Wayne Ink Design's founder, Wayne Grulke-Rueter, found his love of art, illustration and design in his youth. Sparked from his love of creating action figures from clay and Play Dough, he grew to perfect a variety of different trades through use of art supplies and farm machinery.

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His first major art project, inspired as a way for him to play with his nephews, was a hand-made sword ground and whittled down from a tree branch. Growing only more intuitive with his projects, he went on to mold, fire and paint clay figures such as garden gnomes, action figures from his favorite books, and relics of nature.

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Wayne discovered his love of illustration while competing in high school art competitions. Endeavoring to create an original comic strip series for one such competition, focusing on the political satire of 2008, Wayne used his project as a springboard for his inspiration to train professionally as a designer.

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He completed his Associate's Degree in Graphic Design and Illustration in 2015, and has spent the last three years gaining traction in Madison's freelance design marketplace.