Simona Bortis-Schultz is an art director, designer, illustrator, and educator. Her client experience has included advertising, branding and marketing work for national and international clients such as Adidas, Alvin Ailey, Beekman 1802, Blue Q, Pitney Bowes, Nike, and Scholastic Education among others. Having established her design studio, Figure 8, in 2007, she has amassed client work for a range of clients both regionally and globally which have included: APIThinking, The Austen Riggs Center, Callisto Media, Clover Living, Creative Communication Associates/Noodle, The Guthrie Center, Nomad Coworks, Pacific Retail Capital Partners, The Portland Stamp Company, and Storey Publishing.

Simona has received numerous awards for art direction, design and illustration both nationally and internationally including: Communication Arts Illustration Annual 2022 (short list), AIGA Upstate NY State of Design, Print Magazine’s Design Annual, FABRICA/Benetton Workshop in Treviso, Italy, The Portland Creative Conference's Rosey Awards, and AIGA Best of Oregon Traveling Design Exhibition.

Ms. Bortis-Schultz earned a double Bachelor of Arts in Advertising and Visual Design, from the University of Oregon. She has recently garnered a Masters of Fine Art, October 2022, from The Vermont College of Fine Art in graphic design, working with acclaimed design critics, Natalia Ilyin and Ian Lynam. Simona’s thesis work consisting of research, exhibition and writing, revolves around Women’s Work: The Semiotics of the Romanian Blouse. The Romanian folk garment’s symbols echo Neolithic beginnings as protective signs that chant of preservation, fortitude and survival. Forging ahead and continuing to this day to create a momentous canon of design that unveils the power of the feminine and an unwavering, anthem of resilience.

Ms. Bortis-Schultz’s personal work focuses on capturing the magic of visual narrative per community and commercial projects involving supergraphics, surface design, motion design, and any other available mediums. It is Ms. Bortis-Schultz’s wish that more sensitive, mindful, aesthetic experiences could be delivered through visual communication – that graphic design can contribute to creating brighter, more engaged worlds, experiences and communities.