THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 9, 1995 TAG: 9504060191
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Ellen Riddle
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Lounging in her linen floor-length dress while nibbling on a Milano cookie, graphic designer Nancy Harvey was a design of her own.
She chose the dress, she said, because she felt ``languid.''
Being sensitive to the mood of the moment pays off in her business. ``Clothes are just kind of part of art,'' says Harvey, known for her attention to dress.
The award-winning designer was one of Hallmark's first creative product designers. Comfortable working in both two- and three-dimensional design, Harvey has created complete lines of Valentine, Halloween and Mother's Day products for the greeting card giant.
She's run her own creative advertising and design business in Denver. She's created designs for Wonder Bread, Hostess and Canada Dry. She's given 28 Borden ice cream containers a facelift, preserving Elsie the Cow's image in an abbreviated format.
``We found out there's equity in Elsie the Cow,'' she said.
Having procured the rights from a London gallery, Harvey reproduced classical paintings on handle bags for a traditional Father's Day theme. And for Halloween, her favorite holiday, she's created light-up clown noses, light-up belts and witch glasses.
A graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute, Harvey, 36, studied pattern, fabric, industrial and exhibit design. She worked for Hallmark for three years and remains on call as a trouble shooter, ``because I always deliver.''
Harvey is not only a problem solver, but a competent draftsman and businesswoman. Despite her years of working in the fast-paced world of advertising, she's maintained a fresh, innocent demeanor.
Her life's goals, she says, are to ``always maintain that excitement and level of creativity. To make my relationship with my husband as creative and loving as it can be. To create my home and make it beautiful and comfortable. To achieve a constant level of creativity where you also surprise yourself. To still get excited about it every time you walk into your studio.''
With a turn of the head, one takes in a myriad of vibrant designs placed in wall-to-wall glass cubes in her upstairs Roanoke Island studio. Filling the cubes are the beautiful, fun, happy and elegant designs that Harvey has created.
``I place things around me that I feel good about, things you love. I leave a little cube open for something new to go in,'' she said.
There's always a new idea popping into Harvey's head. Not just for a job, but also for herself or her family.
``It seems you have to have that piece that's just for you and nobody else,'' she said.
For herself, Harvey makes personal drawings and little diary-like books. They are filled with deep feelings and symbolism: fruited trees and skies, water and lots of castles.
She creates fantastic packages to put presents in for her family. And she's also an event planner. She designed a wine bottle label graced with her parents' wedding picture for their 40th wedding anniversary. She also had their original wedding cake reproduced.
Harvey's observant nature feeds her work. She'll admire the antique lace on a vintage dress, and before you know it she's incorporated that very fabric design in an invitation, or on paper plates, cups and napkins for a bridal shower.
While shopping in New York at Barney's with a friend, Harvey went crazy over their shoe selections. Later, softer shoe silhouettes appeared on tissue paper, shopping bags and business cards for a local boutique.
There's a group of buildings on the Nags Head-Manteo Causeway where former businesses have had trouble catching on. Harvey was called in. The drab gray structures that used to melt into the sound are now vivid and colorful with an exciting new look and name.
Caribbean Corners, opening this season, features several boutiques and businesses that Harvey designed total packages for, including suggesting furniture selections. From the softer Peachy Keen, a children's clothing store, to the elegant My Mother's Closet, the designs are so diverse that diversity has perhaps become Harvey's most consistent signature. MEMO: Mary Ellen Riddle covers Outer Banks arts for The Carolina Coast. Send
comments and questions to her at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head, N.C. 27959.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY ELLEN RIDDLE
Roanoke Island designer Nancy Harvey in her shop.
by CNB