RAVES
Featured in: Specialty Retail Expert, San Francisco Chronicle, Stash Books, Modern Mouse, Babiekins, Little Miss Heirlooms, Apartment Therapy, Sunset Magasine, French Paper, etc.
Bernee Lee is a multi-disciplinary designer, brand strategist, and artist based out of Oakland, California. She is the founder of the design and brand-strategy firm ByLee Design (also styled as byleedesign), which focuses on eco-friendly corporate identity, product development, and the arts.
The provided text highlights her career across three main pillars:
1. Consulting & Marketing
Bernee has built a reputation for transforming company identities and creating distinct competitive advantages, even when working under tight budget constraints.
- Brand Strategy: Revamped the identity of Novateck – a business technologies provider to create a dynamic and respectable brand perception. Built other brand identities that won succeeding industry awards, sold and despite of competitions, and a brand that become top of mind in their industry.
- Campaign Success: Designed and executed a corporations first direct mail marketing campaign on a strict budget; Involved in an innovative start-up subscription campaign influencing markets to a new idea and habit shifting such as reading magazines from paper to digital (The start-up was successfully acquired by Apple News).
“Bernee has been instrumental to my business success. Her branding and marketing insight is phenomenal. Her creativity on the revamp of my company’s identity has transformed into a dynamic and respectable perception. Her branding gave my company a competitive advantage against my competitors. I can’t thank her enough for the great work she did.” Daniel M., Novateck, a business technologies provider
“We hired Bernee for our first direct mail campaign, we were working on a budget, she was able to work on our task on time and helped us get it through, the campaign was so successful. She always provided us with great strategies and we have worked with her in every single campaign that we had, I would like to recommend Bernee and her team for their personable, excellent, trustworthy & top work.” Bita H., WCV Corporation
2. Sustainability Operations and Production Design
Her product line is celebrated for mixing “pretty utility”—combining clean, minimalist aesthetics with clever, everyday functionality. Her company is recognized as a certified green business that utilizes acid-free, recycled, and biodegradable materials.
Industry Accolades: Her work has been showcased at events including the New York Now SustainAbility Design for a Better World, the National Stationery Show Best New Product, Maker Faire (The largest celebration of invention, creativity, curiosity and hands-on learning that is inspiring the future.), Oakland City Business Awards, San Francisco Green Festivals (the largest multi-city green living expo co-founded by Green America and Global Exchange), and the Centre for Asian Pacific American Women.
Green Festivals®, a project of Green America and Global Exchange | Women in Green Careers: Tips from Trailblazers | Jeanine Cotter, Yvette Ervin, Bernee Lee, Yin L. Yin. “Women are playing a vital role in the rapidly expanding green economy. From entrepreneurs and designers to policy experts and clean energy professionals, women are doing it all. Come learn from their stories.”
SustainAbility: Design For A Better World® a curated exhibit of global gift and home industry suppliers whose products or production processes are eco-friendly, or companies whose business practices are socially responsible, philanthropic or fair-trade oriented.
Eco-Friendly Practices: Recognised as a certified green business using acid-free, recycled, and biodegradable materials with a low carbon footprint.
Ruler Notebooks: Minimalist black-and-white journals featuring accurate ruler and envelope guides on the covers.
Speech Bubble Notepads: Creative, playful stationery designed to toy with space and perception.
Clever, Creative Cards & Notebooks
“..these sketchbooks, notepads, and cards illustrate a joy for toying with space and perception. What gift wrap pairs with boundless imagination? ” – fab.com
Etsy by Carrie McBride, Family Editor of Apartment Therapy | May 30, 2012
Compos Sui: Master of Himself“Black and white notebooks by byleedesign…Vade mecummeans “go with me”: an essential item you carry when you’re out and about in the world. These items are functional, but they also give the world glimpses into your personality and tastes. So the question is: what do you want to say?”
