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Julian Villanueva

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For other people named Julian Villanueva, see Julian Villanueva (disambiguation).
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  • A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (August 2026)
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Julian Villanueva
Monochrome identity photograph of Villanueva, rotated 90 degrees
Villanueva (undated)
Personal details
Born2004 (age 21–22)
Ulefoss, Telemark, Norway
NationalityNorwegian, Filipino
OccupationCreative, art director
EducationHøyskolen Kristiania
SkillsPhotoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Figma, Claude Code
Years active2020–present
Known forIdentity, campaign and digital design
Notable workSee § Works
WebsiteOfficial website
Experience
2026–Creative lead intern, GRIN
2025Executive producer, Gullkalven
2024–Creative associate, Uttrykk Oslo
2024–25Partner and creative, Lumière EntArt
2024Creative intern, Døgn
2022–23Co-founder and CEO, Tellus UB
2020–Freelance creative, self-employed

Julian Villanueva is a Norwegian creative and art director working across identity, campaign material and digital design. Born in 2004 in Ulefoss, a small village in Telemark, Villanueva grew up among silkscreen carousel presses, and has cited the rotation of a four-colour carousel as a formative influence.[4] As of 2026, they study art direction at Høyskolen Kristiania, colloquially known as Westerdals.[2] Villanueva has been described as among the most promising creatives of their generation.[citation needed]

Villanueva takes projects from concept to finished delivery, and their working method has been characterised as structured, self-directed and detail-oriented.[1]

Works[edit]

Selected works.

YearWorkContextNotes
2026Å drepe et barnClientPoster, title design
2026COLTClientBook design, blind deboss
2026Duolingo TrafficStudentD&AD New Blood case
2026EnclaveClientLogo, brand identity
2026Mannen som døde ståendeClientEP cover
2025Arif & Stig SommerturneClientOfficial tour graphics
2025Oustøen Country ClubClientEvent identity, merchandise
2025Peoples FortuneClientLookbook, campaign art direction
2024Spekter x Munch x ArifClientEvent identity, promo

Å drepe et barn (2026)[hide]

Poster and title design for Å drepe et barn, a short film directed by Willy Fermelin at the Norwegian Film School. The title card was animated for the film's opening.

poster
Fig. 1 — poster
Fig. 2 — title card
Fig. 3 — name card, Albert
Fig. 4 — cast credits

COLT (2026)[hide]

Book design for Colt by Niklas Zaborowski (2026), a photographic volume drawn from the author's archive 2023–2025. Designed with Arif Salum.

The volume is bound in white textured leather; the title, the author's name and a single cartridge illustration are blind-debossed, one to each face of the book. Interior spreads set small plates on white, with chapter numerals and four-digit plate numbers; excerpts from Zaborowski's notebooks are interleaved with the photographs.

cover
Fig. 5 — cover
spine
Fig. 6 — spine
interior, title page
Fig. 7 — interior, title page
interior, notebook excerpt
Fig. 8 — interior, notebook excerpt
interior, chapter 01
Fig. 9 — interior, chapter 01
interior, chapter 02
Fig. 10 — interior, chapter 02
interior, chapter 04
Fig. 11 — interior, chapter 04

Duolingo Traffic (2026)[hide]

Student case for the D&AD New Blood brief for Duolingo, created with Sigurd: Duolingo Traffic, a feature inside the app that teaches Norwegian road rules to visiting drivers through the same gamified format as the language courses. Presented as a two-minute case film and a one-page board.

Fig. 12 — case film
board, problem & insight
Fig. 13 — board, problem & insight
board, idea
Fig. 14 — board, idea
board, execution
Fig. 15 — board, execution
board, outro
Fig. 16 — board, outro

Enclave (2026)[hide]

Logo and identity for Enclave, a clothing label founded by the footballer Antonio Nusa and friends. The mark appears across the label's first collection, photographed at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Boston.

