Eric Downs of DownsDesign, a web and print design studio, and Megan Hunt of Princess Lasertron, a vintage felt and button company, are shown at CAMP, a creative coworking space for startups. Photo by Andrea Ciurej.
Being self-employed, Megan Hunt and Eric Downs began businesses within the comfort of their own homes.
Hunt – a bridal designer, blogger and best friend – started her bridal design studio* Princess Lasertron out of a floor-to-ceiling windows apartment in a renovated high school.
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She then transported her business into an 8-foot-8 bedroom in a house shared by her now-husband and his roommate.
Once Hunt wed, she and her husband purchased a home, giving her an entire establishment to spread her myriad of wool felt, novelty buttons and multi-colored thread from ceiling to basement.
Like Hunt, Downs – a graphic designer – started DownsDesign, a web and print design studio, as a part-time gig in his home shared with his brothers. What started out in his bedroom eventually developed into a full-time in-house studio.
The need of camaraderie eventually forced Hunt and Downs to meet up with friends Matt Secoske, owner of software design and development company nimblelogic, and Steve Gordon, designer for RDQLUS Creative, and camp out at local hangouts late into the night over beer, fries and free wifi.
“[We] wanted to be around people and vibe off of each other,” Hunt said. “[We would] bring our laptops and just have late-night hacking sessions and get all of this work done.”
The completion of more work resulted in the need for more office space back home.
“We were kind of at the point where [everyone’s] business was growing and it was big enough that we were too big to be inviting clients over to our house,” Downs said.
That’s when Hunt decided to partner with Downs and pitch an 1,800 square foot “tent” at north downtown Omaha’s 130,000 square foot Mastercraft Building, located on 1111 N. 13th St., called CAMP.
Eric Downs, Megan Hunt and Megan’s husband, David Homan, take a look at the future space for CAMP on March 1. Photo by princesslasertron via Flickr.
CAMP is a workspace that will be used for startups to build their businesses and cowork with others. Princess Lasertron, DownsDesign and nimblelogic will occupy the space set to open in July. It will be equipped for as many as 10 to 12 full-time tenants.
“Even though we all work independently, we found that we were more productive when we were together because we kind of motivated each other,” Hunt, owner of CAMP, said. “That’s what kind of motivated us to start looking for a workspace together and that’s what led to this.”
Hunt drew inspiration for CAMP from an idea her mother had growing up.
“Her fantasy was always to start a little business called CAMP,” she said. “She talked a lot about that when I was growing up and I always kind of thought that was a cool name for a business.”
Hunt said the name connotes the informality of what she and Downs are trying to do.
(CAMP logo, left, designed by Eric Downs of DownsDesign)
“We want to work with people who will work with us, whose business philosophy and work priorities kind of fit in with what we’re doing,” she said.
The space also provides an opportunity to collaborate with tenants outside of CAMP, such as web design and developer What Cheer, minorwhite innovative photography and Secret Penguin youth branding agency.
“What I’m really excited about is the human interaction that this space offers,” she said. “I think a work space without community is just an office [and] we all have offices at home, so what the value really comes from is being around these amazing people – the whole idea of coworking.”
Downs – who designed the Princess Lasertron website – said the idea of coworking is how his friendship and business relationship with Hunt started.
This is an opportunity for other “small guys” to develop the same kind of relationship.
“We didn’t maybe see as much that a business would come and want to drop down and set up shop,” he said. “We don’t look at ourselves as much as competition, but as an opportunity to camaraderie and to help each other along and so that was a huge draw factor for us.”
David Homan and Eric Downs prepare for the opening of CAMP. Photo by princesslasertron via Flickr.
The location of the building, which is near The Slowdown and Blue Line Coffeehouse, also provides a way for CAMP and other Mastercraft tenants to build upon Omaha’s creative class.
“It’s kind of not developed enough, but it’s kind of coming up in development, so you know that it’s going to be a really cool place in the next five years,” Hunt said. “It’s really exciting to get on the ground floor of that development.”
CAMP is only a “tiny little pin on a giant building,” Downs said. But, there is plenty of space for those who want to huddle around the campfire.
“A camp site isn’t anything without the people that are there,” he said. “No matter where you’re at, if you can bring in a great group of people and put them [together], then that is your campsite and it’s made and without that, it’s just space.
*Princess Lasertron was described as a vintage button and design company upon publishing the article. On June 24, the wording was changed to bridal design studio.
Quick Scoop
Here are the current tenants housed at CAMP:Princess Lasertron
Website: princesslasertron.com
Founded: 2005
Owner: Megan Hunt
Slogan: Bridal Designer, Blogger and Best Friend
About: A three-person vintage felt and button design company that has serves more than 150 brides each year.
Services: Creating custom dresses and bouquets out of felt, vintage fabrics and antique buttons and other ephemera, such as boutonnières, corsages and hairpieces.
Featured in: City Weekly, Wedding Essentials, Weddingbee Pro, Brides Chicago, Country Living, Where Women Create, Brides Magazine, Omaha Magazine
On another note: Princess Lasertron made Shout Weekly’s 30 Under 30.
Twitter: @Lasertron
DownsDesign
Website: downsdesign.com
Founded: 2005
Owner: Eric Downs
Slogan: Web + Print + Think
About: A small web and print design studio using creativity to design, organize and simply things, name branding, print materials and websites.
Services: Website design. Print design. Branding. Ecommerce. Identity Design. HTML newsletters. Thinking.
Clients: Custom Decks & Spas, Wood Carvings by Klinger’s, Tazza di Caffe, Urbane Salon & Day Spa, Dustin Talacko Events, Fifth Element Labs, Midwest Machinery Co., The Personal Assistant, Nebraska Dance, Performance Conditioning, Push Pedal Pull, Tiger Paw Software, Big Iron Gym, Giving Returns, Nathan Homes of Omaha, Wendy Townley
On another note: DownsDesign made Shout Weekly’s 30 Under 30
Twitter: @DownsDesign
nimblelogic
As part of a content syndication partnership, you can also find the above article in this week's (June 23-29) issue of Shout!, an alternative weekly newspaper in Omaha. Each Wednesday, look to Shout!'s Silicon Prairie News page for a feature story and Quick Scoop.