Home by Sunset Magazine by Jess Chamberlain
Gift Guide : Graphic Journals by Bylee Design. December 16, 2010In Design, Gift Ideas, I Need It
“Cheers for pretty utility. These notebooks from Oakland, CA-based Bylee Design double as envelope and ruler guides. Always on the hunt for half dozen the tape measures that seem to hide themselves at my desk, I especially love the ruler journal featuring inches on one side and millimeters on the other.”
East Bay Express by Ellen Cushing
Holiday Shopping With Less, Stores and Gifts Worth Your Money. November 24, 201“Good stationery is surprisingly hard to find: All too often, it’s either greeting-card-aisle generic, overly formal, or hit-you-over the head design-y. Enter Oakland-based ByLee, a design and brand-strategy firm with a side business in creating cards and other paper products that manage to be modern-looking and design-forward without being cutesy.”
Notizbücher Blog by Christian Mähler August 11, 2010
byleedesign-minimalistische-okonotizbucherugust 11, “@Sternengarten schickte mir einen Link auf den Artikel bylee ruler notebooks, über den ich auf den Hersteller byleedesign aufmerksam wurde. Im Shop schreibt die Firma über sich selbst:[…] Eco? We are a green business. Our products are not only acid free, recycled, biodegradeable with a low carbon footprint but are multi-purposedly designed with a clean, inspired, innovative, purposeful function. […]
In der Kategorie Journals & notebooks findet ihr eine Auswahl der Bücher. Die Speak Bubble Notepads gibt es bereits ab 5$, allerdings scheint es sie nur in den USA zu geben.”
74 Lime Lane by Kellie
Paper Trail: Notebook Fever. August 11, 2010
“I’ve mentioned before a love of notebooks. There is not many things more inspiring than a brand-spanking-new, fresh-as-a-daisy, clean-as-a-whistle notebook. So many possibilities. Start shopping here:
- Speech Bubble journals from bylee design
- Mini notebooks from Poketo
- Keep track of your ideas and inspiration with Kikki-K’s daily notes
- Not always in the mood for black ~ try Whitelines
- No notebook wrap would be complete without Moleskine ~ in this case the Volant notebook from Notemaker”
Typography by Megan Lesley, South Australian Photographer | September 17, 2011
I have fallen in love with typography prints. Loving the colour, inspiration and uplifing quotes, simple design and the creative type. The best part? They make great gifts! These designs make me want to cover all my walls with positive prints.
Delaney Gates
Typographic Print Duos by Bylee Design. June 30, 2010
“An uplifting message via clever, clean design is always a win in my book! Visit the Bylee Design online shoppe here for more typographic prints and paper products!”Slice of Style
– Dishing out the latest in women’s style, slice by slice. Brooke Dowd Sacco
A Positive Dose Prints “Images and words of inspiration, while always in vogue, seem to be more popular than ever. We can thank the economy for that and Bernee Lee for this wonderful Positive Dose series. These pairs of prints lift the spirits in more ways than one, as their cheery messages are accompanied by smart and sophisticated design.”Poppy Talk by Jan & Earl
Paper Pops Stationery Guide 2010May 11, 2010Design*Spongeby Grace Bonney
Bylee Ruler Notebooks. April 4, 2010“I’ve been nervously jotting down notes for my IDSA speech tonight and I think I’ve gone through more notebooks than is reasonable for one person. so maybe it’s time to pick up some new ones. At the top of my list would be these cute black and white ruler notebooks from bylee. Each notebook has an accurate ruler on the side and even an envelope guide to help you find the size you need for various projects. click here for more info and to shop online….thanks, Bernee!”
Paper Crave by Kristen Magee
My 2010 National Stationery Booth List. May 12, 2010
“Okay, guys, I think I’ve pretty much finalized my National Stationery Show booth list. I’ve checked it twice, à la Santa Claus…My list this year is 121 booths large, and instead of going alphabetically like I’ve done in past years, I’ve laid this year’s list out by booth number. I figure that this will work out better, organizationally, if you find yourself in a booth “neighborhood” and want to see who’s there. Also, for simplicity’s sake, I’ve only listed a single booth number per exhibitor. This should give you a good start at those businesses which have multiple booths. I made this year’s list a printable PDF, so you can easily print it out and take it with you to the show. That’s what I’ll be doing!Download Right Here “The Paper Crave ‘I’m Sure I’ll See More Must Visit Booths While I’m There, But This is My Starter’ Booth List”
Bylee Design Booth #1156 was first on the list. “We were told, lucky us!”
