This February, one of Scottsdale’s most respected design firms, Interior Studio Group, celebrates 20 years of outstanding work.
Photography by Richard Petrillo, Petrillo Studios
ISG comprises six independent designers in a full-service studio at the Scottsdale Airpark. As individual firms and as a group, ISG provides residential, commercial and green solutions customized for clients: their lifestyles, personalities and dreams.
The founding members are Lynda Martin, ASID — Camelback Interior Design; Susie Hersker, ASID -— Design Directives; recently retired Carol Minchew, ASID — Carol Minchew Interiors; and the late Dennis Johnson — Dennis Johnson Interiors.
During two decades together, ISG has added three firms equally passionate about the group’s shared goals: the highest professional ethics, inspired client service, informed design, collaboration and independently driven designs.
Mentored by the founding designers, these new firms are Tanya Shively, ASID, LEED AP — Sesshu Design Associates; Debbie Samartzis, ASID — Samartzis Minchew Design; Hank Arens, Allied Member ASID — Hank Arens Designs; and now Rondi Kilen, ASID – Rondi Kilen Interior Design.
This desire for independence spurred ISG’s founding. By 1990, Lynda Martin, Susie Hersker, Dennis Johnson and Carol Minchew had worked for a design studio connected with a well-known Valley furniture store for more than a decade, but the four agreed that they were limited in their creativity by having to sell a product from one resource and working under a single studio head.
“We wanted the freedom of using a variety of resources for our projects as well as independent and local craftsmen and artists of our choosing,” recalls Susie Hersker, an Arizona State University graduate.
Specializing in high-end homes, Herkser’s Design Directives for three decades has completed homes and commercial projects in San Francisco, Chicago, Santa Fe and Vail. She is assisted by Elaine Ryckman, Allied Member, ASID.
Together, ISG unites decades of experience and specialties. “We formed a company so that we could share staff, office space, resources, supplies and the artisans we trusted,” says Lynda Martin. In 1991, Interior Studio Group began in a spirit of share work ethics and cooperation.
Lynda explains: “Because we are a large and well-known firm, we enjoy valued relationships with the finest vendors and craftsmen from the Valley and around the world, who offer us priority service and keep us informed of the latest products.” She holds a degree in Interior Design from Arizona State University and has extensive experience working with contractors.
“While we value those relationships, for ourselves and our clients, we perform without affiliation to stores, brands or manufacturers,” she adds. “Our mission is pure design and the satisfaction and enjoyment of our clients. Each of us uniquely expresses a passion for design and the creative process, while we share the belief that creating space should be fun and enjoyable, not a chore.
“At ISG, the spirit is sharing our experience and knowledge while retaining our independence as individual firms,” adds associate Rondi Kilen, who for a decade-plus worked with Dennis Johnson and opened her firm after his death.
“Together, as ISG, we are better: We’re more productive for ourselves and we’re more productive for our clients.” Rondi continues as an ISG associate, emphasizing relationships that extend from architect to contractor to client — relationships that last.
“All of us have clients who have come back for help with their second, third and fourth homes,” Rondi says. “We think that says a lot about the relationships we have with them and how much they respect and appreciate our work.”
