Today's LiveMakeDesign features Alyssa Nassner, an illustrator and designer from Baltimore. 

Alyssa currently works as a textile designer for the company Target however, in her free time she continues to do designing by creating eye catching floral and typographical pieces of design. She received a BFA in illustration from Maryland Institute College of Art when she graduated from there in 2010. 

During her school years Alyssa would spend her time doodling away while she was wanting to become a computer programmer. However, after advice from her parents and school teachers she decided to change her thoughts on her future and go down a more 'creative' route. When she finally went to college she discovered that she was able to pursue a career as an illustrator-something she had never thought about before. 

Since graduating from College, Alyssa has developed her own brand called Small Talk where she has designed her own products such as stationary and digital pieces-although she currently has her shop on hiatus. She has also done some freelance work and has a large variety of clients including Hallmark, Papyrus, Target and American Greetings. She also co-runs a collabrative blog called Ten Paces And Draw.

In Alyssa's work she is mainly inspired by vintage botanical prints, science, nature, and hand-rendered typography. She has also been inspired by other designers such as Brian Ralph and Meg Hunt. Apart from designers, she also tries and gets out into the real world. This helps her get out of her mind and have a fresh perspective on what she has to create. She also creates mood boards and tries to look into her inspiration in different ways to try and get new ideas. 

In her work she will often start of with rough doodles which will be a basic idea that will then be developed further. From her doodles she will then pick one or two that she likes and then draw them up larger with more detail. With the final sketches, she will then scan her illustration into photoshop to make any adjustments that need to be made. On most of her projects she will then print this out and go over her design with the medium which is most suitable for it. She will then once again scan it into photoshop and fill her design in with some colour. However, in some projects she takes the scanned image and works straight in illustrator. 

Recently, Alyssa also participated in the Lila Rogers Global Talent Search Competition. She has also just recently moved and is now living with another illustrator in Philadelphia. 

You can find Alyssa here:

facebook / twitter / blog /website / etsy / society6 / Ten Paces & Draw