JoyEngine brings international art to Boulder
Art, apparel and vinyl toys are not the only things JoyEngine, the brand new Pearl Street edition, has to offer. This unique gallery and Web design studio has provoked interest from businesses and consumers from around the Boulder community.
About six years ago, Todd Berger, a principal for JoyEngine, and a friend created a design group called DogTail. This past winter they decided to re-brand it and bring it to Boulder. Berger brought Alex Henry, a CU alumnus, in as a partner on his endeavor. Once they grew as a company, they re-branded it Cypher Thirteen.
Berger and Henry decided to move their new Web design studio to a gallery-like space close to Pearl Street.
“The inspiration was to spin off a boutique and to create our own design,” said Rob Kaplan, another principal in the creation of the gallery.
The boutique is street-side while the design studio is in the back. This allows anyone walking off the street to walk through and see all the art pieces first. The art pieces found in this boutique come from designers as far away as Bangkok to pieces designed right here in Boulder.
Kevin Heinz, a CU alumnus, came on to the team as a freelance designer for web and motion graphics.
“I studied advertising at CU, and I came out looking for something fresh to work in that wasn’t corporate advertisement agency,” said Heinz.
Henry was also looking for just that.
“We just didn’t want to work for anybody but ourselves,” Henry said.
The front, JoyEngine, carries apparel, and the back, Cypher Thirteen, is the web design studio that tries to promote artists. The designs they create are then potentially turned into pieces of art apparel.
“I think most people would say that art in it of itself is significant. So putting it on something that you can wear everyday and that’s totally accessible seems like a very significant thing to have culturally and in our community,” said Kaplan.
This multifaceted business is combining web design, art, and apparel and breaking into a new age of fashion, trends, and culture.
