Collaborators at Heart

Invisible Engines is located in Ypsilanti, Michigan, a place rich with the spirit of community and making. Our clients include people on the block, just down the road and around the globe.

LINETTE LAO
CREATIVE DIRECTOR & OWNER

Linette Lao founded Invisible Engines in 2001, naming it for the unseen desires that power us to make things—inspiration, imagination, and the impulse to reach out and connect to each other. She has over twenty years of experience designing for nonprofits of all sizes, in Southeast Michigan and beyond. Prior to Invisible Engines, Linette worked as an in-house designer for startups, the Atlanta Jewish Times and Style magazine. She holds a BFA in design and painting, and a MA in creative writing. She teaches in the interdisciplinary creative writing program at Eastern Michigan University and serves on the board of the Association of Businesses of Color and Hero Nation.

KIM DEBORD
DESIGNER

Kim is a designer and maker. She earned degrees in Fibers from University of Michigan, Fashion from Parsons School of Design, and attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) as a Trustee Merit Scholar to earn her MFA in Fibers and Material Studies. Kim taught at SAIC, Columbia College and Lill Street Art Center in Chicago as well as the Ann Arbor Art Center. Her work has been internationally published and exhibited. At Invisible Engines, she excels at research, strategy, design, illustration, and managing projects.