About Whittled
Built for people who
care how things are made.
Whittled began with a question: why do most puzzles end up back in the box? The answer led to better materials, a better cut, and a puzzle worth building — and keeping on the wall.
Why Whittled Exists
The puzzle sat on the table.
The art went on the wall.
Most puzzles end up back in the box. You finish them, you admire them for a moment, and then they disappear. That always seemed wrong to us — because the image deserves better, and so does the experience of building it.
Whittled was built on a different premise: that a puzzle could be worthy of the wall. That the process of building it — piece by piece, over evenings at the table — could produce something you'd actually want to keep.
That's not an accident of design. It's a deliberate choice made in every material, every partnership, every image we choose to cut.
The Founder
Matt Newman
Founded in Louisville, KY
Before Whittled, Matt served as President of UW Solutions — the parent company of ChromaLuxe and Unisub, whose coated substrates are used in professional photography displays worldwide. He spent years working inside the material science behind permanent color infusion: how it is applied, how it is tested, and exactly what it takes for an image to stay vivid over decades. The Lifetime Color Guarantee is not a marketing phrase. It reflects what the material actually does.
That background means Whittled starts from a different place than most gift companies. The color process, the substrate selection, and the quality standards come from experience in professional archival display — not from what was available on a supplier catalog. When we say color is permanently infused into the wood, we mean the same process used in museum-grade and gallery-quality photo products.
The production discipline comes from a different chapter. As Global VP of Operations at Regal Rexnord — a precision industrial manufacturer — Matt built supply chains around short cycle times and near-zero defect standards. That is where the one-week shipping promise comes from. It is not an aspiration. It is a production system applied to a craft product.
Whittled is designed in Louisville with one conviction: that the personal photo gift category deserved better materials, a more considered cut, and a finished object worth keeping out after the last piece clicks into place.
The Craft
We are obsessive about
how it feels in your hands.
The Material
We use hardwood — not cardboard, not thin craft wood. The weight in your hand when you pick up a piece is intentional. It's the first thing people notice.
The Color
Color pressed permanently into the surface of the wood. Not printed on top, not laminated over. When you hold a piece up to the light, you see the grain underneath the image.
The same process used in professional photography displays — color infused into the material itself, not applied on top. We're bringing it to puzzles.
The Cut
Laser precision. Every piece fits the way it should — firm, deliberate, unmistakable. We call it The Click. Once you've felt it, cardboard puzzles feel like a mistake.
The Hunt
We hide things
inside every puzzle.
Every Whittled puzzle contains whimsy pieces — shapes cut into the puzzle that you won't recognize until you're almost done.
On custom puzzles, we theme them to you. Wedding rings. Doves. The silhouette of a mountain you climbed together. The whimsy pieces become part of the story.
You don't know what you're hunting until you find it. That's the point.
Artist Partnerships
The image is not an afterthought.
It's the whole point.
Every Whittled collection begins with a photograph worth building. We partner with artists whose work stops people — wildlife photographers, landscape photographers, artists who've spent careers chasing one perfect image.
Each edition is limited to 500. Numbered. Never reprinted. The artist's name is on the box, on the certificate of authenticity, on the product page. This is a named collaboration, not a licensing deal.
We believe the people who make extraordinary images deserve a format as deliberate as the work itself.
Meet Our Artists
Artist Study
The Wildlife Series
Our Promise
The Lifetime Color Guarantee
The color will not fade in your lifetime. Not over decades. Not with light. Not with time.
We make this guarantee because the color is infused into the coated wood surface, not printed as a thin layer on top, and because Whittled is built by someone who has spent years around the material science behind professional photo display products.
Custom Puzzles
Give them hours at the table. And something worth keeping.
Start with a wedding photo, family memory, favorite place, or the pet everyone talks about. We turn it into a puzzle worth building together — and keeping on the wall.
Start a Custom PuzzleThe Collection
Explore the collection.
Custom puzzles, artist editions, and keepsake gifts designed to stay out of the box.
Browse the Shop