Interview by Marie Kinovich

Marie, you have completed your courses at Projector. What is your attitude towards alternative education? There is an opinion that over time, courses in creative and digital specialties will supplant universities in general. Do you agree with this?

In addition to courses at Projector, I graduated from Mohylanka, and this was one of my best decisions. I do not agree that the university will completely replace specialized courses, because it is impossible to master a business well in 2-3 months. In addition, it is difficult to compare, I did not study at a specialized university. However, I heard from my colleagues that the form of education at universities is outdated, they are cut off from the real world.

The same Projector is now launching courses for six months to a year, that is, the founders understand that more time is required for a thorough education. Perhaps later they will even introduce a bachelor's degree :)

Complete the sentence: the profession of an illustrator is ...

Choice. Colors, technique, material, idea, customer. If you are an illustrator, you constantly choose something for yourself.

There is a distinct personal style in your work. How did you come to your style?

I honestly don’t think I came to any particular style. I just do as I do :)

The point is that in illustrator circles there are two ways of looking at portfolios. First: you are looking for your own author's style, and, accordingly, your portfolio is formed only from works in one "your" style. Second, you demonstrate different styles and techniques to prove your versatility. There are good arguments for each of these thoughts: some art directors are looking for a station wagon, others, on the contrary, order exclusively in your style. So I came to the profession of an illustrator and I think: what is the right way? It turned out that there was no right answer. Everyone chooses his own - for example, I am more impressed with working in different styles.

Tell us about the difficulties that arise when working with an illustrator and a client. Have you ever had a situation when the client categorically did not like the developed sketches? How did you solve this problem?

Anything happened! Once a client came to me with an order for illustrations in my style. I'm getting started: the first iteration of the sketches is not right. The second, third iteration is the same. I generally react calmly to any edits, but this was the first time I almost burst into tears. Then it turned out that people wanted a completely different style, but for some reason they compared it with mine. The customer's first problem is that they don't know what they want. And the second - they cannot explain what they want.

There was also a situation when I was asked to make an edit, but I decided not to make it, as I realized that it was important to me. And she refused the order.

Your activity is very versatile: literature for children and adults, social and educational projects. In which area do you enjoy your work the most and why?

Something new. It is interesting to try different things, but the thrill is probably the most when you get something printed, material. From what I have not done yet, but want - socks and fabrics.

You are a person with a high level of social responsibility. In particular, sorting garbage and draw the attention of others to this problem. And also you are a co-founder of the White Space coworking space at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, where there is a pleasant atmosphere and stylish interior. How did you come up with the idea of ​​creating "White Space", and how did you manage to create a high-level coworking space on a non-commercial basis?

This is our project with my friend Galya Osadcha, with whom we worked together in the Art workshop & ldquo; Mezzanine & rdquo; in Mogilyanka. After completing the bachelor's degree, we did not yet know what we wanted to do in life. But the topic of Mogilyanka was very sore. The university has a Cultural and Art Center on Ilyinsky Street - a gray, monolithic building. There is a gallery in which a super-soviet corridor led: pink walls, slabs, trees & rsquo; wood panels and ficus. It turns out that a person who goes to the gallery goes through some kind of transit.

We decided that something had to be done about this: to turn the corridor into a space where we could spend time. The head of the creative workshop Igor Tsikura supported us, and this is how this adventure began.

Did you essentially do it together?

Yes. But we called in volunteers, friends and parents helped us.

Where did you get the money?

We did a little fundraising and raised one thousand and three. We bought 300 pallets in Poznyaki to make furniture out of them. By the way, they cost 100 UAH, and delivery - 200 :) We polished and painted them ourselves, and our manager collected all the rest of the furniture - he is generally a jack of all trades.

It turned out great! We supported this space on our own for a year, but the problem of Mogilyanka is that you cannot engage in commercial activities on its territory. This means that we could neither monetize this coworking nor improve it, except perhaps through charitable contributions. And students are not a segment that could make large donations.

You cannot just take and change the charter of an institution, this is a very difficult procedure. This situation, of course, depressed me. Then I went to work, and I was no longer able to maintain the space. Galya remained there for some time, until she also began to go about her business. Now students are engaged in the White Space. I will not say that coworking has embodied all the fantasies that I would put into it, but it is as it is: this is the moment when desires do not correspond to reality, which dictates its own conditions. You can go against them, change something, but somewhere there is a limit. Further, you either let go of the project and move on, or you hold on to it. I let go.

In your portfolio - projects about body positivity, feminism, even transgender and women of taboo professions. How is it to create illustrations on such controversial topics?

I was lucky! I personally have not encountered strong negative feedback, on the contrary, I received a lot of positive feedback.

