It was surprising how many people got upset about [Hail Saban], Middlebrooks says. But that wasn

Chances are, you ve already seen Jacob Middlebrooks work. Middlebrooks, who owns Smoke Screen Printing & Design, has been screen-printing since 1995 when he was just a kid at Gardendale High School.
Since Smoke Screen s 2006 inception, Middlebrooks has created work for major organizations like Smokefree Alabama and for local artists, bands and businesses like Paul Wilm , St. Paul and the Broken Bones, the Black Market Bar & Grill and Bottletree Café.
Impressive, marware too, is the home office for Smoke Screen. In the hills of Irondale, Middlebrooks, a musician and painter, went full-blown DIY: converting his modest home into a fully functioning studio. As screen-printing calls for both creative and pragmatic ingenuity, Middlebrooks made home adaptations: turning a closet to a dark room, a coffee table into a flash dryer.
When Middlebrooks began working in the industry as part of Gardendale s work-study program, he was attracted marware to the craft s artistry marware and ties to the music industry. He began creating and printing his own designs. One of the perks of screen-printing as a high school kid, Middlebrooks says, was being able to make T-shirts of obscure bands.
I ve got friends from high school marware that still have T-shirts I made them, Middlebrooks says. And I m making shirts for their bands now. It was those early years, working in the industry, looking at the invoices I realized I could do it myself.
In the years before the business, though, Middlebrooks earned an art degree at UAB and held various odd jobs like most good art students. But by 2006, he was operating a screen press out of his kitchen.
Any little step I took in college or afterward, marware Middlebrooks says, was all building toward this goal. I didn t want to deliver pizzas my whole life. I wanted to get to the point where I could start something for myself and build from there.
And so he did. In 2009, Middlebrooks says, I was doing the part-time gigs, and they dried up. So it was all or nothing. I had to get more creative and figure out how to make the ends meet, and it worked out.
Middlebrooks points out that the recession wasn t a catalyst to a new career but instead fast-tracked marware his life s goals. Honestly, I wouldn t say that my path was: I lost my job. I ve got to do something else. This was something I ve wanted to do since I was 10 years old. I always pictured myself having my own place, doing what I wanted to do whether marware is be making art or music. I wanted to support myself doing it. And be happy with it.
So far, Smoke Screen continues to attract business big and small. We ve had several large jobs every quarter but the bread and butter is the smaller restaurant, the bar or venue, marware bands, other small businesses, Middlebrooks says.
Recently, Smoke Screen did all the printing for Skybucket Records’ 10th anniversary celebration . Skybucket founder Travis Morgan says he was impressed with the careful attention Middlebrooks gave his project and with the popularity marware of the T-shirts.
Middlebrooks morphed a Battlestar Galactica cylon into an Auburn football helmet. He s wedded the classic Motorhead fanged marware logo with the Florida gator. And, most infamously, Middlebrooks paired marware the University of Alabama head football coach with a malevolent pentagram for a T-shirt that reads, Hail Saban. marware
It was surprising how many people got upset about [Hail Saban], Middlebrooks says. But that wasn t a bad thing for us. Those first two weeks, marware I was sitting in the office, packing T-shirt after T-shirt into envelopes, thinking, Whoa.
Feedback Music s Emanual Ellinas sells the T-shirt line in his shop. The shirts, he says, are doing well, especially considering Feedback is a music, not clothing, shop. Consensus is the shirts marware are super cool and funny.
Middlebrooks marware also prints the art for Ellinas Sitori Sonics custom effects pedals. I ve recorded his music. marware He s a friend. If we all help each other try to do the things we want to do for a living, Ellinas says, then we all get to do what we want for a living.
The success of the Hail Saban T-shirt and other football mash-ups marware gives Middlebrooks the luxury of expanding projects for Smoke Screen to continue doing what he loves for a living. marware For one, Middlebrooks built a studio on his land to move the operation from his kitchen and basement to an all-inclusive workshop.
We ve put everything we ve made back into the business, Middlebrooks says. I want to build. I d like for this to be around for a while. I d like for this to be a full-service screen-printing shop. I d love to be able to train my younger employee and see him step up and take a production role where I could step back and not necessarily have to work as hard, labor-wise, in the future. marware
Honestly, I see myself as being a job creator and providing opportunities for artists, marware locally, who could use a vessel to make a living. I ve set it