When Beth Snyder earned her bachelor of fine arts in graphic design in 2002, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to find a career that encompassed her love of arts and crafts. Her first job after graduation was creating graphics and animations for a TV station in Nashville. Snyder was skilled at the work, winning an Emmy for her designs. But she was looking for something different.
A 2002 Mizzou grad, Snyder now owns a successful illustration company with a downtown location in Fulton, Missouri.
In 2008, she got in touch with a childhood friend and former artistic collaborator. The pair decided to create an illustration company named 1canoe2 in memory of the canoe trips they’d taken together.
The business formally launched in 2009, with a letterpress in the basement of Snyder’s Fulton home. Over time, 1canoe2 has grown into an international company with an annual gross of $1.5 million. The company’s cards, gifts, and stationary are sold in more than 1,000 independent boutiques around the world, through local stores as well as national retailers like Anthropologie.
1canoe2 is still is based in Fulton – and now, it boasts its own building downtown. Snyder, a native of Auxvasse, loves the fact that she can pursue her passion while living near her hometown and family. And she is civic-minded, as well. “We have an opportunity to help uplift this community,” she says.
Each fall, Snyder talks to the MU graphic design capstone class. She tells students considering a career in art to tend to the business side along with the creative. “Always keep your books straight,” she advises, “and don’t be afraid to make money.”
You can read more about Sndyer and other A&S alumni in the spring 2018 edition of Mosaics Magazine.
Still based in Fulton, Mo, 1canoe2 has grown into an international company with an annual gross of $1.5 million.
