Meet Brenda Bergen
Brenda grew up surrounded by design. Her father was an industrial designer who worked for Raymond Loewy in Paris in the mid 60s. During most of her childhood, her parents owned a mid-century modern furniture store in suburban Chicago. By age 14, Brenda had created her first line of jewelry, selling pieces to several boutiques in Chicago. In highschool, she began her path to graphic design by creating all the posters for the school events.
The University of Illinois taught Brenda the traditional rules of design, from the Swiss grid masters to the Bauhaus, and a graduate degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art taught her when to break them.
After graduate school, Brenda moved to New York City where she worked as an Art Director for Atlantic Records. After 10 years in NYC, she moved back to her roots in the Midwest and landed the Creative Director position at Vosges Haut-Chocolat.
In 2011, Brenda launched Wink Design Atelier to explore new ventures and further push her creativity through exposure to new challenges. Her firm focuses on branding and design for restaurants, retail, and hospitality. They also design packaging for luxury brands, and lately they have started to design for the psychedelics industry.
Her family’s love of travel brought them to Portugal in 2015, and in 2019 they designed a home on the coast with the dream of building a retreat center in the future.
https://www.instagram.com/casa_com_riso/
Most recently, while stuck at home during the pandemic, Brenda launched a design-focused jigsaw puzzle company, Wink Puzzles.
https://www.instagram.com/winkpuzzles/
Q+A
What don’t people know about you?
I can perform a tea ceremony for you, and for some reason, people are surprised when they find out that I can knit.
What expression or saying do you love?
“ Wonder twin powers….Activate!” because great results come from collaborating with awesome people.
What is your favorite place to travel to?
Bali. You can feel the spirit of the place in the air. The people are incredibly kind with mad artistic skills, especially in painting and sculpture. The architecture is beautiful, spiritual, and at one with nature. I love the flavors in the food – lemongrass, kaffir lime, tamarind, chili peppers, and there are exotic fruits that I’ve never tasted before. There are undiscovered islands with spectacular snorkeling and great surfing. All in all, Bali is at the top of my list, but I’ll take Paris any day.
What is your favorite song?
“As” by Stevie Wonder. It was our wedding song and my husband chose it. The words are beautiful.
What do you believe?
I believe that kindness is a sign of strength.
What inspires you?
Dance performances that are full of surprises, especially Momix, Pilobolus, Fuerza Brute and Del La Guarda. Also artists Ann Hamilton and Robert Wilson; and designers Paul Smith and Vivienne Tam.
What makes you laugh?
Everything…almost. I’m easy, what can I say ;)
Want more? Check out her website: http://www.wink-design.com Read her blog:http://fuelyourprocess.com and connect with Brenda on Twitter @WinkDesign