GRIT Design sets up shop in Elevator Building

A new mobile and graphic design firm opening in Rivertown's Elevator Building channels Detroit for its aesthetic and work ethic.

"GRIT is such a good name for our company," says principal Andrea Livingston, one of six co-founders of GRIT Design. "We are not pretentious. We earned whatever we have. None of us are born with silver spoons and we had to work incredibly hard for what we had. We don't care about flash and we don't care about show. We just care about doing the right thing."

The collective, all of whom came from high-profile agency gigs, burned the midnight oil building GRIT for years while working their day jobs until the business became sustainable. They now have 11 full-time employees and keep anywhere from three to six contractors on the payroll. 

Recent mobile IPhone apps from the company include Alphabet Writer (for the child who can't stop playing with your iPhone), BBQ, a seriously sweet guide to grilling, and GrixPix, which paints pixels from the phone to the air. They also produced a mobile app for the Detroit Medical Center that gives patients accurate wait times at each of its hospitals.

GRIT also contracts out design work with several high-profile international agencies, including New York's Ogilvy & Mather, while helping to manage SEO and digital footprints for their clients.

It's all taking place in their new 2,000 square foot open space on the first floor of the Elevator Building, where cubicles are outlawed and conference calls take place in the back alley.

"We love it, we love the aesthetics of it. It's not exactly well kept outside," she says, "but you can see the boats coming into the Riverfront. I'm really excited about the summer, and seeing more people out."

And even though Livingston says they considered relocating from Madison Heights to Ann Arbor, Detroit's central location and artistic resources made the move to the D an obvious choice for the collective.

"We wanted to be in Detroit, for the vibe of Detroit, and for the youth of Detroit. It's so close to CCS and Wayne State," she says.

Source: Andrea Livingston, principal GRIT Design
Writer: Ashley C. Woods