Danell Murdock.

• Author: Boutelle, Marsha
• Position: Brief Article

When graphic designer Danell Murdock was growing up in Salt Lake City, she wanted to be a schoolteacher. She was also quite doodler.

My nickname was Danny Doodles Murdock says, Still is. An uncle who was a Los Angeles art director encouraged her artistic abilities, prompting her to assemble a portfolio of her work. "It was a really sad portfolio," she says.

After being accepted tot he Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, with a little financial backing from here grandmother, she was off to California and the start of an illustrious career. She never got around to teaching school.

Murdock has since evolved into one of the most sought-after and respected designers in the West. Her company, Design of Today (or DOT, which she jokes, sometimes receives calls from people seeking the U.S. Department of Transportation), employs a full-time staff of 11. She also has a satellite office in Brooklyn, managed by a colleague she met during a brief stint working in New York.

Murdock's client list is impressive. It includes local businesses such as Squatter's Pub Brewery, for which she and her team designed the "St. Provo Girl" logo and packaging, as well as big names such as Sega, Sony, Yahoo and Universal Studios. Her latest venture is with New Line Cinema, for which her shop is designing the style guide for the highly anticipated "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy. Other recent film projects include "X-Men" and "Chicken Run."

A Wife and mother of two young children, Murdock's days are crammed with activity. But she works diligently to create balance between her personal and professional life. Earlier in here career, she routinely put in 70 to 80 hour weeks working at another...