|
Juliette's illustrations have ranged from body image to corporate scandal to head lice, jealousy, motherhood, bulimia, extra marital affairs, death and minimizing risk and creating opportunity. Some of her clients include The New Yorker, Eli Lilly, Penguin-Putnam, Bon Appetit, Superfeet Insoles, Vintage Books, Cost Plus, Good Housekeepeing, New England College, Playboy, New York Blood Bank, Business Week, Real Simple, Town & Country, and Land's End, to name a few. Altpick had the pleasure to talk with Juliette Borda, about her inspirations, hopes, dreams and her life's work.
In alphabetical order, here is a small (very small) sampling: Americana; Amy Sedaris (If you haven't seen her movie, you should!!); cats I've had; cities; the country; Jules di Balincourt; diagrams, instructional manuals, and maps. Diagrams and maps are in the same category because they are both visual "how-to" guides of sorts. Fashion; folk art; my friends; German photography; Edward Gorey; Japanese illustrators; Japanese pop music, and pop music in general from any country other than the U.S.; narrative illustration and painting; Alice Neel and her visual comments on the emotional life; Dale Nutt; Swiss Graphic Design (for its sense of ordering information); my son, Tate; wall paint color chips... What are your hopes and dreams?I'd really like to help people. I had pneumonia this winter and kind of enjoyed being taken care of... and I thought I'd really like to be a nurse. There are a lot of aspects to it I think I'd be good at. But then I realized that would entail getting up close and personal with lots of fluids that I'd rather not think about; so then I decided I'll stay the course with illustration. So back to that thought of helping people, I do hope that my own discoveries affect others on some level. And as for specific goals within my work.... Based on experience, what's next for me is probably dredging some other yet-unknown recess of my psyche/self. I do like gouache a whole lot so I will continue to dredge those recesses in gouache.
Be proud of all the "mistakes" you make along your journey as a human, as these experiences shape who you are. The closer you get to who you are, the louder your voice as an artist becomes. And you can't go wrong with being true to yourself. On that note, don't seek approval from others, just from your self. And work really really hard. What two things would you take to a desert island? 2 friends (being an illustrator/artist is so isolating, I'd take a party with me!) and a bottomless box of doughnuts. What do you feel you have not done yet as an illustrator? I'd like to learn Photoshop and Illustrator better, just for fun. Right now I use Photoshop just to touch up a bristle or glob in my painting but it's an awesome tool with many more possibilities. I'd also like to get around to illustrating a children's book one of these days! That would be a manuscript by someone other than me. I seem to be able to muster up words to answer these interview questions ok, but trust me, I am no writer. The trouble with doing a book is, I'm very picky and would really have to feel a strong emotional connection to the subject matter of the manuscript - which is why it hasn't happened yet!
....................
Juliette's work is featured in the following recently released books:
Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age," by Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic, Thames & Hudson
The Big Book of Illustration Ideas," Harper Design International
Illustration Now," Taschen, release date fall 2005
>> See more work from borda >> See other member spotlights on the member spotlight index >> Find out more on how to become an altpick.com member |
