Bring the world
to you

May 2021

Destination Art Prints is a fun collaboration between illustrator Erica Walt and Julia Natoli from Laze Away Travel.

The collaboration was born out of the desire to bring a piece of the world home and turn travel stories into art – a perfect idea while travel is restricted during COVID times.

Destination Art Prints’ debut collection ‘Vacanza’ features three iconic destinations, each inspired by a personal travel story.

Everly chats to Erica and Julia to find out how these two creative souls teamed up in Sydney to bring endearing travel memories to life and keep the passion for travel alive.

Can you give us a little background on how this collaboration came about and what inspired it? 

Destination Art Prints came to fruition during the 2020 pandemic. It was inspired by the desire to travel, and to bring a piece of the world into people’s homes. With travel changing as we know it, Laze Away Travel wanted to keep people’s travel bug alive, and that’s when the collaboration with Erica Walt Designs began.

Having meet via Mia Freeman’s Lady Startup Activation Plan, it was a natural fit for both of us. Combining Erica’s design skills and iconic travel stories from Laze Away Travel, Destination Art Prints was born. From there, we launched the ‘Vacanza’ collection which included three iconic destinations (Positano, Paris and Athens) of originally designed prints. All made and designed in Australia!

In this new world we’re living in, why was it important to offer something that could bring joy to people’s lives from the comfort of their home?

Destination Art Prints exists as a brand purely because we want to keep our uniquely Australian desire of travel alive in people’s homes.  We want to inspire people, and ignite their travel bug every time they look at our original prints. Or remind them of any memories they have shared in the iconic destinations. We want to make people feel good through these colourful and modern prints.

Your debut collection Vacanza celebrates three gorgeous locations – why did you choose them and was it easy to settle on these three?

Our collection ‘Vacanza’ was inspired by European summer holidays and that sense of carefree-ness and paradise they evoke in us. Each iconic destination was chosen via travel stories told by Laze Away Travel. It was very difficult to decide on three destinations, however we found Positano, Paris and Athens to be iconic for our first collection. Each place is unique in their own way and each print has a story behind them.

What’s the creative process like for coming up with the designs?

It was a process of deciding on the destinations, then both of us being creatively on the same page! Erica is uber talented, and was able to visualise each of the travel stories behind the destinations so vividly.

What are some of the valuable lessons you’ve learnt in your small business endeavours? 

Quite a few, and we’re still learning as we go! It hasn’t been as easy as we thought launching an e-commerce store, that’s for sure. However, our collaboration and creative process has been a really fun experience. We have been able to combine our skills and create a product we are both proud of, and hope people love too.

What’s the best thing about being a part of the Lady Startup movement across Australia?

The best part is the support and the opportunity to collaborate and create something great – which is what we have been able to achieve. It can be challenging and daunting having a business idea and then executing it, but with the Lady Startup community behind you, you feel you can achieve anything!

How would you like to see Destination Art Prints evolve? 

We would love to see Destination Art Prints evolve into more collections, and create prints of other iconic destinations. Hopefully we catch the eye of someone that can help elevate our collaboration to the next level.

What’s your favourite travel memory?

Julia: My favourite travel memory would be in Positano. One night my husband and I stumbled across a piazza with a live band and locals dancing in the street. It was so infectiously fun. Most tourists had left the town for the night, and locals were having a great time. As they say in Italy, they were living La Dolce Vita.

Erica: It’s very hard to choose a favourite so I will go with my first travel memory that instilled a life-long travel bug in me. It was my first trip to Paris with my family as a teenager. I remember being in awe of the historical buildings and art on almost every corner, and of course, the food! I was in heaven eating baguettes with brie and goats cheese, crêpes suzette, steak frites and soufflé every day, not even to mention all the wonderful pastries.

For more information about the gorgeous limited edition fine art prints, check out the Destination Art Prints website or their Instagram page.

You can also find Destination Art Prints featured in the pages of Everly Issue 2.