, an end-to-end swag management platform for distributors.
- **2023-01** — Restructured operations and consolidated facilities as it refocused on its digital roots.
- **2022-01** — Acquired swag management platform Printfection.
- **2021-11** — Acquired corporate swag and gifting company Swag.com.

## Links

- Website: https://customink.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/custom-ink
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/customink
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CustomInk
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/customink/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/customink
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@customink

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/custom-ink
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-26