Freshly Laundered 020 / Lisa Llanes

Todays interview is a quick chat with New York resident and designer Lisa Llanes. If you read to the end, you’ll even get the scoop on the best ramen in NYC - perfect for your next trip to the big apple!

CB: You went to college for Public Relations, graduated and then went back and got a graphic design degree a few years later, what prompted the switch?

LL: In the very last semester of undergrad, my PR curriculum included a visual communications class. This immediately sparked my interest in visual design. I was always that kid that messed around in bootleg copies of the Creative Suite software and took notice in layout design and fonts, etc. so I’m not sure why it wasn’t evident to me before. After graduating I took some design classes at the local community college to increase my technical knowledge of the software, which led me to working at a small PR/marketing/design firm in my college town. After working there for a bit as a production designer, I decided that I really wanted to be more on the creative side and decided to go back to school!

CB: That’s awesome! It kind of gives you the benefit of knowing both sides of the business, how to design and how what you design will be used for marketing purposes. Do you have projects you work on outside of work? A creative outlet for the ideas that aren’t useful for work?

LL: Yes I do. I try to have small personal projects going on to keep me motivated and inspired. Sometimes it’s things like Tacocat - fun little doodles that turn into shirts. I’ve more recently been exploring hand lettering and calligraphy.

CB: What made you decide to try out hand-lettering and calligraphy?

LL: I’ve always been interested, but recently started practicing more. I’ve always been intrigued with how beautiful the letterforms are and the different styles. It’s nice to work with my hands away from the computer.

CB: It’s definitely great to have projects outside of work, keeps the mind fresh! What other stuff do you like to do in your free time? Got any fun hobbies?

LL: Living in New York, there is always a new or new-to-me restaurant to try. I love trying all different kinds of foods which goes hand in hand with my love for traveling. I’m also big reader of fictional novels and memoirs and enjoy going to see live music. More recently, I’ve been trying to become more outdoorsy and have taken up hiking!

CB: The best thing about visiting NYC is all the good food to eat! Do you have a favorite restaurant? What has been your favorite place to travel to?

LL: A favorite restaurant in NY?!?! That’s so hard. I will say, I love ramen. I’m slowing eating my way through all of New York’s ramen joints. My favorites so far have been Mu Ramen and Totto Ramen.

As far as travel - my favorite place so far has been Iceland. Sometimes, I felt like I was on another planet!! It has such a cool and beautiful, diverse terrain. The glaciers and waterfalls were incredibly breathtaking.

You can see more of Lisa’s work on her website or keep up with her on twitter, instagram, or dribbble.