Julia Collins

Background

About Julia Collins

During college, I spent my summers working in a small fishing village in Bristol Bay along the Egegik river in Alaska. Although this time was not spent working with official design projects or by refining my computer skills, I did walk away from each season with a completely diversified skillset that has propelled my appreciation for sustainability and design. From learning carpentry techniques to help repair the loading docks or working with shipping size restrictions in packing inventory, I came away with inspiration to apply the same level of ingenuity and creativity in my design. Alaska is one of the most remote regions in our entire county and simply flying a plane with materials and supplies is usually out of the question and is conducted on a very regimented basis. From this, the best solution to follow whenever something breaks, is to fix it yourself or to figure out a creative way to achieve your task.Today, we are always so quick to order something with one-touch delivery from Amazon or to just tear it all down and start fresh. There is no beauty or ingenuity in always starting from a clean slate. I strongly believe that the best design comes from the layers of ideas and styles that have previously occupied a space. The idea that something isn’t useful just because it is broken has led to the demise of so many innovative solutions in our modern world. This is why I am interested in creative and sustainable design and I hope to sharpen my knowledge and my experience throughout my career so that I can bring these values into the communities that we live in.