PARTNER, DESIGNER Maurice also graduated from Williams College, after which he earned a Master of Architecture degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1991. He had various day jobs before starting his own architecture practice in 1996 in Chicago. After the birth of Blu Dot, Maurice continued to operate his firm in Chicago but collaborated on design with John and Charlie via fax and email and commuted to Minneapolis to participate in Blu Dot design charrettes. In 2001 Maurice took a TV job as a design correspondent for the smash hit design show Area on E! Entertainment's Style Network. He had an "agent." After the show, Maurice realized the only pure place left in the world was Blu Dot so he moved with his family to Minneapolis, where he is now happily dividing his time between product design and ordering pallet racking.