Having fun, doing good work, looking back ...

In May 1978, Joy Yoshikawa and Pat Hayes sat together on Joy's porch and wrote three goals for our new communications firm. The Design Company was determined to ... "have fun, do good work, and make a profit" from day one. The odds, of course, were against the success of a women-owned small business, but over 35 years have passed; thousands of projects have been successfully completed; hundreds of satisfied clients, valued vendors and wonderful friends have been added to our history. Even though for many of those years we achieved only the first two goals, we never lost sight of our original priorities.

It is our hope that we will continue to have fun ... because you give us the opportunity to do what we enjoy; continue to do good work ... by listening carefully to you and by applying logic, simplicity and intelligence to problem solving ...

... and paying it forward.

While "Making a profit" is essential for staying viable, our mission has evolved to reflect what we have been doing for decades, "Paying it forward." By using sound, ethical business practices we can continue to provide thoughtful and affordable design service to meaningful causes and continue to give back to our community in a variety of ways.

Our Story

Having fun.
Doing good work.
Paying it forward.

Joy Yoshikawa

Joy Yoshikawa

Pat Hayes Kaufman

Pat Hayes Kaufman

  • Expertise in print design and production, MS Office design and production, web design
  • Multiple pro bono services for a variety of metro nonprofits
  • Co-inventor of Snake Oil, a party game now being self-published by Snake Oil, LLC
Scott Lindberg

Scott Lindberg
Memorial

  • Expertise in user interface design and development, print design and production
  • Curator and owner of New Documents, a gallery specializing in important 20th century graphic design