Born and raised in Japan Natsumi came to New York to study design in 1999 and never left. She studied art and design at the School of Visual Arts where she was encouraged to explore her artistic sensibilities. After graduating from the Visual Arts school with a BFA degree in Graphic Design in 2003, she was employed for Time Inc. Custom Publishing as a graphic designer. After that she has been working as freelance designer & art director with a variety of clients from magazine publishers, advertising agencies to retail stores.

Natsumi is also an illustrator and has loved drawing, painting and doing crafts since childhood. She grew up in the rural countryside on the Southern coast of Japan surrounded by beaches and mountains, which became her playground. It was there she became deeply inspired by nature. Living in New York City gives her the chance to mix elements of the natural world with ideas from contemporary art, design, fashion and architecture. Her work consists of simple lines, shapes and patterns with a minimal color palette.

00-03 School of Visual Arts, New York, BFA Graphic Design
99-00 Nassau Community College, New York, Major: Fine Art
89-91 Kyushu Otani Junior College, Japan, AAS Education

03 Graphis New Talent 2004 winner
03 Honors Graduate: The Rhodes Family Award for Outstanding Achievement
03 Type Director's Club 49 Second Prize
02 Type Directors Club Scholarship Recipient
00 National Drawing Association Scholarship Recipient

••• Work published in Graphis New Talent Design 2004, Type Director's Club24,
The Senior Library 2003,2004.