DESCRIPTION:
Fiel Valdez is a self-described specialist in nothing—although it seems she does everything well. Her work includes identities, apparel graphics, books, posters, and websites for clients as diverse as Puma, Neiman Marcus, Disney, and Intel. Before she found design, Valdez “pretended to study” aerospace engineering at UCLA. Soon she realized she could pretend no more and enrolled in Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design. Jump ahead six years of successful freelance, and you’ll find her today, having just established the two-person firm “Me, Me” with her husband and partner Peter Vattanatham. Once asked about her experience living with and being married to someone equally creative as she, Valdez answered it was like being with another “me.”

VOICE:
“Aesthetically,” says Valdez, “work that looks like the designer was simply jacking off in the corner with his or her software filters, effects, and fonts never appeals to me.” Her personal creative pursuits include drawing, designing quilts and accessories, and cooking without butter.

DISTINCTIVE MARKINGS:
The best example of Valdez’s sweet but twisted style can be found in her illustrations. She is inspired by people who are, in her words, “beautiful, insane, cruel, graceful, disgusting. They are stories unfolding. What I work on is intended for use by people, so why not have it be a reflection of who it is intended for?”

HABITAT:
Valdez shares a desk with her other “me,” as well as Post-It notes, lists, sketches, and glasses of water that she forgets to drink.

SPOTTED BY:
Stefan Bucher: “I love her illustrations and her fine art work that finds its way into commercial outlets that are often so small as to be underground. She’s also done work for hire for big projects, like James Cameron’s Titanic Explorer CD-ROM, which was a big deal at the time and won her company lots of awards. But I admire Fiel for exploring and creating designs that are true to her own vision, and for letting the work determine the audience when it would be a lot easier to just ride bigger trends in search of a big paycheck and a wide audience.”

CONTACT:
www.lovelybrand.com | www.mecommame.com

Written by Tiffany Meyer