Gikow, Jacqueline 1947–

PERSONAL: Born 1947, in Long Branch, NJ; daughter of Emanuel and Ida Gikow; married Albert Bornstein, 1983 (deceased). Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Alfred University, B.F.A., 1969; Arizona State University, M.F.A., 1972; Pratt Institute, M.I.D., 1991. Politics: Democrat. Hobbies and other interests: Painting, craft-making, jewelry-making.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—Jacqueline Gikow and Associates, 329 East 83rd St., Ste. 3B, New York, NY 10023. E-mail—jgikow@nyc.rr.com.

CAREER: Hahn Shoes, Maryland, assistant director of visual merchandising, 1980–82; Trenton State College, Ewing, NJ, assistant professor of design, 1983–89; Colgate-Palmolive, New York, NY, industrial designer of personal care products and packaging, 1990–91; Rolex Watch Co., New York, NY, visual design manager for store planning and point-of-purchase display, 1991–95; Jacqueline Gikow and Associates, New York, NY, principal and consultant, 1995–. Also works as freelance art director and designer.

MEMBER: Industrial Designers Society of America (vice chair of New York chapter, 1993–96, newsletter editor, 1995–97), Graphic Artist's Guild, Author's Guild, Craft and Hobby Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Grant, Trenton State College, 1988, for research project in human factors.

WRITINGS:

Graphic Illustration in Black and White, Design Press (New York, NY), 1991.

Polymer Clay: Creating Functional and Decorative Objects, Krause Publications (Iola, WI), 2001.

Editor of conference proceedings. Newsletter editor for National Polymer Clay Guild and New York chapter, Industrial Designers Society of America.

SIDELIGHTS: Jacqueline Gikow told CA: "I've always been interested in writing even though I am a designer in training. What influenced my start in writing professionally is that people kept telling me what a good writer I was. So when I identified a niche in a field I found interesting, I took a leap of faith and approached a couple of publishers with my ideas. One interesting aspect of my writing is that I didn't use an agent to get my books accepted for publication.

"The most surprising thing I learned as a writer is that no matter how much experience I have developed, I still panic when starting a writing piece. It goes away, of course, but it's like stage-fright; I have that fear of the blank page as I begin. My favorite book is Polymer Clay: Creating Functional and Decorative Objects. It turned out to be a very successful project and I was able to reach deeper into the topic than I had imagined.

"I hope people learn from what I write. I write how-to books and I write them clearly and in detail. People have responded well to my style."