We both got in through music. Richard made a website and a few album covers for an online musical collective and Jonny was making a website, flyers, and album covers for his punk rock band. For both of us, music led to a realization that graphic design was our real passion. Other creative interests—such as photography, writing, and screen printing—also fueled our interest in the creative process as a whole.

We met while studying design at Minnesota State University, Mankato. We had various design classes together, but we first worked together (along with a couple other good friends) on a semester-long group project. It was this project where we first realized how well we worked together and how much fun we had doing so.

After we received our BFA degrees, Jonny moved from Minnesota to Arizona to pursue an MFA. His original thesis involved forming a collaborative collective and he reached out to Richard as a potential long-distance collaborator. As we worked together we realized that we formed a natural symbiotic partnership, each of us sharing similar big picture goals and vision but with a healthy amount of unique skillsets and perspectives. We started the studio as Cast Iron Design long-distance and planted our roots in Boulder as soon as Jonny graduated. Eight years after that we rebranded as our current name and moved to San Francisco.