Her intricate illustrations and hand-lettered type grace brands from the most familiar, like Williams-Sonoma’s, to the most exclusive. As a book jacket designer previous to opening her New York City firm, she designed over 2000 covers, and learned the intimate art of connecting with an audience visually within a very small frame. Today she is also the author of several excellent books on graphic design. Louise Fili has a special way with food packaging and restaurant identity design: the old-fashioned way.

She’s done work for heavy hitters from Time Magazine to Major League Baseball to the U.S. Postal Service, and that’s just for starters. Classic, colorful, edited to only the necessary detail, her graphic images are nostalgic but never stuffy. While designer Laura Smith is at work, Art Deco will always find fresh interpretations.

Illustrator and graphic designer Kristen Nikosey’s work evokes Impressionist painting and Arts & Crafts style, with a distinctly California vibe. Her book illustrations are rich. Her pattern designs are meticulously casual, if such a thing is possible, with deep color that jumps off the page. In her packaging and identity work she blends today’s digital design techniques with her old-world sensibilities.

Fabulous hand lettering is her trademark, demonstrating the power of a fine pen in a plugged-in world. A 2006 installation created with Stefan Sagmeister shows off her hand work in an ultra-modern context. Her spam email centerfold for the Vancouver Review will make you tear your hair out with jealousy. This is one hard-working lady, even when she’s riffing on a bit of junk mail. Based near Vancouver, British Columbia, Marian Bantjes’ extraordinary way with communication begs to be called “graphic art,” in the finest sense of the term.