Our Story (The Cliff Notes)

How we got into this

Cindy Sutt started CynDesign (the first version of Rock Paper Scissors) back in 1986 when big hair, cassette tapes, and Bobby Brown were cool. However, this journey actually started in 1985 when Cindy and her husband, Randy, moved to Atlanta. Cindy was ready for an even bigger change, so she went to the Art Institute of Atlanta to learn how to make prints of her water colors. There she discovered the graphic design department that combined her love for art and her business background and knew that she had found her new career.

When she graduated, she bought her first Mac SE and her professors told her she was crazy. However, six months later Cindy was teaching the professors how to illustrate and design on a computer. Technology and strong business practice have been at our core since day one.

A decade later Randy Sutt joined the business as the pre-press and digital imaging guru and started ARC Digital Imagers. Not too long after, the two had a great opportunity to move into a studio warehouse space in Duluth, and merged their two companies and decided to rename the newly formed business. They spent several Friday nights with friends brainstorming new names over a few glasses of beer. They narrowed their choices down to a few they liked and a friend said: “Why don’t you rock, paper, scissors for it?” A light bulb went off and Cindy and Randy realized they had a new name for the business–Rock Paper Scissors, both playful and memorable.

Amanda Sutt joined the Rock Paper Scissors team as project manager in 2005 and quickly moved up the ranks, becoming an integral part of the team and eventually assuming the role of CEO and Creative Director. She keeps things running pretty smoothly, though the picture isn’t complete without talking about our amazing team. This is the finest group of designers, developers, copywriters, and artisans on the planet. Check them out on the TEAM page.

Sadly, Cindy passed away in 2014 after a brave year-long battle with cancer. However, our team carries out and honors her legacy each day through our creative work. Cindy will always be a source of inspiration for our team and we will forever be grateful that she took a chance to start a design business from her basement that has become a place where people look forward to working every day, and a firm that clients and members of the community look forward to working with.

Amanda and Randy now lead the team and we continue to build upon the foundation Cindy created. Each day we’re improving our processes, learning new skills, and using our superpowers to change the world, one brand at a time.