Jaque Bethke's Story

"Design should make you feel both soothed and alive. Most of all, it should make you think, This is my place. This is where I belong. This is perfect." —Jaque Bethke

As a young girl, my life was filled with a lot of change. I coped with this by using my imagination to conjure places that were filled with imagination and fun. I constantly created worlds that expressed who I was and who I wanted to be—spaces I felt drawn to like a magnet, that I never wanted to leave.

I thought of this process as Design with a capital “D.” I had an unquenchable thirst for all of it, imagining and building things that I could understand and feel. So it’s not surprising that I majored in electrical engineering and interior design, or that I studied architecture at Taliesin.

Over time, I came to believe that Design should express people better than they can express themselves. Every piece should draw you in, reveal itself slowly and constantly surprise you. It should make you feel awake and engaged, always hearing subtle harmonies joining together to form single, stunning chords.

Design should make you feel both soothed and alive. Most of all, it should make you think, “This is my place. This is where I belong. This is perfect.”

That’s how I see Design. That’s how I feel Design. It has to be you. It has to be different. It has to defy the limits so it can take you beyond where you thought you could go. If it doesn’t do that, it’s not Design.