Piecing together a unique business

Allison Keeler was looking for the next step in her career — something that would allow her to take advantage of her business background, use her creativity, and perhaps most importantly, something that was all her own. In 2024, she founded Curiosity Puzzle Company in Mercer Island, Washington, combining her love of puzzles, fine art photography, and wood craftsmanship.

We talked with Allison to learn more about how she developed her business, what tools she uses to produce her colorful, high-quality wooden puzzles, and what lies ahead for this growing company.

Q: First, tell us about your journey to founding Curiosity Puzzle Company.

A: In 2023, I was leaving a career in business and considering options for what came next. I wanted to do something creative, and I wanted to work for myself. I had always enjoyed doing puzzles, especially the wooden ones. I began looking for puzzle businesses that were for sale.

I found a company called Whimsy Wood Puzzles, and the owner told me he had sold all the equipment, but not the business. I purchased the business from him primarily because I needed someone to fill the most difficult role — a designer who could create the puzzle backs (piece layout) for laser cutting. If you want to create unique puzzles, you need complex designs that really require an artist’s touch.

The owner introduced me to his graphic designer/artist, Christy A. Moller. She is fabulous to work with. We used some of the designs that she had created for Whimsy but found that they needed a lot of work to resize. Our first organic design was for a picture of a mushroom that looks like a gnome, so the pieces are shaped like mushrooms, and many pieces combine to form gnomes.

Q: Where is your shop located?

A: My workshop is in my uncle’s garage. I couldn’t fit a laser cutter in there because of its size, so I started looking for someone who could do piecework laser cutting for me. I met Cory at WG Creative Co., who was just starting his business and wanted some additional work. Cory is very generous with his knowledge and has helped me figure out what materials work best for my puzzles. We are now using a plywood product with low formaldehyde, which makes our puzzles even more sustainable.

Q: At what point did you decide to invest in a UV printer?

A: When I was starting out, I thought about outsourcing the printing, but I couldn’t find anyone except a sign printer located an hour north of here, and his printed colors were awful.

My puzzles are photographs, so accurate color is really important. I looked at some UV printers from another manufacturer, but none of those would fit in my garage. When I went to Hanson Supply Co., they showed me the Roland DG VersaObject MO-240 UV printer. It’s a benchtop-sized device, so it doesn’t require a lot of space, plus it’s simple to operate, prints directly on the material I use for my puzzles, and delivers vibrant, photorealistic color and exceptional detail.

My dealer also suggested we print on the puzzles after they are laser cut. That works great because the printing comes down over the edges of the pieces and helps prevent chipping.

Q: How has it been for you to learn to use your UV printer?

A: I don’t come from a printing background, and I’m not a graphic designer, so this was a huge step into a world I knew nothing about. I’ve been stunned at how smart this machine is.

My Roland dealer set up templates for my puzzles, so I just pull the file in, stick it in the right size folder, and I’m off to the races. I get high-quality output every single time. The colors are awesome — everything looks the way I expect it to look.

I’m much more interested in creating puzzles than becoming a tech expert, so I’m eternally grateful that this printer is so easy to use.

Q: How do you choose the images for your puzzles?

A: All of the pictures are taken by either me or my kids. Some of the photos are from Botswana when we took a trip to Africa. The kids, teenagers at the time, were in the back of the jeep looking bored, so I handed them cameras. They were fascinated and ended up taking some outstanding shots.

Now, everyone knows that whenever we’re traveling, we need to be on the lookout for great puzzle photo opportunities.

Q: How many puzzles do you offer? Do you operate on an on-demand basis, or do you maintain inventory?

A: We currently have four different sizes of puzzles and offer 15 different puzzle designs. We keep expanding our product line. I have literally hundreds of photos waiting to be made into puzzles

It’s easier to produce the backs in batches, so I maintain some inventory — enough so that we can ship the same day or next day, which works well for our customers too.

Q: Are you online-only or are your products available in stores?

A: At present, my products are not available in stores — my business is mostly online. I’ve exhibited at a street fair where I learned that people are more likely to buy “grab-n-go” items rather than a puzzle, and that I need to provide customers with bags. I do offer a few of my bird puzzles at a place that sells birdseed.

Q: There is a lot of competition online — what do you think sets your business apart?

A: I think it’s the quality of the product that makes our puzzles stand out. Our wooden pieces are designed to last, and the puzzles themselves are challenging. Having put together these puzzles several times, it does not get significantly easier. We’re putting out a product that we’re proud of.

Also, when I started picking the images, I was interested in looking for photos of places I think of as disappearing or right on the edge, either from overuse or natural disasters. I hope that people see the images and understand why it’s important to keep these places as pristine as possible.

Q: What do you see for the future of Curiosity Puzzle Co.?

A: I’m working on a process that would allow us to accept custom orders, as we’ve had several requests for them. One of the details involved is that the person has to own the copyright for the picture. I need to have forms available for confirming that’s the case and that we have permission to use the image as a puzzle.

Another requirement is choosing what type of puzzle back would work best for the custom puzzles. I have two puzzle backs that work for most images; one is a small puzzle, which can be seen as the cut sheet for Maui Morning Sun, and the other is a large puzzle, which is the cut sheet for Seaweed and Granite. You can check out both of those puzzles on the website.

Another area I’d like to explore is developing other types of puzzles — there are a lot of interesting things that you can do with the puzzle shape and with the arrangement of the pieces. I’m also working on a puzzle that serves double duty as an executive fidget spinner. We’ll have more types of puzzles available as we go.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

A: Buy puzzles. They are a super way to unplug. My mom does them constantly. She and I did a puzzle recently with my teenage nephew. He sat and worked on the puzzle for 45 minutes without batting an eye. My dad, who has some dementia, can put them together. Puzzles are surprising. They’re artistic, challenging, and fun.