Kevin Brend

My career has moved between making things, studying them, and teaching others to find their own ways of making.

I studied industrial design at the University of Illinois at Chicago and earned a master's in Art and Design Education at Northern Illinois University. I have taught art and digital media at university level, worked as an academic director in Ranchi, India, and spent nearly a decade teaching art and leading a district wide department in Chicago. I received two Teacher of the Year honors during those years.

Residential design has been a continuing part of that life. My work has included residential design, home staging, graphic design, and sales management. I enjoy being involved in every part of bringing a room together, from working through floor plans and exploring possibilities with realistic renderings to finding the right furnishings and materials, making thoughtful decisions about the budget, and working with manufacturers to get the details just right.

I am continuing doctoral study in Curriculum and Pedagogy. Now based in Seattle, I bring those experiences with me into my independent residential design practice.

A PERSONAL CONVICTION

I believe in people for the individuals they are in the present and the people they wish to be in the future.

MY PROCESS

How I Work

My work with a client develops through three connected considerations:

Floorplan — The room's purpose, furniture arrangements, circulation, and relationship to the rest of the home.

Comfort and Fit — Proportion, physical support, daily use, and how furnishings and materials perform.

Style — Color, pattern, texture, objects and visual direction, explored in relation to the client's preferences.

What we develop in each area depends on the agreed project scope.

A PARALLEL LIFE IN ART

Making and teaching

In the classroom, I have taught everything from Photoshop and virtual art to critical pedagogy and the methods of teaching art. Working across those forms has kept me curious about the different ways people understand an image, learn a skill, or communicate something they haven't yet found words for. That curiosity remains part of my life outside the classroom.

Azelby living room design visualization with layered color