Juliana LaPorta
Art Director / Graphic Designer
New York City, NY / Boston, MA
Q What do you do?
“I am a concept focused Art Director/Graphic Designer which means I come up with cool ideas and make it look pretty.”
I love to focus on unique insights, human experiences, and how I want the viewer to feel when interacting with the work.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I was always creative growing up, constantly working on a new project that involved some sort of paint or glitter. I then took these skills to college, where I was in the Minerva portfolio program for Art Direction. This program built my conceptual skills and at the same time, I was learning everything I could about graphic design.
After this, I packed up a U-Haul and moved to Boston where I worked at Connelly Partners as a Jr. Art Director for a year. While at Connelly Partners, I was handed real responsibility early on — directing product shoots, assisting with new business pitches, creating campaign concepts, building brand guides, activation design, and executing digital and print work.
From there, I shifted in-house to EF (Education First), where I work as a Jr. Graphic Designer. In this role I design recruitment materials including pamphlets, stickers, career fair booths, and digital assets. I also manage their social channels, creating content and coordinating with recruitment campaigns.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
What sets me apart is the range of experience I have gained early in my career. I've worked in a fast-paced agency environment where ideation and execution had to happen quickly. I've also worked in-house where the focus shifts to brand consistency and long-term storytelling.
All of my experience has shaped me into a creative with skills across many disciplines, whether it’s social media, concepting, activations, branding, or photo production, I am ready to jump in.
Q What are you working on right now?
Right now I am helping EF develop social media design guidelines building on a recruitment campaign I helped launch. I am also helping a non-profit launch an ad campaign to promote their new app. Additionally, I am taking on personal branding projects, helping clients develop brand guides and websites.
Q What’s your style?
My style changes depending on the project. Sometimes I am drawn to a hand-drawn, scrapbook feel, and other times I lean toward something bold and eye-catching. It all depends on the goals of the client and what feels right for their brand.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
I would love to work on a project where I can use more digital illustration and explore this style more. There's a fun challenge in making digital feel tangible.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Figuring out how to promote myself more as a creative and launch myself as my own business. One thing I would love to tackle this year is launching a virtual shop.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
I would pay someone to help me with the above! I have so many ideas on what I would like to do for myself, but need help executing while I work on other projects.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I would go back to when I was still an intern and I would tell myself that you have so much time. You have so much time in your career to get that dream job and each opportunity is a step toward that, even if you don’t see it in front of you right now.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
I want to talk to a documentary director and learn about their creative process to see how I can apply that style of storytelling across different mediums, like social.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
I am open to both short term and long-term projects from social media content to building a new brand guide. A smaller project could be building a digital ad campaign using existing branding, while a larger project would be building a branding system from the ground up. I love to work collaboratively to help clients reach their goals.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
I love a client who knows who they are and what their goals are. It's great to build a brand when the client has a clear voice and vision for where they're headed. I also like clients who value collaboration. We are a team figuring out a problem together.
Q: What is your rate?
Each project is carefully considered depending on the need. For design my rate is typically $90/hr. For social content and strategy my rate is $75/hr.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
You can email me with details on who you are, your project, and timeline. I will follow up shortly and we can find a time to meet :)
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Elaine Constantine - Really cool photographer with interesting visuals and editing style.
Madelyn Somers - Her Creative Direction for Chamberlain Coffee makes the brand unique compared to other coffee brands.
Mike McVicar - Creative Director behind the design of so many cool brands including Graza, Stillers, and Yellowbird.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
To stay creative I like to go on runs, collaborate, travel, or visit art museums.
This member profile was originally published in March 2026, Updated in April 2026.