Coworking breeds success: Downs Design + Image Made = Grain & Mortar!
Year-long CAMP Coworking tenants Downs Design and Image Made recently announced their merge to form Grain & Mortar, a brand strategy and design company. In mid-October they’ll be packing up their 800 computer monitors and moving just down the hall from CAMP to their new workspace in the Mastercraft Building.
Image Made was started by Michael and Kristin Dekay in 2008 after the economy left Michael jobless. The couple set off on their own business journey, with Michael handling the design and development, working in Wordpress and designing print materials, while Kristin managed the client content by writing copy and providing photography. They came to CAMP in July 2010.
Downs Design was a small studio started by Eric Downs to offer creative print and web design for other hardworking small businesses (like Princess Lasertron!). With a focus on partnering with companies with have a passion for the power of great design, Downs built his portfolio and grew his company to a three-person operation in the last year while working at CAMP full-time.
We are so excited about the birth of Grain and Mortar because everything about the two companies—right down to the way the merging happened—exemplifies the spirit of collaboration, creativity, and support that coworking is all about. As a simple handshake and agreement, the DeKays and Downs say they believe that they are each benefiting equally, and their clients have the most to gain as they are now able to combine all of their creative resources to offer design work unparalleled by any of their competitors.
According to their new company website, “Grain and Mortar” symbolizes the Midwest values of hard work, honesty, trust and reliability—four characteristics that the G&M team carries in spades.
So, who’s on the team?
- Eric Downs, Creative Director / Owner
- Mike DeKay, Creative Director / Owner
- Kristin DeKay, Operations Director / Owner
- Liz Hunt, Art Director
- Joshua Goodell, Web Developer
Congratulations again to Grain & Mortar! We will see you down the hall!
