Interior designer Eric Engstrom of Fairfax dies at 70

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Eric Engstrom of Fairfax died on June 15, 2013. He was 70.

Award-winning graphic and interior designer Eric Engstrom, retired founder of EDG Interior Architecture + Design in San Rafael, died Saturday at his home in Fairfax after a long battle with cancer. He was 70.

For 20 years, Mr. Engstrom and his business partner, Jennifer Johanson, developed a design firm that focused on restaurant and hospitality projects internationally.

For the past dozen years, Mr. Engstrom spent time driving Route 66 and other blue highways, photographing bypassed towns, abandoned barns and Americana landscapes, creating mixed-media art pieces that were shown at Gallery Route One in Point Reyes Station and in other exhibits.

Born in 1942 in Plymouth, Mass., Mr. Engstrom received his bachelor of fine arts degree in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design and did graduate work in art and design at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Working as a graphic designer for rock promoters, he designed iconic concert posters for the Who and other classic bands that are now collector pieces.

Mr. Engstrom developed a passion for interior design with a graphic flair while living in Honolulu in the early and mid 1970s. After moving to San Francisco in 1978, he worked for several architects before founding Engstrom Design Group in Marin in 1987.

Mr. Engstrom was a member of the Hospitality Design Magazine Platinum Circle and was a fellow and international president of the International Interior Design

"Eric was a true renaissance man, an original hipster who appreciated the undiscovered art in life American back roads, stray graffiti, even leftover gift-wrap," said Jennifer Johanson, his former business partner, now president and CEO of EDG Interior Architecture + Design. "His passions encompassed Ducati motorcycles, rock 'n' roll culture, great cuisine, Japanese baseball and, of course, interior design. He had a unique way of seeing and sharing what he found through his work."

He is survived by son Lars Engstrom, daughter Kate Engstrom and by sister Anne Verre.

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Interior designer Eric Engstrom of Fairfax dies at 70