Aluma Designs was founded in 2003 by its current Principal and Chief Designer, David Keigley, in the Miami Design District. A highly successful international model with a passion for photography and design, David left his hometown of Pensacola at a young age to travel the world, capturing images of people, places and objects through his lenses — as well as in his heart, mind and soul. Years of involvement in the fashion industry and exposure to the design capitals of the world coincided with his personal quest for unique, break-through designs resulting in products that are modern in nature, organic in spirit and dynamic in function.

David’s first product happened almost by chance. Yearning to start a family with his wife Carri and move closer to home, he closed up his photography studio in Paris and moved to Miami — and having collected an extraordinary amount of still images over time, he found himself on the hunt for contemporary, cutting-edge frames that would allow him to display an optimum amount of photos while being able to change them out as often as he liked. Unable to fulfill this desire in the market, he committed to creating the product himself. After considerable research and development, the patented Aluma Art Framing System was born. Based on a primary structure of perforated, high grade aluminum combined with other contemporary materials and hardware, the Aluma Art Framing System presents a simple yet versatile way of framing any media to be displayed. The modern, industrial, yet elegant environment provided by the frame serves as a perfect compliment, all the while allowing the displayed piece to be the shining star.

The new framing systems, dubbed Architek®, caused such a sensation at trade shows and with the public in general that it was quickly patented both nationally and overseas. The natural evolution into the next product line was the creation of panel systems. By joining several frames in a myriad of different configurations, striking displays could be created that would allow for many creative executions. From a BMW showroom to a British Airways first class lounge, Aluma’s Architek® panel systems serve to enhance and exalt any upscale brand.

In 2007, David, Carri, and their growing family, returned to David’s roots in the panhandle, settling in and setting up shop in Gulf Breeze. Surrounded by family and lifelong friends, and with the help of his new hire and right hand man, Clayton Currie, David took the next step of his journey, developing the Vetro all acrylic and Futura metal and acrylic framing systems as well as fine art printing services for photographers, artist, designers and the like. Business grew quickly. The Aluma team was expanded, and new products were added for the corporate and government markets including Kaizen and Compliance Boards and Slide versions of the three framing systems.

Following on that success, and with the relationships developed with designers and in the corporate and governmental world, Aluma leveraged it’s knowledge of display design and modern materials to the next level with environmental display projects — combining multiple materials, textures, dimensions and images to tell stories on a grand scale — for organizations like Michelin, PNS International Airport, the U.S. Air Force and Army Corp of Engineers. By the late twenty-teens, Aluma had diversified fully into a national frame and display company (alumadesigns.com) and a local and regional signage and graphics company (alumasigns.com) adding prestige projects to it’s portfolio such as the Army Cyber Command Headquarters in Ft Gordon, Georgia and the Navy Federal Credit Union campus in Pensacola, engineering, fabricating and installing hundreds of ADA compliant room signs, thousands of feet of custom printed wallpaper, three dimensional signage, environmental wall displays, and interior and exterior wayfinding and monument signage.

In 2020, with the Covid Pandemic gripping the country and the world, and Aluma’s corporate sales stalling due to lockdowns and work from home, Aluma pivoted. Using their extensive knowledge of acrylics and the acrylic supply chain, they rapidly designed and marketed a “designer” version of the ubiquitous “Sneeze Guard” which was sold and installed across the country, from Rockefeller Center and the Edison Hotel in Manhattan, to the National Design Museum in DC, and numerous other businesses and organizations spanning from Seattle to Miami. A true example of making lemonade from lemons.

The next step in the journey was designing and building a new, purpose built facility in downtown Pensacola to produce and showcase the projects and services on which Aluma Designs had built a national reputation. By late 2021, the new headquarters and production facility at 400 North Tarragona Street was completed, with much of the exterior cladding and interior finish work designed, produced and installed by the Aluma team themselves. An inspiring space to design and create, collaborate and produce, or just hang out and have a little fun, with more than a nod to the vision and values that made Aluma Designs a nationally recognized company in the graphics, design and display space.