Meet Elise Juvan: 2024 Scholarship Graduate.

At Shillington, our Half Scholarship Program helps emerging creatives take their first bold steps into the design industry. One inspiring graduate is Elise Juvan, who joined Shillington in 2024 after making the leap from psychology, communications and coffee shop shifts at Grand Central to a new career in design.

Encouraged by Shillington teachers she met as “regulars” at the café where she worked, Elise applied for the Half Scholarship and won. For her, it was more than financial support; it was a wake-up call that her creativity and perspective had real value. Since graduating, Elise has begun freelancing and is now working as a Junior Designer at a studio in Reno USA, all while continuing to pursue personal projects that merge her love for design with her everyday experiences.

In this interview, Elise reflects on her journey, shares the lessons she learned at Shillington, and offers advice for future applicants who are ready to take the leap into design.

Great to speak to you during our Half Scholarship season, Elise! Let's go back to before you started with us, in early 2024! What were you up to?

I had just graduated from undergrad with a degree in psychology & communications and had been working at a coffee shop at Grand Central in NYC for almost two years. I had received a few minor commissions for hand drawn art and had done art pop-ups before, selling prints of past artworks but I was in a grey area - unsure of how to accept the reality that I didn’t have a plan or an approach to pursuing my interest in a creative field.

What motivated you to apply for the half-scholarship program?

At the coffee shop I worked at there were a few ‘regulars’ which I later learned were teachers at Shillington. Upon sharing my interest in art, they encouraged me to apply and it took no time at all for me to begin my online search for different program and scholarship options Shillington offered. Financially I knew that I wouldn’t be able to commit to a full four-year degree or program of a similar caliber, so I took what felt like a risk- a leap of faith, and applied for the full and half scholarship options. I knew that time was of the essence and the sooner that I could develop a legitimate skillset to propel my creative pursuits, the better - even if that meant going in blind.

Did you have any design experience before applying, or were you starting fresh?

Before applying to Shillington I was someone who hesitated to call myself an ‘artist’, unsure of whether or not the art that I was making was legitimate or not. I would make puns and punchlines, illustrate moments digitally and by hand which I considered a hobby, but I didn’t realise that because of this, I had a slew of ideation, concepts, and copywriting content already in my notes app and sketch pads, ideas that sat and didn’t have anywhere else to go. My partner who had a marketing background encouraged me one day to try to replicate a poster from the internet in an effort to use the Adobe suite for the first time, and I was hooked. I loved how beyond the steep learning curve ahead of me, any visual outcome felt possible to achieve that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to make by hand. From that point on, I knew that couldn’t be the last time that I engaged with this type of ‘art’ which I now understand was design.

How did you approach your creative response for the scholarship?

The scholarship had a loose requirement - to submit a range of work that best depicts a story or message about who you are. Part of me jumped to thinking I had to pull all of the stops and come up with something new, fresh and undone before, but that felt more artificial than accepting pieces that I had already made, ones that made only because of their insignificance at the time, now being used to showcase who I am and what I make. I gathered art that I made in my daily life, which included a pastry bag drawing series from my slow days at work at the coffee shop and two pieces I made on my own time, turning frustrated instances and realistic themes of working in coffee and the service industry into art. In hindsight, everything that I needed to say was already embedded in the work I was making, I just had to tune into and understand my own narrative in order to present it. Everything that I made and submitted spoke to an experience of service work that otherwise goes unnoticed, and the heart of what I set out to do was reveal the overlooked, and shed light on all angles of human experience through these pieces that were originally for my eyes only. I find it ironic how a series of casual doodles that represented my desire to create in lieu of my circumstances ended up being my entry to the scholarship. My main takeaway was that embracing the truth of what I had already been making was more authentic and worthwhile than trying to manufacture an application-worthy ‘showpiece’.

What was your reaction when you found out you won?

It was a relief finding out that I got the scholarship. I definitely put all of my eggs into this basket at the time and was refreshing my email every few hours leading up to the email, but I knew that regardless of outcome I had to begin taking seriously the desire I had towards a creative career. The fact that I could fully pay for my own extended education on a barista hourly wage felt like the ultimate reward I could give myself.

What did receiving the half-scholarship mean to you personally and professionally?

Receiving the half-scholarship was a wake-up call for me that there were areas of life that lay dormant, awaiting action on my part to open up. Personally, it offered me a great deal of reassurance and confidence starting from scratch, especially as someone who would formerly hesitate about taking on new pursuits or ‘career moves’. Professionally, this scholarship meant that I would have a chance at developing an industry-viable skillset, and was a ‘golden ticket’ of sorts that nudged me to take my interests seriously and understand what perspective I might have to offer and what purpose I could use the program for. It meant that I wouldn’t have to continue settling for work or circumstances that were beside what I wanted to do.

What were the most valuable skills you learned during the course?

The most valuable skill besides becoming familiar with a wide range of design programs, was understanding how to strategically and effectively carry out a design project from start to finish. I try to incorporate the same structure that we used during the course in my freelance projects and now understand the significance of each stage in practice, never short-changing the importance of each deliberate step that builds on the other from brief-in to sending final files. Another skill I took significance in was how to thumbnail and ideate efficiently, how to determine which ideas to move forward with and how to iterate in order to fully flesh out an idea and execute it well.

Where are you now in your career, and how has the scholarship helped you get there?

I am currently a freelancer and junior designer at a small design studio in Reno, Nevada. The scholarship granted me the momentum and opportunity to work on a multitude of projects and broaden my skill set, which when condensed into a portfolio and website, ended up being the catalyst for getting this job before even graduating from the program. I also work part-time at a coffee roastery and am on track to learning how to production roast, which is a pursuit that I can approach by choice due to design work having a more fluid nature to it.

Elise's Packaging project at Shillington, January.

Can you share a project or achievement you’re most proud of since graduating?

Funnily enough, one of the projects I’m most proud of is making a replica of an Otter Pop box for my partner’s birthday, with custom text and illustrations pertaining to them and the occasion. I have always been a birthday gift enthusiast, and it was really satisfying getting to use programs and find die-lines to achieve the results that I wanted.

Otherwise the achievement I’m most proud of since graduating is getting to illustrate a series of coffee bags for a local coffee chain here, which incorporate significant cultural and spiritual themes about each country of origin. It feels very full-circle getting to create assets for coffee products given that my application to the program was also coffee-related.

What would you say to someone considering applying for the half-scholarship?

I would say that if you’re already considering it- you should follow through without second thought.

It always feels like the odds of getting a scholarship are stacked against you, but let the potential of everything working in your favor outweigh your disbelief and see what it might bring.

And last of all, if you could give one piece of advice to future applicants, what would it be?

Whatever you are doing is enough - your approach and ideas are already entirely unique to your perspective -  do the world a favour and take those steps towards sharing your knack with the rest of us.

There has never been more of a need for raw, authentic and new forms of expression to be on full display.

Elise’s journey shows how the Shillington Half Scholarship can open doors, spark confidence, and set the stage for a thriving design career.

Feeling inspired? Our Half Scholarship Program is now open for 2026!

This is your chance to study graphic design at Shillington, build an industry-ready portfolio, and take the leap into a new creative future.

The deadline to apply is 20 October at 5pm EDT.

👉 Apply for the Half Scholarship here