Juliana LaPorta
Art Director
New York City, NY / Boston, MA
www.julianalaporta.com
instagram @juliana_laporta
pinterest
linkedin
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?
My path started with the Minerva portfolio program where I built my conceptual Art Direction skills, worked with copywriters, created mockups, and learned how to pitch. During my time at Minerva, we were encouraged to apply for awards like The Young Ones and ADDYs, which taught me how to create quickly and accurately. From this, I was recognized with a National ADDY, 3 Local and Regional ADDYs, and a Young Ones shortlist.
After Minerva, I packed up a U-Haul and moved to Boston, MA where I worked at Connelly Partners as a Jr. Art Director for a year. While at Connelly Partners, I was given a lot of responsibility from directing product shoots, helping with pitches, creating campaign concepts, executing digital and print, working with activations, collaborating with copywriters at all levels, and I was trained in studio.
After Connelly Partners, I moved to my current role at EF (Education First) as a Junior Designer, where I work on the Central EF brand team creating assets used across our North American offices and schools. I've worked on everything from stickers, presentations to sailboat sails, pamphlets, and event design, and assisted in an office photoshoot. I also help manage the company's LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, which has grown my skills in video scripting, caption writing, photo editing, social analytics, and social design.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
What sets me apart is the range I've built early on in my career. I've worked in a fast-paced agency environment where concepting and execution had to happen quickly, and I've worked in-house where the focus shifts to brand consistency and long-term storytelling.
I also have a genuine curiosity about visual culture whether that's tracking trends in fashion or noticing what's working on TikTok this week. That curiosity tends to show up in my work. By taking notice of what is happening around you in culture, this allows you to focus your insights to speak directly to your audience and draw attention as a whole.
Q What are you working on right now?
Right now at EF I am working on a social campaign that focuses on reaching early career viewers. We are doing this by not only giving advice about how to get a job at our company, but giving them career advice in general so they can walk away with a positive experience from our brand. We are connecting with our audience by making them feel understood while helping them reach their goals.
Outside of work, I am helping with personal branding, work for local businesses, and I create Ad mockups that I sell on Etsy.
Q What’s your style?
I would say I am drawn to a bold design style and a good example of this would be my spec project for Zest. For this project I created a rebrand that brought their name to life. I used bold citrus orange and yellow for the branding, eye catching photography, and bold headlines.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
One of my passions is fashion, so I would love to explore stepping into this space. I am fascinated by the runway looks that come each season, the impact culture has on these looks, and how the looks resemble art. It is interesting to note what people are wearing in the everyday and watch as trends develop. I like to create my own trend predictions and see if they are accurate. It would be a dream to put this passion into my work and enter the fashion or editorial space.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
The biggest thing I'm missing is collaboration. In my current role, I don't have a creative team, so I am missing the energy of other creatives bouncing ideas, pushing concepts, giving critiques, and being challenged. As a creative early in my career, I want people to push me to be better, I want to learn from other creatives' experience, and I want different perspectives to weigh in.
Another big thing for me is concepting. A great day at work is one where I walk away with an idea I love that's where my excitement comes from. My current role doesn't have a need for concepting, so I don't get a chance to tap into that. I'm looking for a space to create ideas, collaborate, and learn.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
I would have them edit the 900+ photos I recently took at a photoshoot.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
You don't need to follow a structured path just because people expect you to. One decision, one role, does not define your whole career. If you want to be somewhere else, it will happen for you.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
I want to have a conversation with someone in fashion advertising to learn more about this industry, how it is evolving, and the differences between traditional advertising agencies.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
The projects that get me excited are campaign concepts, branding, social design, merch design, pitch production, and activations.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
I would love to work with a beauty brand, fashion, fitness, or health food packaging.
Q: What is your rate?
My hourly rate is $45/hr or $360 a day.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Email. When reaching out, please provide a list of all the assets you will need, any previous resources, along with the budget. I would also ask to set up a call to aid communication on the project.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
When I go on a run I come up with some of my best creative ideas. I am not sure why but doing this regularly keeps my motivation and flow of side projects ideas. I also love to consume content whether that is reading a substack, a news article, or a podcast. I want to learn more about what people are interested in our culture today.
This member profile was originally published in March 2026.