Welcome to my portfolio website, which shows and demonstrates a culmination of my design based and creative work from the extent of my studies and career in the creative arts. My name is Julia Paliy and I am a soon to be university graduate, graphic designer, and fine artist. My journey starts in Kiev, Ukraine, where I was born in 1999 and continues through France where I lived for a few years as a young child and lands in London, Ontario where I spent most of my teen years.
I moved to Toronto, Ontario to attend the prestigious joint BDes program in Graphic Design at York University and Sheridan College for a 4 year honours bachelor degree. To put myself through school, I worked at a variety of cafes as a barista, put primarily one of Toronto's Nutella Cafes on the Harbourfront. I am yet to complete my internship in the summer of 2021 and will be actively seeking out to work for a company who's values and work I am passionate about. After I have officially completed by bachelor's degree, I am hoping to begin my grad studies as a master's student specializing in a studio based creative program in Toronto.
As a graphic designer, I am always in search of new clients and have experience creating products for large subset of the Toronto entrepeneurial community. Still on route to estbalishing myself as a graphic designer and artist, I seek self improvement and look for new opportunities to learn. If you are in need of graphic design, photography or fine arts services, read below.
Outside of my lifelong passion for the creative arts and academic knowledge and experience in graphic design, I can also be seen pursuing digital and film photography, playing a variety of musical instruments, pursuing fitness and weightlifting practices, and working the occasional hair and fashion modelling gig.
Photography
In my third year of university (2020), I had the incredible opportunity to take part in an academic exchange and live in Sydney, Australia for 9 months. Through my experience in the southern hemisphere of the world, I fell in love with Australian landscapes, architecture, and flora/fauna, and I began exploring with digital photography as well as film photography, which is something I am very passionate about now. Up until the present time, I have cultivated a collection of film photography and digital photography works that can be viewed on my photography based Instagram account, here.
Music
Since the young age of 9, I have been given the privilege of engulfing myself into the musical arts with parental and external support. I went through guitar lessons through the City of London, in London, Ontario from the age of 9-11, was taught to play the piano partially by my mother at that age as well, and learned the play the clarinet under secondary school instruction in an instrumental band. Up until this point, the rest of my musical endeauvours have been self taught, and I continue to play a variety of instruments (including guitar, piano, and ukulele) in my spare time as a hobbyist.
Fitness
I am former rhythmic gymnast (which I performed from the age of 4-12), in addition to going through tennis and badminton lessons through the City of London as well, and playing tennis through my high school years as well. Since the age of 17, I have been weightlighting and been attentive to my fitness on a strict regimen until now, and in the past 5 years.
Modelling
My modelling career begins in 2017, after being hired for a hair modelling opportunity for Salon Collage in Toronto. As a member of Exclusive Models Management for the last 4 years, I have modelled for various international salons, brands, and events which include the following: events and competitions including National American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA), Contessa, One Shot Hair Awards, Salon Magazine, and AUS Hair Expo; hair salons on an ongoing basis including Salon Collage, Sassoon Academy Toronto, Aveda, La Hair Lab & Co, and La Bella Hair Studio (Australia); and brands such as Jeval Australia, Mekka, and Schwarzkopf. In addition to my extensive hair modelling experience, I also partake in casual fashion and city photoshoots on the occasional basis for a variety of Toronto and Australian based photographers.
I began showing interest in the arts at a very young age and that passion for art has been present in me throughout my whole life. With the majority of my family members being skilled in the visual arts, I took my original inspiration from there which progressed in grade 7 and 8 and really flourished in the start of my high school career, under the instruction of a teacher who, for 4 years, proved her enthusiasm to the craft and motivated me at great lengths to pursue it as a career.
In 2015, halfway through high school, my journey in graphic design began when I received a digital drawing tablet as a birthday gift from a parent. I started creating digital art for friends and was immersed in the gaming world bringing my artistic skills into that as well. I began taking commissions when I was 16, and my skills have progressed up to this year in my final year of my bachelor's degree in university. I plan on using graphic design, fine arts and photography in a professional setting for years to come, and in the meanwhile, I hope to do freelancing work as much as my lifestyle will allow me.
Over the years of creating art in traditional as well as digital mediums, I have learned that I have a willingless to adapt to new mediums very quickly, thus am able to use a large range of materials to create my work. Primarily, I use pencil/graphite and watercolor for my traditional work although I am also able to work with a varirety of other paint and dry mediums as well.
For my digital art and design work, I use the following:
For my traditional art, I use the following:
For my photography, I use the following: