05/09/2024
Contrary to popular belief, Biscuit Studios, LLC is a graphic design company. Though we pride ourselves on our flavorful design, warm client relations, and ideas that are never half-baked, we have very little to do with literal biscuits. (And very much to do with puns, apparently.)
The “Biscuit” story really begins with Jaboa, a taupe colored Weimaraner with human tendencies, known primarily for his penchant for taking up half the bed and quiet nature—save for when his owner, Jason, spread peanut butter on the roof of his mouth, and the quiet suddenly turned to a cacophony of smacking sounds. He was lovingly nicknamed The Gray Ghost, a title arguably more suited for a Marvel villain (or DC hero) than a dog with a tail too nubby to wag, often expressing himself through rapid propellor-esque swishes of his bobtail or little butt shakes instead, like Shakira with kibble breath.
For a company founded on the importance of family, independence, and separating from the conventions of big business, Gray Ghost Design seemed to be an immaculately perfect name for the company. It was a playful yet meaningful way for co-founder Jason to honor his best friend, as well as a polished and professional company title. Just like the new business, established with risk taking spirit out of Lucy and Jason’s one bedroom apartment in Midtown Atlanta, it was a perfect mix of warm and contemporary.
Or, sorry—what was it called again? Gray Goat Design? Grego? Great Grow? Gecko?
Starting a business isn’t ever a smooth ride, but you really couldn’t ask for a goofier bump in the road.
As the company began to grow, so did their family, and the company was transferred from the apartment to the basement of their very first home, a tiny place in Ormewood Park. After months of clients and vendors struggling to understand what they were saying, Lucy and Jason knew it was time to say goodbye to Gray Ghost Design. They struggled with names for weeks, trying to find something with just as much meaning, homelike yet original due to its story, but less muddled over the phone.
Paige Schnell, AKA “The Idea Man,” was the original ally to the company and one of Lucy’s best friends in the early years of the Butler-Fry Atlanta residency. Paige and Lucy met at a large interior design firm, employed in simultaneously overworked and underpaid jobs, and bonded through negligent superiors and ill-timed jokes about asparagus p*e. One morning in 2002, at the little Ormewood Park house, Paige was the recipient of a long winded Gray Ghost struggle vent. So, she told them a story. Quoted directly from Lucy herself and featuring an incredibly on point Alabamian accent, Paige said, “When I was little, someone gave me a brand new puppy, and I couldn’t think of a good name. Then my cousin said, ‘just name it whatcha ate for breakfast!’”
The subsequent string of events closely resembled the climatic turning point in a Disney Channel original movie, when the main characters finally figure out how to win the talent show or forgive their frenemy or that really, the music was inside them all along. Jason and Lucy looked at each other, then down at their plates, and said in unison, “Biscuit Studios!” And so, in an Exodus fashion, the future was sealed in stone.
From apartment to basement to attic to garage and finally, to office, Biscuit has now grown into a staple in the Atlanta community, continuing its trend of taking risks for the sake of innovation. Paige Sumblin Schnell founded and now owns and operates Tracery Interiors, an interior design firm based in Florida, working hands-on to add her keen aesthetic touch to every project the company takes on. Tracery has received recognition and acclaim nationally due to its signature, unique style, combining hospitable Southern warmth and clean, contemporary sophistication. She remains an honorary part of the team to this day.
