Just as Andy Warhol showed the world how a Campbell's soup can is really a cultural icon, designers can bring essences of art into the mundane, everyday experience of the average person. This sounds like a lofty, even ridiculous ambition, but I feel good design expands the horizons of the consumer in one tiny, subconscious way. We all know we buy products based on packaging, visit restaurants because of their advertising, wear specific clothes because their commercials are "cool". What immediately sounds like an elitist idea quickly becomes tangible when we all recognize the impact of visual images.

A friend of mine wrote these four symbols down on a piece of paper so I could remember them. They are the Chinese symbols for a balanced life: Patience, Activity, Happiness, Silence. All four must work in unison to achieve this balance. I thought this was a poignant idea that is too often ignored, and I wanted to remind myself of it everytime I took a seat in front of my computer. I also have a picture of Thelma & Louise, taken from a movie marquee on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, my favorite picture of my husband fly-fishing, the torn cover of the J.Crew catalog for Christmas 1998 and a postcard from the ASU Museum of Art. Plus, miscellaneous other pieces of junk and photos of friends that remind me that I love my life. And, thankfully, work isn't my life. It's just one wonderful aspect of it.

Please take a look at the following pages - I have worked hard on these projects and I'm glad I can finally show them to the world! If you like what you see, and would like to discuss some work I might do for you, please contact me via email at squidgirll@squidinkdesign.com.

Thanks for taking the time to visit!