About Ephemeral Designs 831

Our Story, Our Mission, Our Art

Ephemeral Designs 831 draws from the botanical concept of spring ephemerals- a community of plants which provide an important ecosystem role despite having a fleeting visible above-ground growth stage.

Ephemeral Designs 831 is a creative small business that provides eco-conscious bags and clothing with ecosystem inspired artwork. Sami Chen is also available to provide custom artwork by commission as well as design thinking consultations.

Meet Sami Chen: Earth Scientist, Artist, & Advocate

Welcome to Ephemeral Designs 831, a brand born from the personal and professional journey of its designer, Dr. Sami Chen. Sami Chen's story is a unique one: an Earth scientist and artist who creatively blends understanding of the natural world with lived experiences.

Dr. Sami Chen completed her BS in Earth Science with an Ocean Science concentration at UC Santa Cruz and her PhD in the Earth System Science department at Stanford University. For her doctoral research, she conducted fieldwork in a very special mesic rich cove forest in western North Carolina in traditional Cherokee territory that was home to many unique herbaceous spring ephemeral plants. While her dissertation centered how the traditional Cherokee harvest of wasdi / ramps (Allium tricoccum) influenced the nitrogen cycle at the ecosystem scale in contrast to whole plant bulb removal, she kept noticing how spring ephemerals resonated with her life and experiences with chronic illness more as a metaphor. Sami is neurodivergent (dyslexic, ADHD, and autistic) and noticed that she too had moments she could shine, followed by long periods of dormancy and need for rest. A month after passing her PhD defense, her body fell apart and she was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and fibromyalgia. Spring ephemerals help remind Sami that it’s ok to bloom for a short period followed by rest.

Sami was born and raised in Santa Cruz, CA and also spent time in Honolulu, HI, Upland, CA, and Berkeley, CA.

As a neurodivergent artist, Sami found inspiration in spring ephemerals—plants that bloom brightly before resting. This concept resonated with her own experiences navigating chronic illness, reminding her of the strength in cycles of rest and renewal.

Through Ephemeral Designs 831, Sami is dedicated to sharing her passion for biogeochemistry and raising awareness for chronic illnesses. Her commitment to sustainable practices and empowering others is the very heart of our brand.

Our Brand Philosophy

Building Capacity & Accessibility

Our sustainable brand philosophy is simple: design products that integrate eco-friendly capacity and creative accessibility into your daily life.

Slow Fashion & Sustainable Practices

As a slow fashion brand, we create high-quality, durable products with the belief that the most sustainable item is the one you already own. Our primary sustainability practice is encouraging reduction by embracing hand-me-downs, thrifting, and wearing clothes as long as possible. We offer upcycled clothing and custom iron-on designs to help you breathe new life into your wardrobe.

Radical Transparency & Community

We're committed to supporting local and small community-oriented businesses. We prioritize eco-friendly options and are transparent about our practices, so you can feel good about where your products come from.

Inclusive Design & Awareness Control Before Reaching the Customer

Our universal design approach means we believe accessibility is for everyone. We leverage design thinking to expand capacity and provide consumer products with mobility aid users in mind. We're also happy to create custom accessible clothing and tailor our designs to meet your specific support needs.

Creative Collaboration

We actively seek out and collaborate with fellow creative individuals, especially those who identify as disabled, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, or women, to bring you unique and meaningful special collections.

Our Commitment to a Sustainable Future

For college and graduate school, Sami studied sustainability in detail, and learning about ocean and Earth Sciences shaped her artwork tremendously. Our dedication to sustainability guides every aspect of our business.

Art Process

My Puo Puo (maternal grandma) was a traditional Chinese water color artist and calligrapher. My sister and I looked up to her a lot while growing up. While I learned some water color techniques from her, I branched out into my own artistic style in high school with simple abstract black line doodles.

I mostly draw in ball point pen. Sharpies are my second go to pen. I love watercolor.

These drawings continued to grow and expand as I went through college and graduate school. I draw as I go, often pulling from life experiences, or inspiration from the environments I'm in, often with many hidden elements woven in.

Upcycling & Affordability

Our iron-on designs and upcycled clothing line offer budget-friendly ways to express your style while being kind to the planet.

As I'm expanding my creative small business, I'm also wanting to return to my roots and focus on accessibility and affordability for a younger version of myself, my family, and community. I grew up wearing hand-me downs and thrifted clothing. Whenever something was new (rarely), it was either a gift or on sale.

Thrifting and clothing swaps are more budget friendly and environmentally friendly. As such I want Ephemeral Designs 831 to encourage people to continue sharing hand me downs, thrifting, and wearing clothes as long as possible til stains and holes cover each piece.

As a means of being able to still show creative flair and a personal touch to style while following sustainable fashion practices, I encourage customers to check out our affordable iron on designs from our shop. Have a single pesky stain on something that's otherwise still perfect? Cover the stain up with a floral iron on!

Inspired by Earth & Environmental Education

Sami's art and photography are inspired by a deep appreciation for ecosystem health and environmental stewardship. Her drawings are heavily influenced from her Earth science education and experience working in multiple research labs that focused on marine microbiology, paleoceanography, chemical oceanography, biogeochemistry, and sustainability. These experiences have profoundly shaped how Sami makes business decisions.

Reducing Waste

Reduce, reuse, recycle is often the motto of sustainability. Many times, we are encouraged to buy items that are labeled as sustainable, but they often come with a price tag out of reach for many. As a green practice, I'm choosing to encourage reduction as our main sustainability practice. Here, we practice slow fashion. As sustainably as possible.

For college and graduate school, I studied sustainability in detail. Learning about ocean and Earth Sciences shaped my artwork tremendously. My passion for sustainability and ecosystem health is what drives my business decisions from start to finish. I started offering high quality canvas bags to encourage reduction of single use plastic bags. I added kitchen tea towels to encourage reduction of paper towel usage.