BIO

Twenty-three-year-old Olivia Sims works in fashion marketing for a bridal company in Trenton, New Jersey after graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Sims transferred to UIUC to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising from her hometown of New Jersey after graduating from Raritan Valley Collunity College with an Associate degree in Fine Art, studying Graphic & Interactive Design. She balanced being a full-time student with large responsibilities outside academics such as being the Creative Director of Design for The Fashion Network UIUC (Registered Student Organization) and the Art & Design Director for The Circular Fashion Exposition. While studying Advertising, Sims eagerly and consistently put her design knowledge to use for organizations that reflect her interests in fashion and passion for visual communication through design. She’s a highly methodical visionary designer who prefers to immerse herself within the bones of the company, brand, organization, and client with whom she works to help understand the ins and outs and produce work that reflects this close relationship and understanding. 

PHOTOGRAPHY BIOGRAPHY

With an approximate ten years+ of experience, Olivia Sims first expressed interest and began her experimentation with the camera at the age of ten years old by photographing portraits of deer in the woods behind her home. She taught herself the technicalities of the camera while simultaneously developing a strong intuition about the creative process practiced during these initial years of capturing wildlife and landscapes. She spent hours a day alone, even standing within snow storms and hurricanes, teaching herself the practice while formulating approaches tailored to her own personal understanding and preferences. 

In years’ time, Sims shifted from her obsession with the outdoors to photographing friends, family, and herself. Photographing the human figure and working with others was new to her practice. Throughout her teenage years, she continued to strengthen and expand her knowledge by organizing photoshoots for friends. After two years of photography classes in high school, she was pushed to skip two levels after her talent was recognized by a teacher and completed her senior year studying AP 2D Design. It was during this course that introduced Sims to the power of integrating fine art with photography, infusing works with purpose and intention, and solving problems through a variety of creative processes and mindsets. From this time onward, she began consciously and subconsciously connecting herself to her work.

Sims launched her independent photography business at the end of high school (May 2020), where she put her experience in capturing wildlife, landscapes, still life, portraits, and experimental work to use by photographing special occasions and private sessions. From being the photographer for graduations, proms, and ceremonies, Sims has also captured business products, worked one-on-one sessions, and has taken headshots and modeling digitals. 

With a passion for learning approaches to utilize creative intelligence and an interest in visual communication, Olivia Sims is an impassioned multifaceted creator and designer who graduated in May 2022 with an Associate of Fine Arts degree with a focus in Graphic and Interactive Design. She intends to use her knowledge of fine art and design learned through studying for an AFA and experience as a photographer to continue her education by studying Advertising at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, beginning in the Fall of 2022.