Meet The Designer Yaja’ Mulcare is an Illustrator & Graphic Designer from Brooklyn, NY. She started drawing at four years old and developed a passion for the arts - which included Writing, Digital Art, Fine Art and Music. Yaja’ finds that good music and a tasty cup of coffee (or tea) is the perfect way to gain inspiration. She came to Johnson & Wales originally as a Criminal Justice major but soon transfered into Graphic Design & Digital Media the middle of her Freshman year.
EDITORIAL DESIGN
WORKS DEVELOPED AROUND TYPE AND UNIQUE LAYOUT.
AVANT GARDE Type Specimen Book
This type book was dedicated to all great things about the typeface AVANT GARDE and what influence it had on the history of type. Avant Garde was a loved font in the beginning but soon became one of the most hated. I wanted to highlight the reasons why I love the font - specifically in terms of its shape & design.
Using a neon color palette helped to bring out the “edgy� style of the AVANT GARDE typeface. The grid on both the back and front of the book were an accident at first, but soon became a great texture or background pattern for the type book. I experimented with all weights such as bold, italic, extra bold, oblique, etc. In order to showcase the font in its complete form.
TEA LAGOON Company Catalog & Trade show Booth
My goal was to develop a catalog that demonstrates proper layout of items - primarily focusing on item name, price, and product type. Tea Lagoon is your go-to catalog for all tropical tea (& coffee) blends. As a tea lover, I developed a catalog that offers various options for extreme tea drinkers (as well as newcomers!).
Mermaids were used to break-up the teas into separate categories (and also to fit the tropical theme!). An inside spread pattern of fruit was left black & white in order to bring out the intense colors of the illustrations.
The intent of the trade show booth was to engage social interaction between consumers
products along the shelf or simply grabbing a catalog after they’ve tasted their sample.
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Visitors have an option of buying any of the
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as they drink the tea samples being offered.
NYESHA & PHANTOM’S GUIDE TO COLORS Children’s Coloring Book
I developed a children’s coloring book for an outside class but decided to turn it into a more substantial project. Nyesha and her Black cat Phantom are two artists teaching younger kids the basics of color. They focus on the different types of hues from the color wheel, along with how to separate warm colors from cool colors.
Nyesha and Phantom were designed with a child-friendly approach that could also attract parents. I played around with their body proportions, hairstyles, clothing and facial expressions. I felt that finding their style would be a great way to identify what personalities these two characters have - and they would be relatable to creative kids!
In this book, children have the opportunity to color with crayons and distinguish the three different groups of hues (primary, secondary & tertiary). They also work with two coloring pages that teach the separation between warm and cool hues. Lastly, they get to do a quick crafting activity, following a famous paper technique done by Henri Matisse.
BRAND IDENTITY
ATTRACTING CONSUMERS & PERFECTING THE COMPANY IMAGE.
CONVERSE COMICS!
Gotham City Sirens Sneaker Design Converse has done themed sneaker designs in the past, and I wanted to add-on to the collection. Being a big Batman fan, I wanted to base my shoe designs around my favorite characters within the Gotham universe. I chose to do the Gotham City Sirens, a team formed by Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn & Selina Kyle (Catwoman). Each sneaker represents their personality & attitude.
I tried to develop the designs based off of the character’s personality, along with what represents their image. Each sneaker was to be its own style while all sticking to one overall theme. Harley Quinn relied on a poker/circus style, Poison Ivy used beautiful (yet deadly) plants & vines and Catwoman was more rebellious with graffiti and an edgier look of the Batman logo.
QUEEN BEE
Indie Gaming Studio I was charged with the task of developing business cards and professional logo for a hypothetical company. I chose to do an independent gaming studio that would be located in New York. The company would be a third-party studio partnered with big names such as Nintendo, Sony Playstation and Microsoft. The studio would primarily support indie games and solo development teams.
Queen Bee Queen Bee Indie Gaming Studio
Queen Bee
Queen
Bee
Queen Bee
Queen
Bee
Indie Gaming Studio
Indie Gaming Studio
Indie Gaming Studio
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Bee Queen
Indie Gaming Studio
The Queen Bee logo was formed by combing geometric shapes and simple lines; A script typeface was used to contrast with the modern sans-serif “Indie Gaming Studio� tag. A beelike palette of gold, black and white was used for the entire branding, along with a subtle honeycomb pattern.
Indie Gaming Studio
Indie Gaming Studio
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Indie Gaming Studio
Queen Bee would offer exclusive controller skins for those who support the studio. The ideal genre of games developed would range from Platforming, Action/Adventure, RPG, Fighting and more! Queen Bee ideally should support current generation consoles such as the PS4, PS4 Pro, Xbox One, Xbox One X and Nintendo Switch.
Along with creating the logo and business cards, I also took the time to think about the office space and the game developers working there. The office space would be a modern and stylistic space that provides an open area for creative thinking. There may also be some special merch for each employee such as custom t-shirts, mugs or hats.
BROOKYLN BOTANICAL GARDEN Wayfinding Map & Kiosk
Brooklyn Botanical Garden is a gigantic landmark located in New York and is one of the most visited gardens in the city. Despite its beautiful scenery and lovely gallery, the garden struggles to offer an easy way to navigate. Visitors often get lost within the garden’s enormous space and usually walk around aimlessly until they find the next garden area. I decided to develop a kiosk and wayfinding app in order to make the Botanical Garden easier to navigate.
