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Golda Grais Portfolio
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HELLO! I'M GOLDA GRAIS.
I'm a graphic designer and writer based in Chicago. I graduated from Scripps College in 2025, where I studied creative writing, digital art, and Spanish. My interests are sundry and my talents are many: photography, animation, video editing, even improv comedy. My past collaborators include screenwriters, illustrators, behavioral science researchers, and musical artists. I also run a music blog on Tumblr, @taste-in-music, which has amassed over 22,000 followers. I have a passion for using my skills to bring the visions of other people to life, and would love to work with you!
VIDEO WORK
FOOD STORIES
Made in collaboration with the illustrator Başak Notz, "Food Stories" animates her childhood memories of eating freshly roasted chestnuts in Turkey. Notz provided the illustrated and filmed materials, and I brought them to life through digital rotoscope and stop motion techniques on Premiere Pro. This video was nominated for the "Social: Single Story/Reel" award at the 60th Annual Competition by The Society of Publication Designers in 2025.
PIECES OF WHAT
My final assignment for a collage class I took in the Fall 2023 semester, "Pieces Of What" integrates the ethos of collage on a poetic and aesthetic level, setting a combination of digital collage and rotoscope animation to a cento of lyrics by the band MGMT.
THRESHOLDS
In 2020, I was commissioned by Thresholds, a mental health care organization in Chicago, to create this animation to promote their employment opportunities.
ROMAN FAMILY CENTER FOR DECISION RESEARCH
This video is one of many I completed while working as a media intern for the Roman Family Center for the Decision Research at the University of Chicago during my gap year in 2020, explaining the center's initiatives to the public through playful whiteboard animation.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
DEVANI CREATIVE DIRECTION
My ongoing collaboration with the band Devani involves developing album artwork, video visuals, photography, and web design. Aesthetically, the band's vision aims to meld bold colors, grungy printed effects, and traditional Indian motifs.
ALTERNATE VIEW VINYL
This vinyl packaging was designed for the album "Alternate View" by The Generations, which involved re-recording the band's original demo tapes from the 1980s. In that spirit, I incorporated several popular aesthetics from that time period when illustrating the cover, including pixel art, the sketchy rotoscope of A-Ha's video for "Take On Me," and Patrick Nagel's vector graphics.
FILM POSTER DESIGN
Both of these posters were created in collaboration with filmmaker John Hayeck in 2024. Accompanying Hayeck's script about two Disney CEOs teaming up for a magical adventure, the poster for "Ride of a Lifetime" was inspired by classic painted film posters and cheesy JCPenny photoshoots. The poster for "FAKES," Hayeck's debut feature about three siblings starting a fake ID business to save their local movie theater, integrates elements of digital painting and collage to emulate the film's zany mystery plot.
SUNDRY POSTER DESIGN
INTERESTED IN MORE MUSIC-INSPIRED DESIGN?
Check out @taste-in-music, my music blog on Tumblr. Since its inception in 2018, Taste In Music has amassed over 22,000 followers and has been fundamental in my development as a designer and writer. Whether it be my year-end lists, semi-monthly zines about my favorite songs at the moment, or edits of my favorite song lyrics on the partner blog @taste-in-lyrics, I bring inspiration from collage and DIY punk publications into the digital realm of social media.
PUBLISHED WRITING
POETRY
"Aubade To a Regrettable Dream" Runestone
"Sump Pump" like a field
"Villain-elle: Death" The (K)nightly Press
"Finally" Pornstar Martini Magazine
"Villain-elle: Hannibal Lecter" Ghost Light Lit
"Villain-elle: Nosferatu," "Villain-elle: Griffith" + Interview Rawhead Journal
"dove to cunt" Exist Otherwise
"I'm Scared of Frogs" Croak
"Edible" After Hours Press
"Villanelle for After I Wake Up, But Before I Open My Eyes" Bi Women Quarterly
"There Has To Be More" Harrow House Journal
"Villanelle From The Mistress Of The Straw House Pig," "Villanelle from the backseat,"
"Whoever you are, you must wait." B O D Y
"I Wanna Tell Everyone I Know I Love You" Up The Staircase Quarterly
"knife body," "Machachi" In Parentheses
"After starting to watch porn at the age of 21," "asphyxia," "In Spite Of Me by Morphine" Pink Disco
"After dancing with a man for the first time at 22 in a club in seville" BarBar
PROSE
"Lament from the Oven" The Mourning Paper
"20-ish Things You Still Want to Do This Summer" The New York Times (featured)
"Feedbacker Mix: April 2025" The Feedbacker
"Feedbacker Mix: March 2025" The Feedbacker
"The Successes of Mike Posner’s 'I Took a Pill In Ibiza (Seeb Remix)'" Scripps College Journal
"Queerness Is A Meme: Why All The Good Social Media Is Gay" Refinery29 (referenced)
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