Jackson student designs stickers for gamers

For 17-year-old Tyler Macke, the summer vacation before his senior year at Jackson High School doesn't actually mean "vacation."

It means running his own business designing and selling stickers at stickergrub.com, which he started last year to address a vacuum in the market for online gaming promotional products.

"The online gaming community is huge," he said -- it's sprawling and extremely complex.

Macke has been playing video games online and participating in related communities on Twitter and YouTube since he was about 12 years old.

"Different platforms like computer gaming, or different consoles like the Xbox One or PlayStation 4, different games -- they all attract different people who want the same thing: to play," he said.

Tyler Macke, an incoming Jackson High School senior, is the creator and mastermind of stickergrub stickers.Laura Simon

And where gamers gather to play, they talk, using live messaging programs or headsets and forming alliances and friendships.

They identify themselves and each other with unique names known as gamer tags, and often, gamers post on social media accounts under those same gamer tags.

It was through this massive network of gamers Macke got his start.

He noticed there were a multitude of companies already producing specialized keyboards, controllers and other equipment to improve the gaming experience, he said, "but no one producing stickers."

He and several of his online friends already had created designs they liked, and he had years of experience working with design software, so he took the next step and created an online space.

"We started small, out of necessity," he said.

The website was built using free online software, and he bought a domain name for almost nothing.

He set up a station in his parents' house to design stickers, print them to order and ship them to clients' addresses.

"At first it was kind of different," he said, with an inexpensive printer and supplies that were adequate but not ideal. "But a lot has changed."

Now, through partnerships with big players in the gaming community, and smaller promotional deals with individual clients, StickerGrub has grown to the point Macke is looking to branch out into local markets, especially real estate or anyone organizing events such as a 5K or other group promotion.

"I still run everything myself," he said. "I handle all designs, production, order fulfillment, customer service -- all of it."

He prides himself on creating a quality product that is exactly what the customer wants, whether it be a ready-made design or custom order.

This kind of flexibility is necessary in the online community, he said, where most members of his target audience are also extremely tech-savvy and therefore have high expectations.

"Reputation is so, so important in the online realm," he said. "A negative story about a company's bad reaction to a customer problem, well, word gets out fast. It's funny, between all the social media sites and online forums, we have almost our own news service, so it's really important to deliver on what you promise. It's a whole new realm."

Now that school's out, Macke said he has more time to focus on the business, which he has been enjoying.

He takes time each day to keep up with new orders, check on existing purchases, research supply companies, network with potential partners or promoters, work on new designs and make sure everything runs smoothly.

"Sometimes it gets hectic," he said, "but to me, it's really fun, and I want to make a life out of it at this point."