The Happy Dudes: Changing the world one T-shirt at a time




Pictured: The Happy Dudes, Trae Gaenzel and Dean Hollis COURTESY PHOTO

Pictured: The Happy Dudes, Trae Gaenzel and Dean Hollis COURTESY PHOTO

The Mission and Launch

The Happy Dudes is a positivity-driven local screen printing and logo design company. Owners, Dean Hollis and Trae Gaenzel, unofficially jumped into their business in December 2019 with the goal of bringing a spark of light and positivity into the world.

Hollis explained that they wanted to do something different. Overall, they felt that there was so much negativity in the world, and they were driven to put a product out there to send a positive message.

He further elaborated, “Even if it doesn’t counteract it and all it does is send one person [the message], ‘Hey, today will be okay.’ If that affects one person, we’ve done what we set out to do.”

Their business launch was originally supposed to be gradual. However, when both Hollis and Gaenzel found themselves temporarily out of work due to COVID, they decided that it was time to focus all their energy into their positivity-based, T-shirt design business. They officially opened in April 2020

“When the pandemic hit, like he said, we both found ourselves with a lot of free time. And, what we saw was the perfect opportunity for our message to go out into the world,” said Hollis.

They explained that there were various kinds of negativity the pandemic brought forth such as feelings of fear, anger, hatred, etc., and they were on a mission to counteract those feelings and provide people with a sense of comfort and joy.

Though the pandemic slowly fades away, there are still negative feelings, emotions and messages that linger. The Happy Dudes are driven to bring a spark of positivity and joy into the world with their designs and messages.

What they do:

The Happy Dudes are an all-in-house screen printing, logo design, logo recreation and embroidery company. They do not do vinyl. Instead, all their designs are intricately created using screen printing.

Gaenzel explained that 99% of the screen printing they do is water-based, which is a more breathable and eco-friendly option. He further pointed out that screen printing is truly an art; from the design of the logo to the combination of colors and intricacy of the print.

The company is truly local in its form and process. Everything that they do is done in-house with no outsourcing.

The Happy Dudes launch their own collections such as Plain n’ Simple, Support Local, To thee, Texas, It’s those Happy Dudes, What- Where, TX and Say Something, which are all available now on their website. They also launch various seasonal collections.

However, they also work one-on-one with clients, typically other small businesses or organizations, to create merchandise. The Happy Dudes will design a logo, re-create a current logo or redesign artwork for clients.

For logo design or redesign, The Happy Dudes first try to get a deeper understanding of what the client is looking for in a logo. They will create two to three different variants of a main logo to present to clients. After deciding on a design, they will create a “Pitch Packet” which includes the main logo, smaller logo (for the front of T-shirts or other branding) and a hyper reduced logo for embroidery. From that point on, they will print and create merchandise with the new and/or improved logo.

For prints, in some cases, The Happy Dudes will take that extra step of printing the artwork in various colors and/or on various colors or mediums for client approval.

All pricing is done on a case-by-case basis.

Giving back

The Happy Dudes by the simple nature of their mission of spreading positivity use their work to give back to the community. However, they have also donated to various local organizations and fundraisers such as the Pleasanton ISD Education Foundation pledge drive, Pleasanton ISD Education Foundation School’s Out for Summer Golf Tournament, Knights of Columbus Golf Tournament, George Farm’s Wild Bill’s Pumpkin Fun Run and more.

Stay in touch

Make sure to stay in touch and follow The Happy Dudes as they continue to make a mark on our community. They will have a few new shirt designs launching in coming weeks. They are currently working on developing a storefront location, which will be open to the public in the near future.

Shop online at thehappydudes.com or follow them on Facebook and Instagram for updates. For more information, call The Happy Dudes at 210-452- 3569.

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