Artist Profile: Miriam Selmi Reed

Miriam Selmi Reed was born and raised in Zurich, Switzerland. She joined the School of Design in Zurich at the age of 17, earning a BFA and completing a 5 year graduate degree program in Graphic Design and Illustration. Her further education included a degree in advanced illustration and children’s illustration from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Miriam worked in Zurich from 1990-1996 as a designer/illustrator in both full-time and freelance positions for advertising agencies such as BBDO and McCann Erickson. Miriam moved to New York City in 1996 and had many gallery shows. In 1998 she moved to Los Angeles to work for Disney on the new Disneyland Tokyo theme park designs. After this project, she went on to work with Cinesite/Kodak, the Hollywood special effects company, as staff illustrator/concept artist. Her feature film projects included Titanic, Hard Rain, The Truman Show, Face Off and Practical Magic. From 1999 through 2008, Miriam worked for several major movie and special effects companies in Los Angeles such as Styleclick/USA Networks, providing illustrations, character designs and storyboards. During this time in Los Angeles she also freelanced for major fashion companies, expanding her artistic skills in pattern development and fashion renderings. Miriam’s work has been published in magazines, calendars, book/CD covers and has been used in international advertising campaigns. Miriam created the main illustration for the Lyric Theatre of Belfast's 2012 production of "Hansel & Gretel", used to market the production on billboards, magazine covers, TV commercials and public transportation. Miriam has returned with her family to Switzerland where she continues working with clients in America, Europe and Asia. Her clients include McCann Erickson, Wirz BBDO, ByHeart, Euro RSCG, Avalanche Publishing, Ballantine Books , Random House,Swingset Press, Medela, Swiss Bank Corporation, Siemens, Mondaine & Tissot Swiss watches, Kuhn Rikon, Bico, Elle Magazine, City of Cerritos (Illustrations for the public library and city bus line), Cartoon Networks/Turner Broadcasting, Cinesite/ Kodak, USA Networks, Geronimo Films, Studio Wilks Los Angeles, Kenneth Cole New York, Dockers, Gloria Vanderbilt and Arizona.