Meet Andrea Jelic, an award-winning independent web designer and art director from Croatia. Her style is known for her exceptional use of typography, seamlessly blending functionality and aesthetics in her web and branding projects.
As well as working successfully with clients across a range of industries, Andrea also delivers design courses with Domestika that focus on building a portfolio and promoting your work online, and strives to educate and support creatives as they enter the freelance world by writing and speaking to designers at the start of their careers.
Featured Works
Ascona Holt
Founded over a century ago, Askonas Holt is the world’s leading arts management company specializing in classical music. I worked with Likely Story to refresh the company’s brand identity, revamp its social media presence, and create a new website that elegantly showcases the company’s incredible roster of artists and musicians while highlighting the company’s rich history.
Our Revolution
This was an art direction/web design project done in collaboration with Likely Story. Our Revolution is an independent creative agency based in Sydney, Australia. They focus on providing premium consumer branding and packaging design for a wide variety of clients. We created a cool, modern web experience that highlighted their great work. As always, we focused on typography and a balanced layout to highlight their brand visuals. The website won multiple awards from Awwwards and CSSDA.
Birch Capital
Bertch Capital is a boutique investment firm based in the Western US. Looking to revitalize their brand and reinvent their digital presence, they commissioned us to create a brief outlining their history, values, and commitment to environmental protection and sustainability. The website was created in collaboration with Likely Story and won a SOTD and DEV award from Awwwards.
Light Factory
This project was a collaboration with Joseph Berry. Light Factory is a full-service video production company that brings ideas of all shapes and sizes to life. We teamed up to create the brand identity, logo and website. I was in charge of design and Joseph was in charge of development. With an emphasis on neon colors, bold typography and impactful animation, the project turned out great and won multiple awards. The website won multiple awards from Awwwards and CSSDA.
Tattoo Room
A web design project I did for a tattoo studio based in Zagreb, Croatia. We collaborated on the photoshoot, video and art direction of the stock photography, which we then used as the basis for our design direction. The main purpose of the website is to showcase their amazing tattoo expertise, expose their past work through photography and act as an information platform for future client bookings. In the second phase of the website we also created a shop experience for collaborations and their own exclusive collection of different items (t-shirts, mugs, bags, etc.). The website won multiple awards from the CSSDA.
Locomotiva
We recently had the opportunity to collaborate with Lana Pric, a talented fashion designer from Croatia, on a project for her brand, Lokomotiva. The result was a sleek and modern e-commerce platform that offers a seamless shopping experience and allows users to fully immerse themselves in the brand. By combining clean, minimalist design principles with bold pink accents, we created an engaging and memorable brand journey throughout the website. The result is a visually striking and user-friendly platform that reflects the essence of Lokomotiva.
Brand Society
Brand Society is a strategic design studio based in Melbourne, Australia. Following their 2023 rebrand, they collaborated with Likely Story to create a new website focused on showcasing their work and highlighting their unique design approach. The design highlights bold typography and clean layouts, providing a smooth and easy way to present their work.
background
I’ve been working in design for the last 5 years. I’ve been independent since the beginning and I’ve worked mainly in the web and brand fields. For the last year I’ve also worked as a part-time design director at Brandbeet, which was a great experience. Now I’m back working independently and mainly focusing on web projects, which is my passion. Besides design, I also do photography and combine the two professions when possible. In general, I think knowing and working in different creative fields makes it easier to understand the whole project and its execution.
Design Philosophy
I see design as a process that combines knowledge, research, creativity and experience. With each project, we learn a lot, and every part of the experience, good and bad, leads to the success of the next project. For designers, especially freelancers, it is important not only to be a good designer, but also to be a good manager. As the basis of good work, I prefer to keep it simple: understand the client, maintain good communication with the client, and provide the value the client wants.
Tools and Techniques
As for tools, I always use Figma for design, Adobe Photoshop for mockups, MidJourney for AI-generated imagery, ChatGPT if I need placeholder content for my projects, Jitter or Principle for small animations, and sometimes just Figma Prototype for websites.
Inspiration
My work is inspired by fashion, architecture, music, and everything I encounter on a daily basis. Being surrounded by inspiring people, beautiful interiors, and great visual content on digital platforms makes it easy and essential to get inspired. I also read design books and listen to podcasts related to design, business, and personal development for inspiration.
Future Goals
I usually don’t set big goals because I tend to be quite impulsive when it comes to decisions and accepting new opportunities. Now I’m happy back in freelancing and feel motivated to realize great projects and collaborations. I enjoy working with different people and clients. I want to focus on web work, especially creative websites and e-commerce. Additionally, I will continue to write about my process and experiences because I want to keep inspiring young creators and helping them achieve great things.
lastly
I always say: follow your inspiration and work with people who have a positive attitude. This will make it easier for you to enjoy the work and the process. Use the unenjoyed experiences as examples of how things shouldn’t be and learn from them for the next time. Every experience, good or bad, brings new lessons. There is room for everyone in this industry, so look at it as your journey, not as a competitor. Don’t get attached to the goal, enjoy the process. Then the goals and achievements will come naturally.