3. Fine Art & Typographic Prints
Bernee’s artistic portfolio spans from abstract paintings to motivational graphic design.
Piano Key Abstracts: Featured in The Philippine Star for her abstract paintings of oversized piano keys paying homage to Gulangyu (The Piano Island of China).
“A Positive Dose” Series: A widely reviewed collection of typographic print duos that pair uplifting, cheerful quotes with sophisticated layouts.
The Philippine Star and whatsonxiamen.com | May 28, 2012
The Filipino-Chinese Artistic Connection. “…Gulangyu is commonly referred to as “The Piano Capital of China” due to the Music Hall of Gulangyu Piano School. Bernee Yu Lee pays homage to this heritage in her abstract paintings of enormous piano keys.“Typography by Megan Lesley, South Australian Photographer | September 17, 2011
I have fallen in love with typography prints. Loving the colour, inspiration and uplifing quotes, simple design and the creative type. The best part? They make great gifts! These designs make me want to cover all my walls with positive prints.Too Blessed To Be Stressed
by Tracie, TSJ Photography. March 20, 2010
“Another cyber encounter! I met Bernee via Twitter and am so glad I did! I love her simple designs … both in stationery and her inspirational prints! Head on over to her shop to check it out yourself!”Apartment Therapy
by Celeste SunderlandMedia Features and Notable Product Owners
Her designs have caught the attention of design authorities and high-profile public figures alike:Media Publications: Featured in DesignSponge*, Apartment Therapy, Sunset Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, East Bay Express, and Fab.com.
Notable Product Owners: Her products have been gifted and collected by former US First Lady Michelle Obama and family, former Mayor of Oakland Jean Quan, Minted founder and Forbes One of Ten Most Powerful Woman Entrepreneur Mariam Naficy, Jeff Mendelsohn New Leaf Paper Founder; Forbes Impact 30 Social Entrepreneur; Fast Company Social Capitalist Award
Paper Crave by Kristen Magee
My 2010 National Stationery Booth List. May 12, 2010
“Okay, guys, I think I’ve pretty much finalized my National Stationery Show booth list. I’ve checked it twice, à la Santa Claus…My list this year is 121 booths large, and instead of going alphabetically like I’ve done in past years, I’ve laid this year’s list out by booth number. I figure that this will work out better, organizationally, if you find yourself in a booth “neighborhood” and want to see who’s there. Also, for simplicity’s sake, I’ve only listed a single booth number per exhibitor. This should give you a good start at those businesses which have multiple booths. I made this year’s list a printable PDF, so you can easily print it out and take it with you to the show. That’s what I’ll be doing!
Download Right Here “The Paper Crave ‘I’m Sure I’ll See More Must Visit Booths While I’m There, But This is My Starter’ Booth List”
Bylee Design Booth #1156 was first on the list. “We were told, lucky us!”
Product Comments:
Miranda “These are such a good idea! Pretty & Practical”
Jane Laurie | “I love these! great find : )” 8 4 2010
Laurie “Supercute! (And, no, you can never have too many notebooks…)”
Mariela Ramos “Love it! I always love notebooks.”
Abby “there are SO many times that I need a ruler and can’t find one ANYWHERE. like!”
Laura “Genius! These notebooks are adorable and functional. ♥”
Torrie @ a place to share… “Grace- These are a great find…. “
Jocelyn Stott “These are TOO cute! Love them.”
Little Miss Heirlooms by Priscilla Barros
“Bernee Lee has amazing style and it shows in her daughters nursery and in the art that she sells in her online shop!…”