Sketch Your Etch Design Company LLC — our origin story

We started with a spark, a stubborn curiosity, and a half-finished set of blueprints for an indoor shooting range. What began as a practical project and exercise in art therapy—designing the layout, flow, and safety features of a training center—grew into something much more creative and unexpectedly personal. Those early sketches weren’t just about walls and ventilation; they were exercises in problem-solving, case studies, in setting up a successful branding campaign and the research involved in starting my own training company given my experience in my previous professional life. These simple exercises taught me how to turn technical needs into elegant design, and how to make functional things look intentional and meaningful.

From those drawings came an obsession with detail. I began 3D-modeling potential products for the training center: signage, custom panels, award plaques, and branded gear. When you model something in three dimensions, you can’t hide mistakes. You see seams, margins, tolerances, and finishes. I learned how materials behave, how light eats at an etched line, and how a logo needs to breathe. That discipline moved my work from good to precise—and from precise to beautiful. Honestly it was the first time in a long time i had found a since of peace I had not felt in a long time, and in that peace came a passion for creating and design I had not felt in a long time.

That Indoor range project started something. You see as a former B. Arch major I had to build models of things I designed. This was generally accomplished by cutting by hand all the basswood, foam core, and other materials buy to assemble scale models of your designs. Well I am a little older and wiser now. so I invested in a small laser cutter to more effortlessly cut materials to make those models. To make a long story short that ADHD rabbit hole lead me to where I am today and why you are reading this now. (Thanks for taking the time by the way.)

With the creation of Sketch your Etch came some our first Our first etched items were practical—metal business cards for the business , engraved signs for my office, and stainless-steel tumblers for marketing ang giving as gifts to friends. Each piece carried our evolving aesthetic: clean geometry mixed with a playful nod to the person behind the mark. People noticed. Word of mouth did the rest. Requests came in for slate coasters, cutting boards, glassware—small commissions at first, then larger batches for events and corporate gifts. Every new order was a chance to experiment with techniques, materials, and finishing touches.

Being veteran-owned shaped our approach. We respect discipline, durability, and mission-driven work—but we also believe in personality and a wink of the quirky. That mix is the backbone of our brand: reliable craftsmanship with unexpected charm. We treat every custom job like a mission briefing: listen closely, plan meticulously, execute precisely, and add a signature touch that makes the client smile.

Today, Sketch Your Etch Design Company LLC stands at the crossroads of design and production. We still sketch and 3D-model—now faster and smarter—but we also etch. Metal business cards that catch the eye. Tumblers that survive a jobsite and become daily essentials. Slate coasters and glassware that elevate a bar or a boardroom. Cutting boards that get used and admired. Everything we make begins with the same two rules we set on day one: make it durable, and make it unmistakably yours.

Those early photos—the range layouts, the 3D renders, the first etched prototypes—are more than nostalgia. They’re proof of our evolution. They show how an idea iterated into a skillset, and how skill became a small business crafted to help others tell their story. We love getting the call that starts, “Can you make this…?” because we remember being there at the beginning of nearly every “this.” Design, model, etch, ship—repeat. We’ll help you put your mark on anything from a corporate giveaway to a family heirloom, doing it with precision, personality, and a little bit of that veteran grit.

Sketch Your Etch: veteran-owned. Design-forward. Quirk-approved.