By Cassandra Balentine
For small print businesses versatility is critical to success. Thankfully, the latest print technology delivers solutions that handle a range of applications.
What started out as a side venture for Tammy and Eric Tallman, co-owners, Desert Breeze Custom, is now a bustling business that produces a range of custom products with no minimums. Two employees operate out of a 400 square foot room in San Tan Valley, AZ, a suburb of Phoenix.
Business to Business
Desert Breeze Custom is a small business that serves other small businesses in its local community, the wider Phoenix area, as well as a nationwide audience online.
“Our typical customer is a small business owner with less than 15 employees seeking gift items for their staff, or small affordable items of great quality to give away or include with marketing options,” shares Tammy Tallman.
“We have no minimum requirements to place an order, which means we are more accessible for businesses that want gifts for their staff but only employ 20 people, or if they have a smaller budget for marketing they don’t have to order 1,000 keychains to start with,” she explains.
The promotional print shop provides discounts for bulk orders at lower quantities. Tallman points out that its competitors often require orders of an item in quantities of 200 to get the best bulk price, but clients only need to order 50 of that item to get the best price with Desert Breeze Custom.
Expanding Applications
Desert Breeze Custom’s business began when COVID-19 was in full swing. It initially sold t-shirts and vinyl decorated items created with a sublimation printer.
The sublimation printer could do full color on some items, but it was limited when it came to clothing or hardboard-type items that are either white or very light colored. “Our hands were tied when our customers wanted a full-color design on a black tumbler, a dark colored key ring, or if they wanted their full-color logo on a jewelry box,” admits Tallman.
The Tallmans knew they needed to expand, so the company purchased a FusionEdge laser engraver from Epilog Laser and jumped right in.
The laser engraver presented the capability to do engraved cutting boards, coasters, and bottle openers. “Those items are great, and we really enjoyed doing them, but we wanted to do so much more,” says Tallman.
Eventually, the shop purchased a Mutoh America, Inc. XpertJet 661UF UV LED flatbed printer in 2024 to further expand its offerings. “We wanted to explore some other options that could give us full-color solutions for a large variety of items. UV printing had the greatest versatility and this flatbed printer could print on much larger scale items than we could even do before with our sublimation printer,” explains Tallman.
Another Pivot
Tallman admits that the XpertJet 661UF was initially purchased with the intention to output braille signage, however the plan shifted when they realized its potential. “We have done some signage for small businesses, however they never included braille, and we have learned we can actually make so much more with this machine that we went in a totally different direction.”
Currently, it uses the XpertJet 661UF to print custom logo items like tumblers, jewelry boxes, compact mirrors, passport covers, and memorial plaques. “We love the variety of items that we can direct print on with this machine, and we are so impressed with all that it can do. It has opened up a whole new level of creativity in us as well,” offers Tallman.
She feels the biggest advantage of the machine is the reduced odor it emits during printing compared to other devices, but the advantages don’t stop there. “We are also getting better adhesion of the inks to the substrates than what we have seen other companies get with their machines.”
Recent Creations
Today, Desert Breeze Custom can customize everything from drinkware to electrical panel labels, hats, office accessories, and gifts.
Recently, the shop created room identifier signs for a chiropractor. “The office has a really bright and vibrant color scheme, so we used our laser to cut out a few different pieces of acrylic in a couple different colors,” shares Tallman.
It then printed on the different layers using first and second surface printing to give an extra level of dimension. The total order included 35 signs for one office.
Promotional Domination
What’s next for Desert Breeze Custom? It is currently working on pairing the UV printer with its laser engraver as much as possible and expanding its line of products made in house, such as NFT tags, acrylic signs, and hat patches.
Aug2025, DPS Magazine
