Meet Ashley and Paul Jankowski of The Type Set

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley and Paul Jankowski.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The short version is that we met nearly 20 years ago and fell in love with each other’s entrepreneurial spirits. It only took us about 18 years to combine our forces on a project. Paul is an electrical engineer, but he’s really a jack of all trades. Ashley holds degrees in both photography and graphic design. Paul now runs his own engineering consulting outfit, and Ashley has a branding and design firm called Braizen.

We both work out of home “offices” – that is, I have a basement office where myself and four employees run Braizen, and Paul has a 5,000 square foot barn where devises plans for world domination through integrated automated systems and invention consulting.

We had both been spitballing the idea of developing a product together, but then, about two years ago, an idea came to me in the shower… which, is pretty much where all my best ideas happen (it’s an amazing shower). So, the idea was about those old-school alphabet magnets most everyone remembers having as kids.

I thought, how cool would it be if someone made those look better – something, stylish and decorative that could be used throughout the home, but also at work or for social media promotions. We searched high and low to find pretty colors and fonts to no avail. How could this be? And, so Paul and I talked about it, and he immediately started thinking out loud about how to create injection molds and what production might look like, and we just ran with it.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ha! There is nothing smooth about mass producing anything. It’s been a whirlwind of failures and successes and then more failures and falling on our butts and getting back up and charging in again. I think that’s probably true for anyone who has tried to develop a product from scratch. Production logistics are a BEAR! Doesn’t matter if you’re producing domestically or overseas, there are figuratively and literally thousands of moving parts, and if any of those parts fails, the whole show goes to hell in a handbasket.

And that’s just on the production side. Overseas shipping and logistics is a whole other ball of cats – just as complex (especially for anything overseas) and just as crucial. So, it’s been a steep learning curve for sure, but, for us, it’s totally been worth it. It’s also allowed us to add some new wrinkles to Ashley’s branding firm – as she can now do a bit of consulting as well. It’s fun to use our experiences to help others along the way.

The Type Set Co. – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We’re a company bringing bring stylish typography to the masses via the laws of attraction. We’re being a bit cheesy there, but everyone involved really has a love for what we’re doing with these magnetic letter sets. We’re giving style-conscious adults the chance to capture a bit of nostalgia and enhance their homes with words. Playing with our letters is almost like old-fashioned letterpress typesetting, and that makes Ashley’s design heart sing.

In short, we design and manufacture magnetic letter sets, magnetic writing boards (letter boards), and other accessories. We’re the first to really take this nostalgic product and redesign it for the 21st century.

Our original line consists of injection-molded plastic letter sets (just like the ones from our childhood) but with stronger rare earth magnets. The boards were added because, unfortunately, magnetic refrigerators aren’t the norm anymore. These slates pull double duty with both magnetically receptive, coated steel and an easy-to-clean, write-on surface (Chalkboards + Dry Erase Boards) so folks can use them for many purposes. We’re also releasing new soft letter sets before the holidays, which are more family-friendly (good for littles) and available in a range of fun new colors.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Dreaming up a product idea and then actually making it happen.

Pricing:

• Original Magnetic Letter Set $50
• Soft Magnetic Letter Set $20
• 15×15 Magnetic Letter Board Slate $35
• 17×21 Deluxe Magnetic Letter Board Slate $70

Contact Info:

• Website: http://thetypesetco.com
• Email: hi@thetypesetco.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/thetypesetco
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/thetypesetco
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/thetypesetco

Image Credit:
Angie Webb Creative

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