Nusa in the first collection
Fig. 17 — Nusa in the first collection
mark
Fig. 18 — mark
first collection, back
Fig. 19 — first collection, back
world cup, boston
Fig. 20 — world cup, boston
Fig. 21 — logo animation

Mannen som døde stående (2026)[hide]

Cover art for Mannen som døde stående, an EP by the Norwegian artist Arif, released in 2026.

cover
Fig. 22 — cover

Arif & Stig Sommerturne (2025)[hide]

Official tour graphics for Arif and Stig's 2025 summer tour — eight dates across Norway, from Landstreff Stavanger in May to Festningen in Trondheim in August. Each stop received its own set of slides, printed and rescanned; the dates sheet opens the series, with additional material from Cannes and pre-production.

tour dates
Fig. 23 — tour dates
cannes
Fig. 24 — cannes
landstreff stavanger
Fig. 25 — landstreff stavanger
vaulen
Fig. 26 — vaulen
hjertebank
Fig. 27 — hjertebank
stavern
Fig. 28 — stavern
findings
Fig. 29 — findings
preprod
Fig. 30 — preprod

Oustøen Country Club (2025)[hide]

Identity for the Young Invitational 2025 at Oustøen Country Club. A laurelled crest anchors the programme, applied across pennants, jacquard towels, a zinc-alloy ball marker and canvas tote bags.

crest
Fig. 31 — crest
pennants
Fig. 32 — pennants
ball marker
Fig. 33 — ball marker
tote bags
Fig. 34 — tote bags

Peoples Fortune (2025)[hide]

Lookbook for the clothing label Peoples Fortune, produced by Uttrykk Oslo. Villanueva shared campaign art direction with Mattias Solberg; photography by Simen Sjølund. The photographs stage the label's trousers in a bare concrete interior furnished with a mattress, an antique mirror and a garment rack, alongside product details and studio looks.

campaign
Fig. 35 — campaign
portrait
Fig. 36 — portrait
campaign, two models
Fig. 37 — campaign, two models
overhead
Fig. 38 — overhead
reclining figure
Fig. 39 — reclining figure
studio look
Fig. 40 — studio look
studio look, black tee
Fig. 41 — studio look, black tee
label detail
Fig. 42 — label detail
back pocket
Fig. 43 — back pocket
waist detail
Fig. 44 — waist detail
still life
Fig. 45 — still life

Spekter x Munch x Arif (2024)[hide]

Identity and promotional material for Spekter × Munch × Arif, the closing event of the Arif at Munch exhibition, held at MUNCH in Oslo on 28 November 2024. The lockup splices a blackletter-flamed Spekter wordmark through the museum's own; the halftoned portrait of Arif carries the poster and banner.

poster
Fig. 46 — poster
banner
Fig. 47 — banner
wordmark
Fig. 48 — wordmark
Fig. 49 — promo video

Archive[edit]

11 concept works and unrealised proposals, retained for the record. [show]

Krokodiles (2024)[show]

ep cover
Fig. 50 — ep cover
single cover, frontline
Fig. 51 — single cover, frontline

CPHconcept (2023)[show]

wordmark
Fig. 52 — wordmark
stars
Fig. 53 — stars
side 1
Fig. 54 — side 1
side 2
Fig. 55 — side 2
bag
Fig. 56 — bag

ASICS[show]

asics2
Fig. 57 — asics2
asics3
Fig. 58 — asics3
asics4
Fig. 59 — asics4
asics logo2
Fig. 60 — asics logo2
halftoner by studio 2am
Fig. 61 — halftoner by studio 2am
study
Fig. 62 — study

Borealis[show]

artboard 1
Fig. 63 — artboard 1
artboard 2
Fig. 64 — artboard 2
artboard 3
Fig. 65 — artboard 3
artboard 4
Fig. 66 — artboard 4
artboard 5
Fig. 67 — artboard 5
artboard 6
Fig. 68 — artboard 6
artboard 10
Fig. 69 — artboard 10
borealis oransje apparel
Fig. 70 — borealis oransje apparel
green gradient
Fig. 71 — green gradient
l.a. apparel 1807gd
Fig. 72 — l.a. apparel 1807gd
logos
Fig. 73 — logos
mockupcorpo borealis
Fig. 74 — mockupcorpo borealis
smoke
Fig. 75 — smoke
star gazer
Fig. 76 — star gazer
vintage zip up hoodie
Fig. 77 — vintage zip up hoodie
visor
Fig. 78 — visor

