First a love story.

It all started with a road trip along one crooked line – from Minneapolis to Des Moines. Ashley drove down to meet Garrett at his vintage shop, The Dust Collective, to explore a possible clothing collaboration (and to mostly flirt). They spent long nights sharing their passions and discussing their Venn Diagram of complimentary skills and interests. Before long, Ashley was styling a photoshoot at the shop. Over the next year the two ended up collaborating on everything but the clothing line and the rest, as they say, is history.

And really, everything about Crooked Line is a love story.

We love working with our hands. We love messes, texture, and color – because we simply find them more interesting and, by nature, more human. Both of us have worked for and with agencies to help bring big-brand and small-business stories to life through art direction, styling, photography, and identity work. We’ve loved these collaborative spaces and finding dynamic ways to share our client’s ideas.

Crooked Line came into existence from a heart space, asking ourselves, “What do we love to do, and how can we support others within that”?

Ashley Mary was born and raised in Minnesota. A freelance artist for the last decade her hats include muralist, illustrator and designer with an MA in Web and Graphic Design from MCAD. Ashley’s artwork has expanded into multiple spaces: product collabs with brands illustration and packaging artwork, and vibrant murals that can be found scattered around the US. Her materials of choice are collage, acrylic paints, gouache, and pastels. For extra play time, she loves to be active outdoors, experiment with stained glass and hunt for old chairs (ask more later).

Garrett is an artist, shop owner and creative force behind The Dust Collective, where he curates vintage pieces with a keen eye for history, design, and craftsmanship. A student of life, Garrett studied marketing and advertising and went on to build and support multiple brands through his design and photography. He's traveled the country with his camera and worked for dozens of brands while living in Southern California. His passion for storytelling through people and objects fuels his work, blending past and present in a way that feels both intentional and unexpected.

They now share a cool old home in Valley Junction (with lots of great chairs), with Ashley keeping studio space and client work up in Minneapolis as well as in Des Moines.

With our combined experience as freelancers and small business owners, we get the unique struggles and sacrifices necessary to choose to start something new.

To vulnerably put your creative self out there.

To wear many hats at once.

To live closer to your whole self.

To care deeply about your values, time, and passions.

To create spaces and ideas for yourself and others to connect with.

To watch something you believe in grow.

That’s a love story.

It’s not an easy thing to road to chose but we believe in the journey and the stops along the way.

Between where you are and where you want to be is just one crooked line…

How can we help you get there?

Let’s make something together.