But there are difficulties in working in such projects. For example, when I was doing a book on feminism, there was a section on the interaction of feminism, nationalism and religion. And it was a delicate moment, so as not to offend someone's religious feelings or political preferences, otherwise, in the first place, the author and the publisher will suffer. In moments like this, you feel responsible and realize that it is better to portray a more neutral metaphor. And the situation with the edits, which I described earlier, concerns body positivity. I created a character, and I was asked to make it more proportional, that is, thinner. Then I realized that it was really important for me to create different characters. In no case do I think that the customer was a bad person, just everyone has their own point of view.

The reflection of people with different skin colors is also important, although this topic is not so acute in Ukraine. There is even a cool trick in the illustration: you can make blue, green skin - this will not offend anyone, and at the same time it will show otherness.

You are fond of lettering. This technique requires unrealistic endurance. Tell me, how do you manage to be patient while creating one letter for a long time?

Calligraphy requires exposure, but lettering is different. In calligraphy, we write each letter according to a certain standard and vary what we have already learned. Lettering can be based on type, calligraphy, materials. This is a broad and experimental field, where the criteria are not as rigid as in calligraphy. For this freedom I like lettering.

For a long time I was engaged in calligraphy and thought that I had chosen the path for myself and would be a calligrapher all my life: I attended courses, learned a lot of different handwritings. And then I realized that I don't know where I am.

Nowadays, the redesign of classical literature is popular, for example, the new "Kaydasheva family" and "Ekaterina" of the publishing house "Osnovy" look very stylish.

Would you like to take part in such a project? After all, this is quite responsible.

Yes, I would like. I also like this trend. By the way, I am currently working on a reprint of a book about Kiev in the 1900s. And as it turned out, the most common association for such books is an old photo in sepia and necessarily some kind of inscription with a shadow in some beautiful font. In my opinion, it is important to show a modern perspective on old things: we live now, and nostalgia for the old is cool, but it is much more interesting to weave the old into our context - then it will live longer.

Have you ever liked the project, but the idea for illustration does not come up in any way? How did you cope with this, where did you get inspiration?

I have such a situation now :) Where am I looking for inspiration? And nowhere :) I realized that procrastination is part of the job. The best thing to do in this state is to go for a walk. If the project is good, and I agreed to it, then the idea will come. If I still have a chance not to let people down and refuse, I'd better do it so as not to torture myself and the client.

You recently started working at Untime - animation studio. According to various studies of content perception, videos, gifs - any moving visualization has a greater user engagement. Do you think motion design is the future of digital visualization?

I don't think motion can replace everything, but it definitely complements all other areas of the visual. Graphic designers complement their identity projects with animation, almost every application or service makes an interface animation or an explanatory presentation video.

But so, it seems to me that now there will be even more Moses. And I also like that hand-drawn animation has become more popular - this means that until the illustrators are replaced by work. We have a chance to hold out :)

Name three trends in illustration today.

In my opinion, these are textures and manual techniques, mixing with each other. And also strange forms: the hyperbole in perspective, in the body, will definitely last a year. In an ideological context, these are body positivity, various characters.

What advice would you give to a young specialist who wants to find himself?

We constantly want to achieve the constant "who I will be when I grow up". But in reality, life is not about a constant. You have reached something, and then you go further, where you came may not correspond to the plan that was from the very beginning.

Yesterday I thought that all my life I would make logos based on calligraphy, but today I decided that I would be an illustrator. I do not know what I will be tomorrow :) I realized that it is normal to be different. It's okay if you feel uncomfortable with your decision. You need to choose for yourself: waking up in the morning, ask yourself the question: am I an illustrator today? If so, good, we are working. NOT an illustrator - maybe I'm a chef today? I'll go cook it :)

I would like us all to be easier on this issue. Recently, a girl in my friendstress made a post that she finally decided to become an illustrator. She wrote that she would study and work on herself, although many told her "you can't draw" and so on. Now I really like what she does (for my taste), but I support her in the decision to declare herself - you are how legitimized in the profession. And the fact that we all do not "wow" at the beginning is normal. The main thing is to recover in time from the illusion of a beginner - that you know everything and are super cool :)

And finally, tell us about some insight into the illustrating profession that would be interesting for a beginner.

An interesting thing is preparing a layout for printing, about which there is little information, and which printing always requires from an illustrator. In book design, there are illustrators who take this position: my job is to draw a picture and that's it. And we can agree with this, because in general, an illustrator is someone who is looking for a visual solution, and does not prepare a layout. But I believe that the more you know about the process and control it from your side, the better the result will be. And before starting work, you always need to clarify the type of paper, the colour model, the responsibilities of the layout designer - after all, these are conditions that affect your work. Then you do not have to redo the illustrations in case of incorrect execution.