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Josie Simmons lives and works in the south of England. She is a Falmouth University graduate, with a BA Hons in Visual Communication. After working in the fashion industry, Josie developed a love of design. With storytelling at the core of her practice, her most recent projects focus on narrative, sequence, and editorial design. Josie explores themes and areas of interest through extensive research, using a huge variety of resources, experiences, conversations, and empathy. Throughout all projects, she aims to infuse ingenuity into final outcomes. Josie is one part of Effete, a multidisciplinary feminist studio dedicated to shaping visual narratives involving women. Founded and led by three creative women, the studio encompasses art direction, photography, design, film, interaction and installations to tell impactful and meaningful stories. 

 Editorial   Collage   Contact








Imprinted Nostalgia [Remember this?] is a zine exploring the layered memory of Y2K culture through cyanotypes printed on acetate. The book reveals forgotten influences behind the trend as readers interact with transparent pages, using paper inserts to uncover obscured images. Hand-bound with nods to 90s rave and scrapbook aesthetics, it invites reflection on how nostalgia is constructed. 
→ Zine/Imprinted Nostalgia [Remember This?]
The following collection of collages is part of a project exploring female fantasy within the themes of escapism and nostalgia. 
→ Collage/Female Fantasy
“Fantasy and reality often overlap - especially for women who have always had to imagine  a different world in order to survive this one.” - Margaret Attwood
→ Zine/Female Fantasy 

In this project, I have curated and explored female perspectives to delve into the intersections of fantasy, nostalgia, and escapism. Through a process combining image research, collaboration, image-making, and careful curation, I have investigated how these themes manifest visually and emotionally from the female gaze. Rather than imposing rigid definitions, the work responds intuitively to how female and female-presenting individuals experience and express softness, longing, desire, and power within imaginative spaces. By engaging with both found and created imagery, the project has allowed for layered, multifaceted storytelling, where meaning emerges organically through visual narratives and multiple perspectives. The final outcome reflects a nuanced exploration of fantasy as a space for reflection, expression, and emotional resonance.
→ Artist Book/Female Fantasy 
I’ve explored bookbinding through workshops and want to develop this further alongside editorial design, creating publications that are both visually engaging and tactilely immersive.
→ Bookbinding
I created a playful matchbox portfolio containing a folded zine to share when networking. Compact and tactile, it provides a clear overview of my work, while allowing me to experiment with scale, format, and the interactive experience of a miniature publication.

→ Matchbox Portfolio
Collage serves as a tool for constructing narrative, guided by an editorial and found imagery. This work focuses on visual storytelling through the careful curation and composition of imagery.


→ Collage works 
I’m working on a new series using a Kodak Brownie box camera that my Nan recently passed down to me during her house clear out. With it, I am photographing the moment my generation moves into our first homes — a stage of life filled with both excitement and uncertainty, supported by the older generation who prepare for change in their own lives.

The project reflects on the passing down of objects, stories, and experiences between generations. We don’t know what this outcome will look like, and personal research is letting the project take form. The project is alive, unfolding, and rooted in exploration. It is intended as a keepsake for me and my partner - a way to hold onto this moment in our lives - that reaches other people with its sentimental value.