Designer Spotlight: Andrea Jelić

Meet Andrea Jelić, an award-winning independent web designer and art director from Croatia, whose style is recognizable for her exceptional use of typography, seamlessly blending functionality and aesthetics in her web and branding projects.

In addition to successfully working with clients across various industries, Andrea offers a design course on Domestika focused on creating portfolios and promoting work online. She also strives to educate and support creatives entering the freelance world by writing and speaking to designers at the start of their careers.

Featured Work

Askonas Holt

With a history spanning over a century, Askonas Holt is one of the world’s leading arts management companies, specializing in classical music. I collaborated with Likely Story to revitalize their brand identity, overhaul their social media presence, and create a new website that elegantly showcases their impressive roster of artists and musicians while highlighting their rich history.

Our Revolution

Art direction/web design project I did together with Likely Story. Our Revolution is an independent creative agency based in Sydney, Australia. Their focus is on providing high-end consumer branding and packaging design to a diverse range of clients. We created a cool and modern web experience where we highlighted the great work that they do. As always, the focus was on typography and a balanced layout, emphasizing their brand visuals. The website received multiple awards from Awwwards and CSSDA.

Bertch Capital

Bertch Capital is a boutique investment firm based in the western United States. Seeking to reinvigorate their brand and restructure their digital presence, they approached us with a brief to encapsulate their history, values, and commitment to conservation and sustainability. The website was created together with Likely Story and has received SOTD and DEV awards from Awwwards.

Light Factory

Project and collaboration I did with Joseph Berry. Light Factory is a full-service video production house bringing ideas of all shapes and sizes to life. We teamed up to create the brand identity, logo, and website; I handled the design while Joseph did the development. With a strong emphasis on neon colors, bold typography, and impactful animations, the project achieved great results, receiving multiple awards. The website received multiple awards from Awwwards and CSSDA.

Tattoo Rroom

Web design project I did for a tattoo studio based in Zagreb, Croatia. We collaborated on art direction for the photo shoot, video, and photo materials, which I used as the foundation for the design direction. The main purpose of the website is to showcase their incredible tattooing expertise, display their past work through photography, and serve as an informational platform for future client bookings. The second phase of the website was to also create a shop experience for collaborations and their own limited collections of various items (t-shirts, mugs, bags, etc.). The website received multiple awards from CSSDA.

LOKOMOTIVA

I recently had the opportunity to collaborate with Lana Puljić, a talented fashion designer from Croatia, on a project for her brand, Lokomotiva. The result is a sleek and modern e-commerce platform that offers a seamless shopping experience, allowing users to fully immerse themselves in the brand. By combining clean, minimalist design principles with bold accents of pink, I was able to craft an engaging and memorable brand journey throughout the website. The result is a visually striking and user-friendly platform that truly reflects the essence of Lokomotiva.

Brand Society

Brand Society is a strategic design studio based in Melbourne, Australia. Following a rebrand in 2023, together with Likely Story, we created a new website that focuses on showcasing their work and highlighting their unique design approach. The design emphasizes bold typography and a clean layout, providing a smooth and easy way to present their work.

Background

I have been working in design for the past 5 years. Since the beginning, I have always been independent, working mostly in web and brand areas. For the past year, I have also been working as a part-time design director at Brandbeet, which was a great experience. Now, I am back to independent work, focusing mostly on web projects, which I would say is my passion. Besides design, I do photography and like to blend these two professions when I can. In general, I believe that knowing and working in different creative areas makes it easier to understand whole projects and their execution.

Design Philosophy

I like to think of design as a process of merging knowledge, research, creativity, and experience. With each project, we learn so much, and every part of the experience—both good and bad—contributes to better success in the next project. For designers, especially freelancers, it’s crucial to not only be good designers but also good managers. As a baseline for any good work, I like to keep it simple: understand the clients, maintain great communication with them, and provide the value they are seeking.

Tools and Techniques

For tools, I always use Figma for design and Adobe Photoshop for mockups. I also use MidJourney for AI-generated images and ChatGPT when I need placeholder content for projects. For smaller animations, I use Jitter or Principle, or sometimes just Figma Prototype for websites.

Inspiration

My work is inspired by fashion, architecture, and music, but also by everything I encounter daily. Surrounding myself with inspiring people, beautiful interiors, and good visual content on digital platforms makes finding inspiration easy and essential. I also read design books for inspiration or listen to podcasts related to design, business, or personal development.

Future Goals

I usually don’t set big goals, as I tend to be quite spontaneous when it comes to decisions and accepting new opportunities. Currently, I’m happy to be back to freelancing and feel motivated to deliver great projects and collaborations. I enjoy working with different people and clients. I see myself focusing on web work—specifically creative websites and e-commerce. In addition, I want to continue inspiring young creatives and helping them achieve great results, so I’ll keep writing about my process and experiences.

Final Thoughts

I would always say to stick to what inspires you and work with people who have a positive attitude, making it easier to enjoy the work and the process. Use experiences that weren’t pleasant as examples of how things shouldn’t be, and learn from them for the next opportunity. Every experience, both good and bad, brings new lessons. There is space for everyone in this industry, so don’t view it as competition—see it as your personal journey. Don’t be obsessed with the goal; enjoy the process, and the goals and achievements will naturally follow.