Chanda Williams is an accomplished designer, artist and creative director with an outsized appreciation for the artful and the amusing. She grew up in an environment where beautiful, functional things were paramount. Her father was a self-employed architect. Both parents taught her early on that design is a way of life.

She earned a BFA from the University of Washington, Seattle, where her seven years of coursework tacked from architecture to Italian, art history to graphic design. After college, she channeled her love of food and wine as manager and wine buyer for 31 Northwest, the Portland, Oregon restaurant she co-owned.

Then Italy beckoned. Chanda moved to Milan to do interdisciplinary design work for two firms: Studio Alchimia and Sottsass Associati. For someone whose prized possession is the bright red Olivetti Valentine typewriter (designed by Sottsass), this was a dream job. The collaborative projects were made for a designer with her curiosity and range; she worked on everything from dinnerware to light fixtures, textiles to palazzi.

She moved to San Francisco to land where she always knew she would: as principal of her own graphic design studio. For more than fifteen years, Chanda Williams Design has focused on identity and brand development for wine clients, restauranteurs, nonprofit organizations and design-oriented small businesses.