Name:
Kim Foster-Cosner

What part of town do you live in?
I live in Pinecrest. If you make an ‘X’ on the map of Pinecrest, I’m right in the center.

How long have you lived in the area? What brought you to town?
We’ve been here 23 years. I was born in Miami Beach. I escaped for college, but wound up starting my business here and have lived in Miami since the 70’s.

Would you tell us a little about your family?
I’ve got a husband, Chris George Cosner, who is a math professor at the University of Miami. He’s been at the university since the 80’s. He’s tenured senior faculty and travels the world doing math. I’ve got three kids. My oldest, Chelsea, is 26 and she’s getting her MD at the end of this month. Then she will begin her internship and residency at the University of Maryland Sheppard Pratt for child psychiatry. Her siblings are Zac and Zoe who are both going to be 24 in July. Zoe already lives in Baltimore because she’s attending Johns Hopkins Medical School. The girls are going to share a house in Baltimore for the next three years, which is just unbelievable! I mean, really, how does that happen? Zac is in environmental and science and policy. He has a job with the City of South Miami and writes grants and is kind of their ‘environmental conservation officer’. He makes sure things in the City of South Miami are environmentally friendly.

Would you share about your business?
I started my business in 1975 out of a two-bedroom apartment in Coconut Grove. One bedroom was my business and one my bedroom. Things haven’t changed a whole lot. I’ve been working out of my house ever since. I am a graphic designer, and I’ve worked for just about every major place in Miami. I’ve been very lucky and I do a lot of corporate design work. I also get to do a lot of work for Fairchild Tropical Garden. One thing that I am doing a lot of now are magazines. I do the Ransom Everglades biannual magazine and also have done Bascom Palmer’s magazine since 2002.

Do you work by yourself?
Yes.  I used to have an assistant, back in the days of rubber cement and ink.  Since the Mac came to my life, back in 1991, I have not needed an assistant. As an art director, I can send out for things that I need. But, I put it all together.

Do you do your own illustration?
The other part of my life is that I’m an artist. I have been going to a figure drawing class every Saturday for the last 40 years. It was at the University of Miami. Now we’ve relocated to the Bird Road art district and we have a fantastic studio space on the second floor above a framing gallery. It gives us great northern light. The studio remains in the hands of cooperative artists and now it’s six people including me. We pay the rent and we have the space to go anytime. I go at least a couple of times a week.

What do you enjoy most about your business?
I love graphic design because I learn about other people’s business. It’s complex problem solving.

This is a hard business to keep going and generate revenue. Why do you think that you have succeeded?
I’ve been very lucky. Getting into the corporate world made it better for me. The Bascom Palmer magazine and now the Ransom magazine count for a big chunk of my time. So, I don’t have to go around looking for small jobs, which take more time and more effort.

How do you know when a design is done?
Usually I give options to the clients and let them decide. I think it’s harder for me to figure out when one of my paintings is done.

Your website has some great logos. What do you strive for when designing a logo?
A good logo is hard because you are taking the essence of the company or a person or an idea and trying to get it down into a very clean, symbolic visual. It can’t be like, ‘what am I looking at?’ You’ve got to get whacked by exactly what it is, and what it is saying immediately. Logos are harder than magazines, by a lot.

How often do you come to the Pinecrest market?
Every week.

What’s your ritual?
We go to Zak and then your stand. And, we go to that vendor that nobody seems to like with all of the lovely vegetables – from elsewhere. I’ve found that if we ask them, ‘where’s the stuff from?’ They’ll tell you. We also like Bee Heaven. It’s just a question of what we’re shopping for that week.

What do you like to get from LNB?
Definitely the Turmeric. Recently, I’m kind of cowed by the line for the smoothies so I dash up to get the turmeric. The smoothies are delicious. I’ve been using the turmeric since before you had bags for it. A long time. I’ve got arthritis and my hips need it.

What’s our market missing?
I’ve been to a lot of markets around the world and every market has its own unique thing. Like in the Czech Republic, they had a million kind of mushrooms. Visually, it was stunning. If you’re vacationing or going places, it’s so cool to go to the farmer’s markets because you get to see a little bit of their life. The Baltimore one is outrageous! Our market is a very special place. It’s wonderful. And it’s so beautiful as a community meeting spot too.

What restaurants do you like to go to?
We love, Ghee. But, our go to is LAN. They are under Target near Dadeland. It’s quick, with easy parking and my girls are vegetarians and it’s easy for them to find food they love. It’s easy for the rest of us too, who are not vegetarians.

Where do you go for a special occasion?
Ghee is good for a special occasion. I also like Seasons 52. I know it’s a big chain, but it has a nice feeling. There’s a middle eastern place in the Royal Palm Hotel, at the end of Lincoln road, called Byblos that transported me. We went for Miami Spice.

What’s Miami’s best kept secret?
Just the fact that, ‘why would you want to live anywhere else?’ I know we have hurricanes and stuff like that, but we are the future. We’re so many nationalities living together and really not having much of a problem, where it seems like other towns do.

What’s a worthy splurge?
Nitrogen ice cream.

What’s a fun rainy-day activity?
Swimming. I swim three times a week at Westminster, at lunchtime when the masters can swim (which means old people). I go in and swim laps for 35 to 45 minutes and it’s great. It’s just the best way to keep in shape. I was a synchronized swimmer when I was a kid. I was a member of the synchronized swimming team, The Aqua Chicks. I never gave it up, and it’s great.

What community events or activities are you involved in that you might like to share?
I’m working on my first ever political campaign, because I’ve never wanted to do anything for politicians. But, Cindy Lerner is running for Miami-Dade County Commissioner so I’m contributing by donating my graphic expertise to her campaign. She’s running for district seven.

Would you share a pitch about your company?
I design everything you want to print, which could include wrapping a car, billboards, annual reports, ads, or magazines. I’ve been in business forever. My website is kimfosterdesign.com and my art site is kimfosterart.com

Is there a question you would like to ask us?
How big is the farm? Also, is the market open this weekend on Easter Sunday?

(A+W) Our groves total about 180 acres over several properties. YES! We will be open this weekend.

Is there anything else that you would like to add?
I absolutely love what you’re doing with the newsletter. I read it every time and that’s really strange. I mean, why would I read this thing every time? I don’t read a ton of stuff that comes across my desk, but yours is very engaging and it’s like a little window to the market.