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Amy Herbert. Photo: Scott Herbert

Amy Herbert of H Designs has been a quiet yet creative force on the Hill. Though relatively new to the freelancing art world, her handiwork already has people talking. Most notably, she worked with Ryan and Jill Jensen to create Peregrine Espresso’s sophisticated and inviting atmosphere. And most recently she produced, for the owners of Montmartre, the interior and graphic design for their new Seventh Hill Pizzeria. She has also installed the well-loved Coldwell Banker Christmas window display, and collaborated with the General Design Company on the mixed media art installation at CommonWealth Gastropub in Columbia Heights.

Before making Washington, DC a more beautiful place to be, Amy’s artistic endeavors began in first grade when her teacher affirmed her obvious talent. Her mom began farming her out to local Minnesota friends to do various artistic tasks and by the time she was in junior high, she had turned her talent into a small business. “I’ve always loved any project I could get my hands on,” says the art prodigy.

Reflecting back on that time, she can see how her artistic inclinations run in the family. “My dad and his siblings are all engineers – mathematical problem solvers - while my cousins and I are all creatives. It has produced in me a passion for solving problems aesthetically.”

Amy landed in DC after graduating with a bachelor of fine arts degree from Messiah College in Pennsylvania. Soon after, she was hired as the workshops coordinator at Paper Source in Georgetown while apprenticing with printmaker Lou Stovall. Then she moved a few blocks down M street and made her mark as the display coordinator for two years at Anthropologie.

Since taking the freelancing leap in May of 2008, she has enjoyed the personal and business relationships formed through her broadened opportunities. “I love the process of meeting an individual or group and finding out who they are and what they are trying to accomplish. Then my objective is to put together a personal and artful product within the confines of time, budget, and materials.”

Currently, Amy can be found designing and personalizing events and weddings, redecorating home interiors, coordinating the Hopkins Apartments neighborhood mural project, and teaching a youth paper arts class at CHAW. “I am pleasantly surprised by the mutual benefit of what I do. I’m creating things for people, but they’re enhancing my life by giving me the opportunity to do so. This has been very rewarding.”