Fan Stanbrough

Fan is an artist and designer based in Massachusetts. Her studio practice is shaped by the spirit of wandering—light, playful, and attentive to the “useful useless”: the quiet things that don’t perform, but somehow change how we see.

Professionally, Fan has spent more than 15 years working at the intersection of graphic design, marketing, and web design, and she leads BBDS Design, where she helps businesses build clear, elegant online identities. She also teaches web design in local community education programs, including Newton, Wellesley, Framingham, and Marlborough, bringing practical training to people who want to build real skills and real independence.

Fan’s early career began after earning a degree in Architectural Design, including formative work in China at the multinational Japanese company INAX, where she was trained by Japanese and Italian designers. She later founded her own design firm (TOPS) before moving to the Boston area, and continued her work in marketing and digital design in the U.S.

Alongside design, Fan has long returned to art as a place of freedom rather than achievement. She is especially drawn to East Asian aesthetics and philosophy—Dao (Laozi and Zhuangzi) and Buddhist practice—not as labels, but as lived approaches: less forcing, more listening; fewer conclusions, more seeing. Her work often explores brush energy, stillness, humor, and the small paradoxes of daily life: what feels solid, what dissolves, and what remains when we stop trying so hard.

Her art includes originals and small editions, offered as companions for people who enjoy wandering, play, and quiet attention.

Connect with Fan on LinkedIn.