With over 20 years of experience in the design industry as well as in teaching, Chiaki Kanda is dedicated to making art and design accessible.
As the creative director at notNeutral, Chiaki led the design team for the award-winning, now ubiquitous, line of LINO coffeeware. Chiaki was an integral part of notNeutral for 15 years. Starting out as an intern during the brand's nascent years, she was ultimately responsible for focusing the product line and establishing notNeutral's reputation as the premier brand for specialty coffeeware.
Currently, Chiaki is helping high schoolers develop their portfolios through the ACXTeen Program at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. She has taught art and design at other institutions including, the Norton Simon Museum, the Universidad del Diseño in Costa Rica, and the Brooklyn Museum. She enjoys teaching all skill levels and ages, from elementary, middle, high school and college, to adult.
Raised by an architect, Chiaki grew up with an appreciation for the spatial experience. Her passion is to create meaningful relationships between people, objects, and their everyday surroundings. She is a collaborative leader, a patient educator, and loves to learn about new crafts, materials, and methods.
Chiaki received her BS in Environmental Design from the Art Center College of Design, and her BA in Fine Art and Art History from Amherst College. She has also studied at the Nouvelle Sorbonne in Paris. A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Chiaki calls Los Angeles home.