TSTC graduate immerses himself in creative process at Fort Worth company

(WACO, Texas) - For Dennis Drennon, it is all about the creative process.

"In the morning, I come in and make sure the heat pressers around me are on and I turn everything on and make sure the humidifier is on that keeps the printer in a controlled climate," the Texas State Technical College graduate said.

Drennon, of Lake Worth, is a direct-to-film operator at Required Team Gear in Fort Worth. The company specializes in mass producing decorative art on clothing and other items for clients.

Drennon also does a print test to make sure colors are appearing correctly. He receives a daily project print list that he works off of.

"I like just creating and knowing I am fulfilling a client's order," he said. "It is knowing I can make some art and I can watch it be fabricated."

Jason Phalen, the company's art director, said Drennon brings a great attitude to work each day.

"He is not easily rattled," Phalen said. "The department we put him in is fairly new technology to the industry. There are not a lot of resources online to find all the answers that you want. Dennis is good at fighting through them without getting himself worked up about it."

Drennon was born in Mesquite and raised in Diana, where he spent time playing sports.

"Growing up, skateboarding was always incorporated in my life," he said. "In middle school I started playing football and baseball and kept looking for more sports to do. I did golf at one point. I just like being outside."

Drennon is a graduate of New Diana High School. Some of Drennon's first exposure to digital design was learning how to use Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop in high school.

He chose to attend TSTC due to its cost effectiveness and also because he had friends attending.

"I was just going in and soaking everything up like a sponge," Drennon said. "The classes were long. It was a flip in how I was going about things."

Drennon graduated in 2020 from TSTC with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Visual Communication Technology. The program was later merged with the Digital Media Design program. During college, he did an internship in the print service department at the Region 12 Education Service Center in Waco.

Stacie Buterbaugh, an instructor in TSTC's Digital Media Design program, said she and other instructors noticed early on his growing proficiency with the Adobe Creative Suite in producing industry-level work.

"There is no doubt his ambition and dedication followed him after graduation," Buterbaugh said.

Drennon is not settling in his education. He is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Art and Design Studies: Design Management Track at the University of North Texas in Denton.

"I would say once you formulate a plan and know what you want to do as a career option, just look at the resources you have and how you can get to where you are going," he said.

TSTC's Digital Media Design program is offered online. The program has an Associate of Applied Science degree in Digital Media Design and two certificates of completion in Digital Media Design.

Registration continues for the fall semester at TSTC. For more information, go to tstc.edu.

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