About Us
Founded in Cincinnati in 2023 — a real shop floor in Camp Washington, a same-day human proof on every file, and production numbers we publish whether or not they flatter us.
Our Story
Before Foundry, Elias Grant ran presses for whoever rented time on them — and watched the same story on repeat: a customer uploads a file to some faceless print site, a warehouse three time zones away prints it without anyone looking at it, and a box of disappointment arrives ten days later. The blurry poster. The navy that printed purple. The company tees nobody would claim.
Foundry opened in 2023 in a former tool-and-die building in Camp Washington as the opposite bet: print on demand with a shop floor you can call, a human proof on every single file the same day it’s uploaded, and production times published next to the percentage of orders that actually hit them. The bet paid. The creators came next — sixty-plus independent artists now run storefronts on our press, rights intact.
The whole company fits in one sentence: nothing prints unproofed, nothing ships unexplained, and nobody’s art gets taken from them. Everything else is ink.
The Crew
Founder & Head of Print
Ran presses for other people's brands for twelve years before opening Foundry in 2023 on one conviction: print on demand doesn't have to mean a mystery warehouse. Still proofs files himself most mornings.
Production Lead
Owns the production board and the published on-time numbers — including the quarter the bulk line dipped to 96.5% and the number went up on the site anyway. Her essay about it is on the blog.
Creator Programs Lead
Recruits and onboards every storefront artist, runs the monthly payouts, and enforces the physical-proof rule. If a design is live on Foundry, Priya watched its creator approve it.
Off the Press
I uploaded a poster file at 9am, had a human email me by noon saying my blue would shift on matte stock, approved the fix, and the print on my wall matches the proof exactly. That email is the whole reason I moved my shop here.
We ordered 180 tees for our engineering offsite through the bulk flow. Physical proof in four days, sizes collected by a link they gave us, and people wore them the following Monday voluntarily. That has literally never happened with company merch.
The Design Lab flagged my upload as too low-res for 24×36 before I paid, which is the opposite of every other print site that happily sold me a blurry poster. Reprinted my dad's photo at the right size — it's perfect.
Open the Design Lab and see your idea priced in real time — or send us the details of a bulk run and get a quote back within one business day.
