Paul Rustand

As principal and director, he has led Widgets & Stone since day one. Paul serves as the hub of the studio, drawing clients, creative ideas and collaborators together around projects to accomplish business and brand objectives.

He and his best friend/wife Peg have eight good kids and one naughty dog (down from three!). When they are not traveling or wishing they lived in Tuscany, they live happily on Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Paul's non-design interests include cooking, gardening, eating, UNC basketball, international soccer, trying to learn to speak Italian and (some tame) indie music.

Paul is active in AIGA, the professional association for design, finishing his second term as President of the Chattanooga Chapter. He is also a member of the Board of Crabtree Farms, the Lookout Mountain Conservancy, and the Chattanooga Football Club. He has taught many semesters as Adjunct Design Professor at the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga.

Paul completed the AIGA program "Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders" at the Yale School of Management (2008). He holds a MFA in Book Arts from the University of Alabama (2004) and a BFA in Design & Illustration from East Carolina University (1994). He is also quite proud of his month-long internship with Sagmeister, Inc. (2004).

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D.J. Trischler

D.J. serves as designer for the studio, assisting with everything from studio business, idea generation, production and strategic design. His never ending enthusiasm, insatiable curiosity and people skills make him a welcome addition to our team. Along with his good nature, he is quite a good designer.

As a full-fledged, unapologetic dreamer and connector, D.J. takes pleasure in traveling, building relationships and connecting the dots. At one time aspiring to become a politician or scientist, D.J. is currently extremely content to attempt to change the world as a designer. Away from his day job, D.J. likes hiking in the mountains, enjoying new foods, cheering for any team from Pittsburgh, discovering other cultural norms than his own, experimenting with collaboration and writing (through blogging) and spending quality time with family and friends.

D.J. graduated from LaRoche College in 2006 with a BA in Graphic and Communications Design.

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Caleb Ludwick

Caleb has collaborated with Widgets since 2002. Serving as a creative director - and the writer (plus head of his own communications company, 26Tools) - he develops the studio's understanding of clients and their audiences, leads discovery, strategically directs creative work, and generally helps us think about of how brands launch into and live in the world. He also writes award-winning copy.

Along with years of real world experience in communications design and working to improve sustainability in design industries, Caleb holds a couple of graduate degrees and has served on the faculty of a liberal arts college. 

He is married to a woman who is beautiful and strong and kind. Together they have two wonderdaughters. When he is not working, you can find him reading anything from pulp fiction to poetry, walking in the woods without talking or doing finger calisthenics to keep his typing digits limber. Caleb has served as Marketing Director for Tennessee's oldest law firm, as Faculty Administrator at a liberal arts college, Communications Director for a sustainable design company and as Manager of Corporate Communications at a municipal utility. Today he works from home in order to be available to make croque monsieur sandwiches.

Two years ago Caleb stepped out of all Board and association memberships. Today, when invited by a company or not for profit to serve on their Board he politely declines but works to find a way to undertake pro bono work for the inviter. Because doing a lot of free work is good for everybody.

He holds a Masters in literature from the University of Nottingham England/Université d'Orléans France and a Masters in theology from a seminary, as well as a BA in English with Art History and Philosophy.

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Matt Greenwell

As a collaborative partner in the studio since 2004, Matt is involved in all aspects of the work of the studio with a primary focus on creative direction, client support and strategic planning.

Matt and Anita came from Iowa City to Chattanooga in 1997, where they are now raising two kids and a number of other small animals. A tinkerer of the MacGyver variety, his talents around the house have led to use of his name as a verb meaning to fix or organize ("We need to Matt the car!" or "Who Matted the dishes?"). For Matt, almost every aspect of life is an extension of his instinct to sort and organize. Sometimes this drives his family crazy but on the plus side, has led to the ongoing restoration of their 1997 Volkswagen Westfalia – among other projects too numerous to mention.

Matt was a founding Board member of Chattanooga AIGA and remains an active voice in Chattanooga's art and design community. He has also served on Boards or committees for the Hunter Museum of American Art, Allied Arts of Chattanooga, the Association for Visual Arts and CreateHere. Matt divides his work between teaching (his students), designing (with the studio) and serving the Art Department at the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga (as Department Head). Matt is proud to advocate for his students, his department and his community.

He holds a MFA in Design from the University of Iowa (1997) and a BA in Advertising from Western Kentucky University (1993), and has been working professionally as a designer throughout his teaching career.

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Grant Dotson

Grant coordinates production of the studio's distinctive printed work. When not researching new production techniques, he adds his design talent to client creative projects and provides original photography.

Grant lives outside of Chattanooga with his wife Sara, with a cat they named after an 18th century typeface designer. He is obsessively detail-oriented, a quality that maddens his wife but serves him well professionally.

He serves as an Adjunct Instructor of typography in the Art Department at the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga and is a Secretary/Treasurer of Chattanooga AIGA. He exercises his passion for photography as the owner of Dotson Studios, providing artful photos for private and commercial clients.

He holds a BFA in design from the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga.

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Bradley Dicharry

Brad is a longtime long distance collaborator with the studio (working with Widgets since 2001). He specializes in beautiful typography and deceptively simple brand identity design, as well as a myriad of other creative and production duties. He was also our very first intern in 2000.

Brad serves as an Assistant Professor of Design at the University of Iowa. Along with an active freelance design career, he pursues personal projects and a pro bono design project called Donate Design. Brad received his MFA from the University of Iowa in design (2005) as well as his MA (2003). He has a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga (2001).