Family-owned. Veteran-built. Made in Ashkum, IL.
Glowmark Designs is a small, family-run laser engraving and custom apparel studio in Ashkum, Illinois — about an hour south of Chicago in Kankakee County. Mike runs the lasers and the printers; the whole family pitches in. Everything you see in our store was made by us, by hand, in our studio. There's no factory, no overseas warehouse, no middleman. When you order from us, your stuff is made by the same people who answer the phone.
What we make
We started with leather-patch hats and grew into pretty much anything we could put a logo, a name, or a story on. Today our shop is built around four product families:
- Custom hats — leather, leatherette, and full-color patch trucker hats. Real genuine leather, real heat-pressed patches, no minimums.
- Custom apparel — t-shirts, hoodies, fleece, long-sleeve. We run direct-to-film (DTF) printing for short runs and screen printing for bulk.
- Laser-engraved drinkware and gifts — tumblers, water bottles, wine tumblers, can coolers, cutting boards, coasters, keychains, and our signature engraved nursery signs.
- Custom partner stores — we host free online stores for schools, teams, nonprofits, and small businesses, handle production and fulfillment in-house, and send you a revenue share.
Why we do it
Mike is a US Army veteran. Glowmark was built on Army values — quality worthy of the uniform, do the job right the first time, take care of the people you work with. That shows up in our work in three ways:
- Real, professional gear. We run RF and CO2 lasers and pro-grade DTF and embroidery printers — not Etsy-grade equipment. Our prints and engravings are made to survive real-world use, washes, dishwashers, sun, and time.
- One-on-one design help. If you don't have a design ready, we'll help you build one. If your file isn't print-ready, we'll tell you what to send. No design experience required to order something great.
- Profits go back to the community. A portion of every partner sale (Central Stars, Central Comets, Routy Racing, OpenAir Offroad) goes back to fund youth sports and small-business growth in Ashkum, Kankakee County, and the surrounding communities. Our son plays in the Central Stars program — this is personal.
Our Lifetime Promise
We stand behind everything we make. If a patch comes off, an engraving fades, or a print cracks because of how we made it — not because you put it through 500 wash cycles or left it in a hot car for a summer — tell us and we'll repair, replace, or refund. We're a family, not a corporation; we'd rather make it right than have you tell your neighbors otherwise.
Visit us
Studio: 409 East Fine Street, Ashkum, IL 60911 — by appointment only.
Text or call: 815-839-6158 (text is fastest, 24/7)
Email: sales@glowmarkdesigns.com
Thanks for supporting a small family-run shop. We're glad you're here.