C4[show]

c4
Fig. 79 — c4
c4 blue
Fig. 80 — c4 blue
c4 evian
Fig. 81 — c4 evian
c4 mag
Fig. 82 — c4 mag
c4 mag 2
Fig. 83 — c4 mag 2
c4 mag 3
Fig. 84 — c4 mag 3
c4 tee 1
Fig. 85 — c4 tee 1
c4 tee 2
Fig. 86 — c4 tee 2
c4 tv
Fig. 87 — c4 tv
seefour
Fig. 88 — seefour

Clamor[show]

artboard 1
Fig. 89 — artboard 1
artboard 2
Fig. 90 — artboard 2
artboard 3
Fig. 91 — artboard 3
artboard 5
Fig. 92 — artboard 5
artboard 8
Fig. 93 — artboard 8

Force of Nature[show]

cd cover force of nature
Fig. 94 — cd cover force of nature
force of nature logo rage
Fig. 95 — force of nature logo rage
force of nature marlboro
Fig. 96 — force of nature marlboro
force of nature ps2 cd
Fig. 97 — force of nature ps2 cd
force of nature, bgw
Fig. 98 — force of nature, bgw
force of nature, poster
Fig. 99 — force of nature, poster
force of nature,type blue
Fig. 100 — force of nature,type blue

HeavenHasClaws[show]

21
Fig. 101 — 21
213
Fig. 102 — 213
artboard 1
Fig. 103 — artboard 1
artboard 2
Fig. 104 — artboard 2
artboard 3
Fig. 105 — artboard 3
artboard 4
Fig. 106 — artboard 4
artboard 5
Fig. 107 — artboard 5
artboard 6
Fig. 108 — artboard 6
artboard 8
Fig. 109 — artboard 8
artboard 9
Fig. 110 — artboard 9
artboard 10
Fig. 111 — artboard 10
chrome crown2
Fig. 112 — chrome crown2
chrome crown
Fig. 113 — chrome crown

HumanNature[show]

artboard 1
Fig. 114 — artboard 1
artboard 2
Fig. 115 — artboard 2
artboard 3
Fig. 116 — artboard 3
artboard 5
Fig. 117 — artboard 5
artboard 6
Fig. 118 — artboard 6
artboard 7
Fig. 119 — artboard 7
billboard mockup 19
Fig. 120 — billboard mockup 19
vintage tee mockup b
Fig. 121 — vintage tee mockup b
vintage tee mockup f
Fig. 122 — vintage tee mockup f

Kappa[show]

darkhill
Fig. 123 — darkhill
kappa test 1
Fig. 124 — kappa test 1
test
Fig. 125 — test
valley2
Fig. 126 — valley2
valley
Fig. 127 — valley

Puma[show]

dbd
Fig. 128 — dbd
puma logo
Fig. 129 — puma logo
puma
Fig. 130 — puma

Career[edit]

Two people at night beside a yellow deposit bin used as a standing desk, with a laptop and a tray of chips on top
Villanueva (right) at work in Oslo (undated)

Villanueva has worked independently as a creative since 2020.[3] In 2022 they co-founded Tellus UB, a youth-run media agency in Skien providing filming, photography and graphic design, and served as its chief executive officer until 2023. The agency's clients included the Indian steel producer Tata Steel.[3]

Villanueva standing in a bedroom among candles, bottles and photographs, in a social media post captioned 'Every night i pray my laptop will break so i can chill for a few days'
Villanueva in a photograph circulated on social media (undated)

After an internship at the Oslo agency Døgn in early 2024, Villanueva was a partner and creative at Lumière EntArt, a multidisciplinary design studio, from 2024 to 2025.[3] Since September 2024 they have also been a creative associate at Uttrykk Oslo, a creative production agency in the Nora Collective group. In 2025 they served as executive producer of Gullkalven.[3]

As of April 2026, Villanueva is a creative lead intern at the Oslo agency GRIN.[3] They continue to accept freelance commissions.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Former colleagues and collaborators (2026). Interviews. References available upon request.
  2. ^ Villanueva, J. (2026). Correspondence. See § External links.
  3. ^ Villanueva, J. Self-reported employment history. LinkedIn. (primary source)
  4. ^ Villanueva, J. (2026). Childhood recollections. The carousel in question printed four colours. The village has been described as "small" by all available sources.
  5. ^ This claim awaits an independent source.