E.CAMPANELLA DESIGN STUDIOS

E.Campanella Design Studios is a Providence-based illustration + graphic design studio led by Erica Campanella. Originally from North Providence, Erica pursued a design career in New York City for over 10 years, working in the fashion and gift industries. In 2012, she moved back to Rhode Island to start her own studio, E.Campanella Design Studios.

“I walked back into Rhode Island with some hesitancy, but there is such an accessible design and arts community here - you can know more people here than in NYC, and we have more time to interact. Everybody knows everybody here.” - Erica Campanella

E.Campanella Design Studio creates beautiful, trend-driven art. Focusing on product and surface pattern design (including stationary, home decor, fabric, and clothing), E.Campanella produces a lot of designs for big retailers - including The Hershey Company, Target, and TJ Maxx. Erica also creates a lot of personal work, including for her own "Corgirific" line of corgi-inspired products, which you can find on Instagram (@corgirific)! She additionally does brand consulting, art direction, and licensing from her studio space at ROOMS&WORKS.

Erica’s design process is computer-based but “pretty back and forth,” Erica said. “My designs always start with drawing.” You can see her process of creating an illustration in her Designers At Work feature! Videos are up NOW on Instagram Stories.

**Erica will be taking over our Instagram Stories TOMORROW! See what she’s up to all day ~ instagram.com/designisrhodeisland.

More work from ecampanellastudios.com: print designs for HomeGoods, Art from Corgirific.

BALANCED DESIGN

Balanced Design is a studio specializing in hand-printed fabrics, rugs, and home accents. Founded over 15 years ago, Balanced Design produced some of the first modern-looking, eco-friendly home goods on the market. In the early 2000s, eco-friendly products were all beige colored, said Balanced Design Founder Melinda Cox. Melinda created Balanced Design to *balance* eco-friendly ideals with good design (color, shape, form, and pattern). Her designs are not only organic, recycled, and locally produced whenever possible, but they are purposefully COLORFUL, modern, graphic, and whimsical

Her textiles are silkscreen printed at Griswold Textile Mill near Westerly - a “gem of a textile mill,” according to Melinda - one of the last remaining mills in Southern New England (the heart of the textile revolution back in the 18th and 19th centuries). Balanced Design has its own line of fabrics, rugs, and accents (sold mainly to the trade - designers across New England and beyond), but Balanced Design also makes a lot of custom, made-to-order products.

Melinda was trained in graphic design, but she learned all the nuances of working in the textile industry and owning a business as she went along. Balanced Design has been located at Hope Artiste Village for 4 years now, acting as both her studio (where she conceptualizes her designs, draws, paints, etc) and a showroom.

WHY RHODE ISLAND? “In Rhode Island, you can work locally, and locally usually means green. The small state connects itself with all of New England - all these resources. Slater Mill, right here in Pawtucket, was the heart of the industrial revolution, and Southern New England was the center of the textile revolution. We have so many resources right here, and the RI design community is in the perfect position - continuing Rhode Island’s history of innovation and creativity.”

Learn more about Balanced Design online: www.balanced-design.com. And don’t forget to *stay tuned for videos from Balanced Design coming to our Instagram Stories this Thursday (10/18)!*

Thank you to E.Campanella Design Studios and Balanced Design for having us at your studios! See videos from E.Campanella NOW on Instagram (and she’s taking over our Stories TOMORROW, Tuesday 10/15!) and stay tuned for videos from Balanced Design coming this Thursday (10/18).

Want to join in? Post yourself working on something cool using the hashtags #DesignIsRhodeIsland and #DesignersAtWork on Instagram, or reach out to diri@designxri.com if you know a Rhode Island designer who should be featured in this series!