New In Biz: The Cardboard Engineer

NEW IN BIZ One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s 3D Cardboard Puzzle

By Jim Murphy

If you love what you do, it never feels like work. That’s the case for Bryce St. Pierre, Owner of The Cardboard Engineer, who took a 3D modelling hobby and turned it into a small business!

“I was inspired by my girlfriend’s success in building a business on Instagram,” says St. Pierre. “I was also amazed by the small business landscape in Windsor/Essex County and I really wanted to become a part of it.”

Established in July 2021, The Cardboard Engineer is a small craft business specializing in art, sculptures, puzzles and gifts made from 100% recycled cardboard. The products are ideal for anyone aged 4 and up.

Types of cardboard puzzles include: the cactus, the doughnut, the coffee cup, the heart, the wine glass, the pumpkin, the pine tree, the igloo, and the snowman. They also create pre-assembled sculptures made of recycled cardboard including the succulent (for plants), treasure chest and small cactus.

“I’ve found that the process of designing the pieces and bringing them into reality is a great creative outlet for me,” says St. Pierre. “I’ve always been artistic, but the motivation to paint or draw comes in random spurts. Determining how the puzzles will be assembled is an interesting challenge with the potential to bring a lot of joy; it also feels good to take recycled materials and repurpose them into something fun and unique.”

St. Pierre, who is the sole proprietor and only employee at The Cardboard Engineer, specializes in creating fun out of materials that would otherwise be thrown away and recycled. He designs, cuts, styles and packages the products himself.

St. Pierre’s products are meant to remind you of the child you once were, and to take some time to challenge yourself to do a fun 3D puzzle!

Since the business was started during the pandemic, (which actually might have helped make his business seem more valuable to customers eager to keep busy at home), taking precautions has been the status quo.

“Being a small business that is mainly online or featured in outdoor markets, we’ve been fortunate that the impact is minimal at this stage,” comments St. Pierre. “Our precautions during the pandemic have mainly consisted of social distancing, masking and taking contactless payments as much as possible.”

If you are interested in learning more about how cool cardboard really is, go to: CardboardEngineer.com.

Curbside pickup, delivery and shipping options are offered.

Three of The Cardboard Engineer’s 3D puzzles are displayed on a window sill, from left: the pine tree, the igloo and the snowman. Photo courtesy of Bryce St. Pierre.