The Rustand Brand

Marketing & branding are about connection.

At its core, what we now call “marketing” was never meant to feel transactional. It was art. It was innovation. It was people sharing what they believed they were meant to do.

Somewhere along the way, that clarity became complicated.

The connection between purpose and product got lost.

We help you bring it back.

We help you express why your work exists in the first place, and connect that truth to the people it’s meant to reach. Not through noise, but through meaning.

Your passion to your product.
Your product to your brand.
Your brand to your audience.

Because when those connections are clear, people don’t just see your business.
They feel it.

Rustand & Co exists to uncover that connection at its root, clarify it, and help communicate it clearly.

The Foundation

The story of the Rustand Brand begins with Paul Rustand and Widgets & Stone.

For nearly three decades, Widgets & Stone helped organizations build brands rooted in relationship, clarity, purpose, and human experience.

While often described through design, the work was always deeper than aesthetics. It helped companies understand who they were, how they communicated, and how they created value in the world.

The philosophy was simple but enduring: design is relationships. Every project was an opportunity to strengthen connection between an organization and its people, its message and its audience, its purpose and its expression.

Paul was named an AIGA Fellow in 2011 for significant contributions to raising the standards of excellence in the design community. He completed AIGA’s “Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders” program at the Yale School of Management in 2008, holds an MFA in Book Arts from the University of Alabama, and a BFA in Design & Illustration from East Carolina University.

The Expansion

Drake Rustand grew up around that understanding of brand, but his own creative lens formed around narrative storytelling.

Film, writing, story, and emotion became the way he understood how people connect with companies. Not just how brands look, but how they feel, how they move, and why they matter.

Drake and Paul helped lead Chattanooga FC campaigns during seasons that still hold the club’s highest attendance records.

Drake later carried that narrative brand approach into media and entertainment at Waypoint TV, helping take the company from infancy into a multi-million dollar streaming platform.

His work has included commercials, campaigns, platform creative, and brand direction across NBC Sports, Discovery, Samsung TV Plus, Pluto TV, Outside TV, and more, with work connected to brands like YETI, LG, VIZIO, and others.

The Evolution

While Paul shaped brand through design and Drake expanded it through narrative, Effie Rustand brings that same belief into the physical world.

Studying interior design at SCAD, Effie developed a foundation in creative vision, practical execution, and lived experience.

Her work with Little Things Lab, Happy Valley Farms, and Tucker Build reflects a focus on thoughtful environments, intentional living, and meaningful design.

Effie was also influential in work that helped make Chattanooga the first National Park City in the United States, connecting design, environment, community, and long-term civic impact.

Her perspective expands Rustand & Co beyond visual and narrative identity into the spaces where brands are physically felt.

Rustand & Co is a name built on connection.

The ampersand is an intentional homage to the Widgets & Stone name. It is a symbol of connection, partnership, family, and shared work.

It connects the Rustand legacy to the heart of your brand and connects your brand to the right people who can help build it.

Rustand & Co helps uncover the heart of your brand, clarify the root of your needs, tell your story clearly, and connect you with trusted specialists who can help execute the work daily.