When celebrated hand-lettering artist & illustrator Dana Tanamachi launched her shop of lovely things, she asked me to write her bio, her shop's "about" page, blog post, and tease out the launch over a series of instagram posts.
BIO for Dana Tanamachi
Dana Tanamachi is a lettering artist and designer who enjoys living a quiet life and working with her hands. In 2009, an impromptu chalk installation for a Brooklyn housewarming party landed Dana her first commission for Google and set the popular chalk-lettering trend—and her career—in motion. After working under design icon Louise Fili, she opened Tanamachi Studio, a boutique design studio specializing in custom typography and illustration for editorial, lifestyle, food, and fashion brands. She has been commissioned globally by clients such as Nike, USPS, Penguin Books, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, and West Elm. Named a Young Gun (YG9) by the Art Director’s Club in 2011 and a Young Creative to Watch by HOW Magazine, she has had the distinct honor of creating custom cover art for O, HOW, and TIME Magazines. Dana’s first of three exclusive product collections with Target hit stores nationwide in 2013 and her book DIY Type (Potter Style) was released in 2014. In 2015 she relocated from Brooklyn to Seattle and debuted Tanamachi Goods, a line of beautifully hand-drawn print and gift products that reflect her personal aesthetic and feature mediums beyond chalk.
BLURB for her shop's About page
Tanamachi Goods is the signature print and gift brand of celebrated lettering artist Dana Tanamachi. After designing exclusive product collections for leading lifestyle brands such as Target, West Elm, and Crate & Barrel, Dana’s personal line of beautifully hand-drawn goods feature watercolor, ink, and other media alongside her iconic chalk work. Made to reflect her individual aesthetic, the collection is inspired by vintage typography, Japanese patterns, and nostalgic ephemera from her childhood home in the American Southwest. Each item is thoughtfully designed to fit seamlessly within the creative lifestyle and is printed by trusted partners to ensure quality products that she is proud to both use and share.
BLOG to launch her new venture, Tanamachi Goods
The last several years have been a beautiful blur. Within my first year and a half in New York City, I went from designing Broadway show posters to working for my design idol, Louise Fili. Then in 2009, at a friend’s housewarming party in Brooklyn, I lettered an impromptu doodle on the living room’s chalkboard wall. I had no idea how significant that moment would become, helping land my first commission for a little company called Google. Over the next few years, my typographic chalk installations took me to the walls and windows of Tommy Hilfiger stores in Tokyo, to the Ace Hotel in Manhattan, and onto the covers of O, The Oprah Magazine, and TIME. Leading lifestyle brands hired me to create product collections in my iconic chalk style—from a line of typographic paperweights for West Elm to a wall art collection for Target.
However, I never entered the design world with the intention of being a “chalk artist.” So in 2013, I decided to step back from chalk and explore other mediums. I simply started making again and rediscovered the joy of creating without limits or deadlines. Every once in a while I’d share my process online and was delighted that others enjoyed the “just-for-fun” pieces that reflected my personal aesthetic.
Those works became the inspiration behind Tanamachi Goods, my little shop of hand-drawn prints, stationery, and gifts. I had so much fun designing the look and feel of a new brand—from laboring over sketches and proofs, to directing the packaging and website, to holding the final products in my hands. I hope you enjoy using them as much as I loved making them.
And here we are at the beginning of another exciting adventure! Follow along, friends, there’s much more to come…
It's not official unless it's on INSTAGRAM...
