Matterial.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: SMALL biz

MATTER, a Denver-based design firm founded by Rick Griffith in 1999, went into the craft manufacturing business in 2007 under the brand name MATTERIAL. First were notepads used by MATTER in-house.

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"If we need it ourselves, we'll never be stuck with a bunch of stuff nobody wants to buy," Griffith says. But it caught on and the line now includes everything from underwear to book shelves.

New this year is Solidtype, a typeface-inspired line of decor that ranges from three-inch puzzles to $3,200 desks, with every letter of the alphabet in the catalog. Everything is made in Denver.

"All three of the last...