Christa DeFilippo
Christa DeFilippo
Graphic Designer / Art Director
Los Angeles, CA
www.visuallylovely.com
instagram @visuallylovely
pinterest
linkedin
WHAT DO YOU DO?
“I am an Art Director and Graphic Designer with an extensive background in the fashion industry. ”
With over ten years of experience in fashion, I’ve also worked to constantly challenge and expand my work with my freelance clients. I’ve had the joy of collaborating with a variety of business owners ranging from hair stylists to interior designers, creating their brand identities.
WHAT STEPS DID YOU TAKE TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?
I graduated from Otis College of Art and Design with a BFA in Communication Arts in 2002. After college I gathered experience working at Darkstar, a Los Angeles based skateboard company. Following Darkstar I had the opportunity to design movie posters where I accelerated my abilities to work in Photoshop and photo retouching. My vast knowledge of print-production was honed while working as an in-house designer at PPG, a large print house in Hawthorne, CA. While working as an in-house graphic designer for Meade Telescopes, I was contacted by Michael Stars to work with them on their clothing design team. That’s when I started working in fashion and have been doing so for over 10 years.
How do you stand out in your field?
I’m not only a designer but I am a skilled retoucher who is proficient in SEO and designing sites that are responsive across multiple platforms. I also have a ton of experience directing photo shoots and love collaborating with photographers and models.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON RIGHT NOW?
I just wrapped rebranding Current / Elliot’s garment labels and hangtags giving them a vintage feel with a modern update. I also Art Directed their most recent seasonal campaign. I’m currently working on branding (including packaging collateral) for an all natural feminie care wash.
WHAT'S YOUR STYLE/PERSPECTIVE/TASTE? DO YOU HAVE A PROJECT THAT REPRESENTS THIS?
My style is always evolving. I often enjoy a classic, clean look with accents of bold colors. My speciality and first love will always be typography.
WE ARE ALL SLASHIES WITH MULTIPLE SKILLS, WHICH ONE DO YOU WISH YOU COULD DO MORE OFTEN?
I love working as an Art Director and getting to collaborate with other designers to see a projects’ vision to fruition. Sometimes this means less time getting to actually work on the graphic design which is most definitely my first love. In my freetime I also dabble in photography and wish I had more time in the day to spend capturing the light.
WHAT IS FRUSTRATING YOU RIGHT NOW?
As we see the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, I’ve spent this time in quarantine reevaluating (like most of us) what’s most important to me. Not having the time to work on a variety of projects at once would be my frustration given that there’s only 24 hours in the day. I hope that as we settle into our new normal, that I can hone on even more projects and collaborators that allow me to grow as a person and as an artist.
IF YOU COULD HIRE SOMEONE FOR $20/HR, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE THEM DO TO MAKE YOUR DAY EASIER?
I’d hire someone to go to Zoom meetings for me!
LET'S BRING OUT THE TIME MACHINE. WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU COULD HAVE TOLD YOURSELF, WHEN, AND WHY?
Christa, do not be afraid to go for it. Say yes more often. Keep an open mind to all possibilities. Also, spend less money on shoes and more on traveling.
IF YOU COULD TALK TO AN EXPERT TO GAIN MORE INSIGHT ON SOMETHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE ABOUT?
I can be a bit shy at first so I’d want to connect with other creative professionals who share that characteristic to see how they push past that adorable personality trait.
WHAT KIND OF OPPORTUNITIES/PROJECTS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
I am always open to any opportunity as a designer. My background is diverse, so I love being able to implement what I’ve learned in the past to my current projects. My dream project is to design the entire identity and marketing collateral for a restaurant.
DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL JOB/CLIENT/COLLABORATION.
I love working with people who have an idea of what they want and trust my design aesthetic to create something even better than they imagined. I most often have this collaboration with my wedding clients. I love the process of meeting with the couple, learning their love story, and then including a design element that tells that story on their invitations.
WHAT IS YOUR HOURLY RATE, RETAINER, OR SALARY RANGE?
My rate is based on the detail of the project. I like to meet with the client first, understand what they are looking for, and then I can create an estimate that is appropriate for the scale of the project. Let me know your budget when you email and I can provide an estimate that works best for the both of us.
HOW SHOULD SOMEONE APPROACH YOU ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER?
Email me! I am a fast communicator, especially on email. If you know what you want, then put that description in your email and that will get us off to a great start. Again, I like to sit down with clients in-person to understand the scope of the project and what they’re looking for. If you’re not local to Los Angeles, then this process can be done over Skype or Zoom.
HOW DO YOU STAY CREATIVE?
I’m a member of LACMA and go to museums for inspiration as often as possible. I’m also a music lover and I go to see live music multiple times a month. For the daily creativity resets/inspirational boosts, I take walks along the beach (yes, I wrote walks along the beach) with my adorable poofball of a dog named Brody.
This member profile was originally published in November 2018, Updated April 2020.