What’s With the Gecko?
Back in 1996
A 16-year-old Missoula high schooler named Gabriel started designing websites from his parents’ bedroom. His co-worker? A pet gecko.
The Gecko
Just Stuck
The gecko wasn’t much of a designer (and was terrible at HTML), but it did inspire a name: Gecko Designs. The lizard’s actual name has been lost to time. Did it even have one? No one remembers. The mystery remains.
From dorm rooms and Pentium computers, to front-page newspaper stories and first big clients, the name stuck. Even when Gecko moved across states, hired more people, and eventually set up shop in downtown Missoula – the gecko came along for the ride.
Fast-forward
30 years
We’re now…
Gecko
Agency.
We didn’t just outgrow bedrooms, basements, and dorm rooms.
 We outgrew “Designs.”

Today, we’re more than a design shop. We’re strategists, developers, storytellers, builders. The work got bigger — so the name had to, too. But one thing never changed: the gecko. It’s still here because it’s in our DNA — Adaptable. Resilient. A little unexpected. Just like we’ve always been.
So when people ask, “What’s with the gecko?” – the answer is simple:
It started with a pet. 
It grew into a company. And it’s never let go.
