Artifact Puzzles facts for kids
Artifact Puzzles is a company that makes cool wooden jigsaw puzzles. They are located in Port Townsend, Washington. Before that, they were in Fremont, California, and even earlier, in Seattle, Washington.
The company was started in 2009 by Maya Gupta. She was a professor at the University of Washington who taught electrical engineering.
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How Artifact Puzzles Are Made
Artifact Puzzles makes their wooden puzzles in a special way. Unlike older wooden puzzles that were cut by hand using a tool called a jigsaw, Artifact Puzzles uses lasers!
Laser Cutting Technology
They use lasers to cut their puzzle pieces from strong, high-quality wood. This wood is about 1/4 inch thick and is called 3-ply plywood. It's also good for the environment. They even use inks made from soy, which are also eco-friendly.
Unique Puzzle Designs
What makes Artifact Puzzles really special is how their pieces are designed. An artist creates the unique shapes for every new puzzle. This means no two puzzles have exactly the same style of cut.
Creative Piece Shapes
Some puzzles might have classic "knob" connectors, which are the usual bumps and holes that link pieces. But many others have super creative shapes for their connectors! Imagine puzzle pieces that connect with shapes like clouds, hearts, bird feet, or even horse hooves. Some even use symbols from ancient Greece.
What Are Whimsy Pieces?
Most Artifact Puzzles also include "whimsy pieces." These are special puzzle pieces shaped like real objects you can recognize. They are designed to fit the theme of the puzzle. For example, in a puzzle with a moon theme, you might find a piece shaped like a cow jumping over the moon! In a puzzle about ballet, you might find pieces shaped like tiny ballerinas.
Art and Themes
Artifact Puzzles has created and made more than 250 different puzzles. They use a wide variety of art for their puzzles.
Diverse Art Collections
They have a lot of puzzles featuring whimsical art, which is art that is playful and imaginative. They also have many puzzles with art from the 16th century. This means you can find puzzles with many different styles, from very old paintings to modern, dream-like pictures.
