About
Rasa Design Studio was started as the freelance Design, Photography and Programming firm of Sean Rice in 1997. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm specializes in eCommerce site and application development, most notably Tableless CSS osCommerce.
Rasa Design Studio is now a partnership between Sean Rice and Kelsey Thurber.
Sean Rice graduated from the University of Florida, Summa Cum Laude, with a BFA in Design and a BA in Philosophy (ind. “Law of Emerging Democracies”) and a 3.99 GPA. While working for his design degree, Mr. Rice opened his first design-related business, Rice Paper Graphics, in the dead center of Gainesville: University & Main. From there, he consolidated the design, music production and venue business into a single round-trip enterprise that allowed musicians up and down Rt. 75 to produce music, develop CD’s and sell them through live shows in bars and music halls from Jacksonville to Tampa.
In 1996, Spring and Fall, he produced the first profitable fashion shows in Alachua County earning $80,000 and $125,000 respectively in ticket and alcohol sales per weekend from shows that included cottage-industry designers, a media display above the catwalk and a complete revamp of the industry as a business model.
In 1997, after graduation, he sold the business to establish Rasa Design Studio in Boston, Massachusetts and, with Aquent, got into the business of corporate solutions to internet, intra- and extra-net problems for such clients as IBM (TradeRoots), NikonUSA (NikonSchool), Cell Exchange (JASC), Delloite & Touche (Marketing Plan Distribution Platform), Cognos (Sales Channel Platform), and several other corporations in the Boston/Cambridge area.
After the tech bubble crash, Rasa Design Studio moved to Western Massachusetts and concentrated on the idea that corporate advantages and marketing could be automated and refined for small business and start-ups. Earning revenue from the sale of the first stable rewrite of osCommerce into a google-friendly, tableless application, Rasa Design Studio has re-emerged as a full boutique eCommerce design firm in Boston, MA.
Our goal is to develop conversions for your business.
Kelsey Thurber is an artist and animator from Alexandria, VA. Her works include everything from church murals to video vignette pieces that can incorporate everything from human trash cans to the eating of and arrangement of bagels. She consults on slide and video productions for presentations. Kelsey handles construction, fabrication and physical design jobs and handles most of the administration and sales for Rasa Design Studio.