Summer might technically be ending, but down south it stays forever hot until late October. In honor of that, my team and I wanted to do a summer-y ice cream shoot with more moody tones and deeper hues.

I wanted a downtown, relaxed, cool-girl feel for this concept. I met our model, Isabella, at a local café called Magpie. I immediately wanted her for the shoot—she had the right vibe and perfect nails for our detail shots of the sherbet.

Our location was the Spanish Moon, a local music venue. The Walls Project, a nonprofit in Baton Rouge, does these amazing murals on the sides of buildings around the capital city. Each is unique and playful with bright colors and interesting shapes. I thought it fit well with our concept—it helped warm the colors in each photo as a composition.

PSA: Don’t try this at home. It gets very messy. We were so sticky and gross after pouring melted sherbet on the white dress and shoes!

Creative Direction: Ashley Monaghan | Photography: Malarie Zaunbrecher | Make-up: Meghan Mcgee | Stylist: Makenzie Godzo

Happy summer! The heat is sweltering, per usual, and all I want to do is take a dip in a pool with a nice, big margarita. Lucky for me, after we shot this, I got to keep the big kiddy pool we bought—so that’s where I’ll be the rest of the summer.

The inspiration from this shoot came from the Solange’s Instagram. I loved the colored water and wanted to incorporate it into a more urban glam shoot.

I always need to have a hint of vintage in everything I do. Time Warp provided the awesome 60’s polka dot bottoms and french floral swim suit, as well as that killer Egyptian tank. I need that in my life, pronto.

We gave the ladies complimentary cocktails that matched their distinctive color schemes. Vanessa, our pink lady, and Sydney, our tropical warm-hued goddess. I loved the way these two different themes looked next to each other.

You can try this at home, too. Just buy food coloring and mix the primary colors until you have a shade you want to splash in!

Creative Direction: Ashley Monaghan | Photography: Malarie Zaunbrecher | Make-up: Meghan Mcgee | Stylist: Makenzie Godzo | Clothing: Time Warp | Swimsuits are from Ashley‘s closet

The idea for this photo shoot came to me out of nowhere. Hours after seeing the image on the top right of the moodboard, a shot from the 2015 W Mag Movie Issue, I was researching Picasso’s work and different make-up techniques inspired by his work.

Fun fact: One week after we shot, Picasso’s Woman of Algiers painting broke the record of most expensive painting to sell at auction, going for $160 million. I love when things turn out to be unexpectedly relevant!

I wanted to take this concept in a much different direction from our last feature, Glitter Mania. The focus would be portrait shots to showcase elaborate make-up. We would create a specific scene by shooting it in a studio, with no distractions.

Each model had a specific theme and color scheme. I wanted to pull colors from Picasso’s work—bright and rich blues, greens, reds, oranges and yellows. I love how direct and purposeful his work is, no matter how elaborate, and I wanted to explore how you could break his harsh and direct lines down on a real human face.

I took some later inspiration from a small Snapchat / Tumblr trend inspired by Steph, #burntpicasso. The whole idea of making yourself a piece of art makes me warm inside. Have a great rest of the week!

Creative Direction: Ashley Monaghan | Photography: Malarie Zaunbrecher | Make-up: Meghan Mcgee | Stylist: Makenzie Godzo | Clothing: Time Warp

Hello Internet, I’m so excited to join the Ciera Design blog as a contributor! My name is Ashley O’Neill, a New Orleans native and current PR student at LSU. I spend my days working and playing between NOLA and BR. My creative team and I are planning to bring you one photo series a month inspired by a graphic or images found in the depths of the world wide web.

The inspiration for this Graphic Love series came from one of my favorite bloggers, DESIGNLOVEFEST. I love her Hand Drawn Love series, in which one of her contributors finds an image and creates a graphic based off of it. I wanted to do the same, but with photography using physical models, objects and other elements rather than graphic design.

We hope you enjoy!

After seeing the top right image of Italian brand Erika Cavallini’s Fall 2015 couture show, my mind immediately started brainstorming ways to incorporate the color scheme and two main elements into a photoshoot. Inspired by sequins, glitter, 70’s waves and Twiggy’s lined-eyes, I imagined a blonde girl with these features in a long purple sequin shift dress.

Location scouting led us to Fleur De Lis Pizza, a cocktail bar turned pizza parlor. The coloring and shape of the building were a fantastic compliment to the rich purples and muted tones of our model’s hair.

To connect the two ideas of glittered/painted fingers and a pizza parlor, I decided to get a little quirky and imaginative. I ordered a pizza, let it dry out, and spray painted it lavender. Shortly after we drowned it in glitter!

Here you have it! Our blonde bombshell—the anti-prom-queen—gorging herself on pizza and cocktails to cure her never-ending teen angst.

Creative Direction/Styling: Ashley O’Neill | Photography: Malarie Zaunbrecher | Make-up: Meghan Magee | Model: Lacey Berggren | Clothing: Time Warp