Celebrating Five Years of Made To Thrill with Josh Reichlin

Back in 2015, we talked to Josh Reichlin of Made To Thrill, a lifestyle brand that celebrates the sharp turns, fast drops, and unbridled joy of thrill rides and theme parks. Since founding Made to Thrill in 2014, Reichlin has continued to create new park-inspired merchandise, from ride-inspired t-shirts and hats, to artistic roller coaster-inspired prints and accessories. If you’re an amusement enthusiast (and by virtue of reading this site, we assume you have at least some level of enthusiasm), you’ve likely seen some of his work at a park, on a wall, or hanging from a backpack.

With the five-year anniversary of Made To Thrill coming up, we wanted to check in with Josh, just to see what was new with Made To Thrill, and what was planned for the future!

And if you want to win a Made To Thrill prize pack, be sure to click the link at the bottom of the interview!


Coaster101: Since we talked last, what have you been up to?

Josh Reichlin: Has it been that long already? Wow, that’s amazing. Lately my day job has been keeping me pretty busy and traveling a lot. Between work and balancing Made to Thrill with my other hobbies, including a new project that I’ll be launching in the coming months, I’ve been trying to get out and visit as many parks as I can in my free time, which isn’t a whole lot.

Coaster101: How has Made to Thrill grown over the past four years? Have you expanded the operation at all?

JR: Made to Thrill has seen some pretty crazy growth, more than I ever thought or hoped it would be.  Having previously run a creative agency, I never really wanted to run another business with all of the constraints and stress that comes along with it. I started doing work as Made to Thrill as my own creative outlet, and to create artwork I wanted for myself. But much to my chagrin, Made to Thrill had to become a legal entity as it continued to grow. Though I still try to treat it the same way, a personal side project that I keep up for fun and continued growth.

In the past 4 years, I’ve released 6 original collections, over 30 original travel posters, moved into a new warehouse triple the size of our old one and shipped thousands of orders all over the world. After all this time being the Chief Cook and Bottle Washer of Made to Thrill is still fun, but it can be a humbling responsibility, to say the least.

Coaster101: What is a product you’ve created/sold where you’re surprised how popular it is?

JR: I’d have to say, “The Yellow Strap.” It was a total inside joke that I designed as part of the Made to Thrill “Aviation” collection. I thought a few people would get a giggle out of it, but it turned out to be one of most popular products I’ve designed.

Coaster101: You’ve undergone a soft “re-brand” with a new logo, etc for Made to Thrill– what was the motivation behind that?

JR: I’ve always struggled with the “branding” for Made to Thrill. Since the beginning, I’ve used the star and the lightning bolt typographic lockup. While it served it’s purpose, I felt it was a little overtly masculine and didn’t properly represent the body of work that I’ve been creating.

JR: By nature, Made to Thrill is a confusing brand to explain to someone. It’s incredibly niche and lacks any real message that can be boiled down into a mark. In a sense, I’m my own target audience.

The brand itself was predicated upon the mantra, “If you know, then you know.” Which, in all honesty, was done to avoid infringing on any intellectual copyright. But it has since become an aesthetic that I’ve come to appreciate and what Made to Thrill has become known for.

JR: With the re-brand, I wanted to be true to that mantra and avoid a mark that was overtly parks & coasters. I think it netted out in something that spoke to my signature style and love for retro-futurism and still had a super subtle tie-in with roller coaster trains.

Coaster101: You recently announced your first partnership with a park, creating designs for Holiday World. How did that come about?

JR: As it turns out, one of the owners of Holiday World is a customer in my shop. I didn’t even know it until I received an email earlier letting me know that they were fans of my work and would love to see some more Holiday World artwork in my shop, and perhaps create some new products to be sold in their park. And of course, I was incredibly humbled by the request from a legendary theme park with an incredibly rich history.

Coaster101: What have you created for them so far? Are there plans to create more merchandise for Holiday World?

JR: So far, we’ve released our first collaboration with Holiday World, a 2-color screenprint with metallic gold ink celebrating The Voyage. And yes, we’ve got a lot more planned with them! We’re looking forward to sharing as we’re able to.

Coaster101: Any plans to expand to more parks? (That you’re allowed to talk about)

JR: Yes! Much to my surprise, more parks have reached out to us and we’re excited about what’s coming up. Outside of park collabs, we have a rather unique collaboration happening with NoLimits Coaster for their Roundup 300. If you haven’t seen what enthusiasts are creating these days in NoLimits, I highly recommend checking out what’s being produced for their roundups. The creativity and overall quality of attractions in these videos is something that the big theme parks should be eyeing.

Coaster101: What are some new products we should be looking out for from Made to Thrill in the near future?

JR: Aside from future park collabs, we’re currently working toward releasing our 7th original collection which will be called, “Fuel.” It celebrates the heritage of vintage motorsport culture while crossing it with modern thrills in our signature aesthetic.

And of course, there is also our new brand that we’ll be introducing to the community, but we’ll save what that one is all about for another time.


Thanks to Josh for his time. Be sure to check out www.madetothrill.com and follow Made to Thrill on Social Media: Twitter | Instagram

(And as a shameless plug for Josh, if you want to be first to know about Made To Thrill’s releases, and receive exclusive discounts, sign up for his email list!)


Want to win a Made To Thrill Prize Pack? Click here! 

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