Every puzzle starts with an artist

Before a puzzle hits your table, someone had to find the art. At Buffalo Games, that someone is Rebecca Carden, our Sr. Director, Puzzles & Graphic Design. And she takes the job personally.

"First and foremost, I'm an artist," Rebecca says. "I've always looked at my role as an art director as a great opportunity to promote and discover artists that maybe don't have anything out in the mainstream."

Art has never been easier to find

Art used to feel a little exclusive. Galleries, agents, and middlemen. Not anymore. Rebecca's number one scouting tool? Instagram.

When she spots an artist she loves, she sends a quick DM: who she is, a little about Buffalo Games, and her email. "9 times out of 10, that works," she says. These days, artists make it even easier by putting an email right in their profile, since DMs can get filtered out.

Then she goes down the rabbit hole. When she finds a great artist, "I'll go through all the people they're following and then look at other artists within their world." Great artists tend to follow great artists, so one discovery often leads to five more.

It's not all about one person's taste

Here's something we love about how Rebecca works: she doesn't only pick art she'd hang in her own living room.

"Not everything has to be to my taste because art is so subjective," she says. "So even though I don't love something, it doesn't mean that someone else won't love it."

That's why our puzzles cover so much ground: cozy cottages, bold florals, moody fantasy, cute critters and everything in between. 

100 submissions a week (yes, really)

Artists come to us, too. Rebecca gets at least 100 email submissions every week. About a quarter of them turn out to be puzzle-ready art. Why so few? Gorgeous art doesn't always make a great puzzle. Learn more about what makes puzzle art work: https://www.buffalogames.com/blogs/default-blog/what-makes-art-puzzle-ready

She also works with smaller agencies that represent artists, some she's partnered with for over 20 years throughout her art direction career. 

Your next favorite artist might already be in your box

So the next time you dump out a fresh puzzle, know that the art in front of you was hand-picked, often after a DM, a deep scroll, and a lot of looking. And maybe an artist who's never been on a store shelf before.

Find your next favorite artist: https://www.buffalogames.com/collections/jigsaw-puzzles