what do you see?

what do you see?

Empathetic Expressionist artist & illustrative designer

Hi! My name is Allison Heistand-Phelps, owner/artist/designer who owns and operates inkblottr.

My mission is to create art, design, creative, and illustration that speak to your soul and evoke your story's essence.

I believe in the healing power of art and accessible design, and my designs are crafted to bring comfort, inspiration, and empowerment.

With a background in visual arts, psychology, and a decade of experience as a mental health professional and art therapist, I've mastered the art of combining aesthetics with compassion.

My designs hold the potential to reflect your most sincere emotions and passions, whether you're a brand looking to connect with a diverse and inclusive audience or an individual seeking art that resonates with your experiences.

I am more than a design service—consider me your creative partner.

Let's collaborate to make your vision a reality.

Explore the world of inkblottr, where your story becomes art.

work

  • An illustrative design of an underwater paradise with a marquee on a movie theater. It reads "greetings from CinemaQ", "you belong here". Green bubbly background with pink theater.

    foster a sense of belonging & community

    I created this illustrative design and slogan as part of my work as Denver Film’s sole graphic designer, for Colorado’s only LGBTQIA2S+ film festival to foster a sense of belonging, safety, and community through color psychology and the imagery I chose.

  • Women+Film Festival logo. Blue embroidered background with logo on top with a woman silhouetted with a video camera in profile; purple in color. Women+Film Festival is written in a handwritten cursive font, red and blue. Denver Film logo in corner.

    good design honors the heroines and heroes in the arts and throughout history.

    Inspired by how women used to stitch together film reels and traditional art of women, this design was inspired by embroidery.

  • Inked art of hourglass with Walls by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on and around it. Inside the hourglass's top part, a winter scene with a brick house heart breaking open releasing a nude woman falling into bottom with woman catching her in sea.

    good design tells a story.

    This project was a lyrical interpretation of the song “Walls” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and the simultaneous heartbreak and hope it emotes.

  • Ink and watercolor illustration of a wave turning into a rabbit. Red circular background with rice paper. It reads "Colorado Dragon Boat Film Fest" and "March 9-12,2022| celebrating our stories"

    good design is powered by listening and research

    In my work at Denver Film, I created this illustrative design for the CO Dragon Boat Film Festival in 2023. I listened to and asked questions with the executive director of Colorado Dragon Boat to get an idea of what she was envisioning for this Year of the Water Rabbit, and paired this with research into popular art forms and mediums within the AAPI community, such as combining ink, watercolor, and calligraphy.

  • Logo of a white modern ampersand on top of three interlocking translucent speech bubbles in red, blue, and yellow. Together they create purple, green, and orange.

    good design is inclusive.

    Incorporating the wishes of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) Board, I created their logo for their DEI initiative in 2021. The inspiration was the power of the beauty and the unique voices heard when DEI is prioritized and advocated for in the arts. Voices coming from different individuals (primary colors) create new colors together (secondary). In addition, I wanted this logo to speak to intersectionality.

  • A green zombie hand emerging from the graveyard dirt holding a pencil. It says Design Slam in red drippy font. Full moon with witch on broom silhouetted. Tombstones are in ground.

    good design is playful.

    This event poster design for the annual 2021 AIGA Design Slam, Denver chapter, incorporated the requested theme of horror due to it occurring around Halloween. I was inspired by vintage film posters of the horror genre.

  • Mockup of two black and white zines with the left one being open to a spread that says "What's in Season?" with list of produce and illustrations. It says "spring/summer" on the other one with the Empire Gardens logo on it that I designed.

    good design is direct & teaches you something new organically

    Zine/publication design for visual brand identity system

    Empire Gardens

    *Award-winning team: Ad Club of Colorado’s winner in The Fifty Awards.

  • Medusa with red snake hair and a snake wrapped around her shoulders looks at you and her hand is by her face.

    good illustrative design is empowering and uses the female gaze.

    I did a deep dive into feminist interpretations of the Greek myth of Medusa to illustrate the story using the female gaze and honoring her power and resilience.

  • GIF of white line drawing of Ringo Starr of the Beatles bobblehead moving his head on a black background with a white frame.

    magic happens when we explore.

    In this motion design project, I used research, brand standards, and illustrative design to bring to life elements of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts. I explored Adobe After Effects and still do, always learning and exploring with Adobe.

view Allison's portfolio

services

Illustrative Design

PRINT & DIGITAL SERVICES

  • Cover art (music, publications, films, etc.)

  • Brand Visual Identity (logo, colors, fonts, patterns, textures, brand kit & guide)

  • Social media content creation

  • Motion design (music videos, GIFs, TV & Youtube videos, commercials, etc.)

  • Publication design (layout design, zines, brochures, books)

  • Vector art (portraits, illustrations, patterns, etc.)

  • Event (signage, advertisements, social media, badges, motion/video design, creative activation ideas, etc.)

Illustration & Custom Art

Prerequisite consultation

Mediums & Skills

  • Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, AfterEffects, Acrobat, Premiere Pro, etc.)

  • Watercolor

  • Gouache

  • Ink

  • Graphite/pencil

  • Colored Pencil

  • Collage

  • Mixed Media

  • Motion Design/Animation

  • Symbol Amplification

  • Trauma-Informed art & design

  • Accessible design

  • Design thinking

about

Hi! I’m Allison Heistand-Phelps, the Illustrative Designer behind inkblottr. In my experience as an art therapist, I empowered clients to express and embrace their most intimate emotions, thoughts, and life experiences through an array of artistic mediums.

I learned their visual languages and how people communicate through symbolism, color, line, and form. Now as a visually-multilingual, empathic, and creative illustrative designer, I offer services in graphic design and illustration and a hybrid of the two.

My communication skills and intuitive understanding of human psychology allow me to empathize deeply with viewers, thus enabling me to guide and evoke their responses in alignment with their personal aspirations, needs, and desires.

It is my mission to visually forge powerful connections and inspire narratives with individuals, offering them profound experiences that resonate with their innermost selves.

Formal Education

BFA, Illustrative Design
Rocky Mountain College of Art+Design, Denver, CO

MA, Transpersonal Counseling Psychology, Concentration in Art Therapy
Naropa University, Boulder, CO

BA, Visual Art & Psychology, Concentration in Transpersonal & Humanistic Psychology
Naropa University, Boulder, CO

follow along

  • Barbie rollerskating past Dreamhouse, Oppenheimer's silhouette in pink against a background of a black-and-white mushroom cloud. Juxtaposed illustrations with vintage magazine feel.
  • Portrait of Allison, dark blonde hair with bangs, blue eyes, white, red scarf.
  • Black Rorschach inkblot with perceivable interpretation as a butterfly or fairy. "inkblottr" is in a sans serif below.
follow inkblottr.design on instagram

what do you envision?

what do you envision?

Contact

If you’re curious about working together, or for any creative collaboration opportunities, write me a message.