Founders: Rachel Hochhauser and Jena Wolfe
Rachel discovered her love of jigsaw puzzles on a trip to Yosemite. She had a couple of very stressful weeks constantly working in front of her screen, so she decided to book a cabin and spend some time in nature. Unfortunately, when she arrived in Yosemite there was a massive rain storm and she was stuck inside. She ended up finding some old jigsaws and realized that putting them together was the meditative screen-free activity she was seeking. Rachel became obsessed with puzzles and started doing them all the time. She shared her newfound hobby with her friend and business partner, Jena, and the two started talking about why puzzles always feature things like kittens and jars of buttons vs. more design-forward images that reflect modern life. With that, Piecework was born.
Piecework Puzzles creates and sells puzzles direct-to-consumer on its e-commerce site. Unlike traditional jigsaws, Piecework features modern, design-forward images. Rachel and Jena concept and shoot most of the art themselves, with a focus on creating themed moments and worlds that the customer can escape to. To them, Piecework is all about vibrancy and play - it prioritizes design, but doesn't take itself too seriously. The titles of the puzzles are placed on the spine, so that one can collect them like books on a shelf.
"Working on a puzzle forces you to put down your phone — you can’t look at the intricacies of the design and the shapes of the pieces while you’re staring at a screen. We always say puzzles are meditation for the modern age." - Jena
Sources: The Verticale, Desert Hue, Piecework Puzzles website