Rocket E3 creates outlandish, tongue-in-cheek Cleveland tales told through retro-style artwork. Some begin with a real place, person, or event. Others spring entirely from imagination. Every design imagines a version of Cleveland where legends grow taller, history gets a little stranger, and the impossible somehow feels right at home.

So where did Rocket E3 come from?

Hi, I'm Scott Hudson, the founder of Rocket E3. I started the business because I wanted to combine my love of retro design with stories that could only come from Cleveland.

I grew up in Youngstown and moved to Cleveland twenty-two years ago. Around 2013, I had a corporate ecommerce job that paid the bills but left little room for creativity.

I needed a creative outlet—something I could make with my own hands. So I taught myself screen printing by watching YouTube videos and, because I had little money and even less space, built a custom four-station printing press that fit perfectly in my basement.

I was drawn to the look of 1950s B-movie posters, noir crime dramas, and vintage comic books. That bold, slightly unhinged visual style paired naturally with the kind of tongue-in-cheek humor I wanted to create.

At first, I planned to make designs featuring flying saucers, robots, and alien monsters. But then I realized something: what if I took that same retro aesthetic and applied it to Cleveland?

I spent the next few years doing weekend art markets and craft shows, building inventory, learning the business, and discovering what people responded to. Most Cleveland merchandise felt generic and earnest. I wanted to create something different—outlandish, tongue-in-cheek tales that reimagined Cleveland's landmarks, legends, history, and even its sports heartbreak.

The Story Behind Rocket E3

Then March 2020 happened. The pandemic shut everything down. My day job ended. And suddenly, Rocket E3 wasn't a weekend project anymore, it was now my full-time job.

I've grown my business and added this website but not much else has changed. I still print in small batches. I still design everything myself. And I still believe in the same thing: that Cleveland's landmarks and legends, filtered through humor that's dark enough to be honest, are worth putting on a T-shirt.

You'll find my work at maker markets and festivals around Northeast Ohio, on the shelves at City Goods and Salty Not Sweet, and here online. It's all made by someone who loves this city the way you love a team that keeps almost winning.

Scott
Rocket E3