This project was a great opportunity to incoporate some 3D renderings, since I was developing an app for an entire garden. I wanted the kiosk to look like a small tree that has a full image stating “YOU ARE HERE� to help visitors figure out where to go. The kiosk tree would be located at the entrance of every garden area. In Google SketchUp, I rendered an example garden with the kiosk and several visitors surrounding it.
Along with the tree kiosk, visitors have the convenience of downloading the wayfinding app. Each icon represents a specific garden; one tap of the icon will lead to both the garden map and a fun facts page about the flowers within it. The map also shows all restrooms, dining and emergency areas nearby.
I also thought about a possible re-brand for the garden’s gift shop. I made watercolor illustrations of various types of plants and applied the designs to gift mugs, plant pots, shopping bags, umbrellas and more.
THE POWER PROJECT An Awareness Campaign for LGBTQ+ Youth
The Power Project is a “design-for-good� campaign that aims to raise sex and gender awareness for LGBTQ+ youth and their families. People would be educated on the subject of sexuality and gender identity, specifically if they are unsure about the differences. The Power Project would also be an outlet for those who are struggling with expressing themselves or finding a place where they can be accepted.
The Power Project is ideally set to be a non-profit organization that will allow multiple members to join. People who decide to fund the project or support the cause can recieve specialized items such as notebooks, pens and flashdrives.
Members and outside supporters of the project will recieve goodie bags along with a “Power Project� t-shirt and hat. People can also wear a shirt specifically catered towards their sexuality or gender identity in order to represent the campaign to those unaware.
WEB DEVELOPMENT
RESPONSIVE WEBSITES AND APPS THAT FOCUS ON UI & UX DESIGN.
EXHALE.
Mental Health & Therapy Website Exhale is an online therapy/ counseling service that offers help to anyone suffering from mental health issues including stress, anxiety, ptsd and more. This website was created for those who can’t afford a therapy session or simply don’t have the time to attend a counseling office.
Exhale links viewers to different articles about mental health and how to improve, as well as a forum for various problems a person (or group of people) may be currently facing. Along with the forum, there is a separate page for other emergency situations such as abuse, alcoholism and suicide prevention.
SMALL POINT CAFE Responsive Website Re-Brand My task was to re-design an already existing website for any local company. I decided to re-brand Small Point Cafe, a very stylish cafe located in Providence, RI. Small Point’s website was fine on its own, yet it was missing a few important aspects. The menu wasn’t organized well and lacked imagery. Overall, the website was a little hard to navigate for someone who was simply searching online for a place to eat.
While visiting Small Point cafe I first took note of how artsy and creative it was. Art was all over the walls and the people that worked there were very colorful and inviting. I wanted the website to have that same idea in mind.
PRINT PRODUCTION
PHYSICALLY CRAFTED DESIGNS.
APPLIQUÉ
Paper Sample Posters AppliquĂŠ is a term related to the style of fold or stitch within the design of a dress (& other apparel). This poster series was for a made-up exhibit at FIT (Fashion Institutes of Technology). These dresses were made from the NEENAH Paper Collection.
At first, I wanted to try a die-cut with a laser cutter. The die-cut would create a 3D effect using two different kinds of paper. However, the details of the dress proved to be too intricate for the cutter. I then decided to do a little research on how to make that 3D feel, and I came across the art of paper quilling, rolling paper to make unique folds & curls.
VISTA SMOOTH BLUE Neenah Stardream Papers
GOLD Neenah Stardream Papers
RED Neenah PLIKE Papers
81T
105C
95T
LUSCIOUS
Beauty Subscription Box For only $15 a month, Luscious is a beauty subscription box that provides the most highly quality makeup products to both professional makeup artists and newcomers. I was encouraged to explore more of my photography skills and try something outside of illustration work.
After taking each photo, I put a black & white filter over the models in order to emphasize the makeup. I primarily wanted to show highlights of the face, along with bright, vivid eye shadow and lipstick. Luscious would provide beauty supply products such as eye shadow, foundation, lipstick, blush, etc.
Consumers have the opportunity to try a free sample box containing five products to test. When buying a subscription, they can either get one for themselves or gift a box to a friend (or family member). The website is arranged in separate categories: “Makeup & Beauty”, “Hair Care” and “Bath & Body”. Visitors can build their own beauty box by picking and choosing whatever item they favorite in their wishlist.
MYSTERY MANOR
Buildables Playhouse Toy Set Buildables is a hypothetical company that sells crafting playsets for children five years and older. Mystery Manor is one of the many playsets that kids can collect. This project was a collaborative effort of both my design team and the Engineering freshman. The finalized playhouse was given to kids at Vartan Gregorian Elementary School.
Since the theme for the playset was a Haunted House, I designed monster characters that have a more family-friendly approach. These monsters are kind to humans and just wish to live together peacefully within the manor. I first got the idea from shows like Vampirina, The Aadams Family, Little Monsters, Scooby Doo, and more.
Each kid recieved two sets of furniture (bed/living room & kitchen sets) along with a blind bag of four randomly picked characters. Children can do whatever they wish with the house and customize it to their liking.
www.yajamulcare.com yajamulcare@gmail.com 917.689.7712