Marie Valencia’s first house illustration – with signature pet – started out as a leaving present to the owner of an Eden Terrace villa where she lived for two years.
“Bubu [the dog] was always there, so it seemed logical to include her.” Now the 25-year-old graphic designer is preserving historic homes and their pampered pooches all around the inner city.
She uses a technique called vector illustration – rather than pixels or dots that can distort when enlarged, points form lines to create a sharper, crisper finish, explains Marie.
Illustrations and design work are only a sideline to her real love – photography. “I’d stay up late for it… even go to Japan.” Which is exactly what she did for four weeks at the start of the year, capturing images of snow-covered landscapes, many by drone.
Marie moved to New Zealand from the Philippines as a 14-year-old with her parents and two brothers and graduated from Raffles College of Design in 2014. She’s had a fulltime job as a designer for the last two years but the increasing demands for freelance work meant extra long hours, so she recently launched herself as an independent designer. “Now I can work anywhere!” She’s still based in Eden Terrace, but last week Marie was in Napier then Nelson shooting images for a hotel company.
