Co-founder Mark Brazil @Markbrazil

Mark Brazil is an entrepreneur in the truest sense of the word: he's been following his passion for building brands since he was a teenager, moving from party planning to direct sales to graphic novels and eventually into the fashion world. After numerous successes, he turned back to his interest in the visual arts and began to act as a brand manager for multiple artists, showing them how they could use the Internet to reach a vast new audience. One of these clients was his frequent collaborator Jeff Cole, whose Instagram page he helped grow to hundreds of thousands of followers, and the two decided to go into business together.

Co-founder Jeff Cole @cole

A Chicago kid through and through, Jeff learned the power of visual iconography early when he saw the effect that the Chicago Bulls logo could have on a stadium full of fans. By the time he was 11, he was designing T-shirts and phone cases and managed to balance his passion for art with a budding interest in entrepreneurship. This continued as he aged, and he eventually found himself as the lead graphic designer for a number of innovative start-ups. Eventually however, he began working with Mark, and over 7 years the two built up a close working relationship – when the time was right, they knew the next step was to strike out on their own. Together, the two realized that they could produce and distribute art that would change the world. And so, Ikonick was born