Interview with Egor Signienko

I think my interest in design was largely inherited. My mother is an architect, and my father is an engineer, so I grew up in an environment where creativity and technical thinking were part of everyday life.
After school, I enrolled in an architecture program. After graduating, I realized that I was more attracted to art and the visual side of design. In architecture, at least as I understood it at the time, there was too much engineering, calculations, and technical drawing, and not enough of what interested me from an artistic point of view.
In the end, I decided to move towards graphic design, where I could focus more on visual language, form, and creative exploration.

The main principles of my approach are minimalism and form following function. I believe that the purpose of a device should be clear almost instantly, and that interacting with it should be as simple and accessible as possible.
In my work, I try to use modern technologies at every stage of the design process. For example, 3D scanning speeds up the transfer of a physical prototype into a digital environment. Generative AI helps me visualize initial ideas faster and turn imperfect source materials into images suitable for presentations.
I constantly use CAD software and 3D printing to develop and test prototypes. Before starting work, I also create virtual boards where I collect references, components, ideas, and other materials related to the project.

The strongest emotional high comes when I find a solution to a specific problem or come up with an unexpected idea that changes the direction of a project.
Another particularly enjoyable moment is creating the first prototypes, when an idea finally becomes tangible. At that point, you can do more than just imagine how everything should work — you can actually interact with the result.
But after completing a project, doubts often start to creep in. I think this is familiar to many designers. It’s practically impossible to say that a design is perfect and no longer needs any changes. After some time, new ideas, technologies, and opportunities emerge for solving the same problems.
Sometimes this even leads to frustration with myself: Why didn’t I think of this earlier? Why was someone else able to solve a problem I was working on in a different way?
But I suppose that’s exactly what makes me keep developing and looking for new solutions.

It’s difficult for me to single out one skill unrelated to design that has helped me in my profession. Rather, my interest in design and how things work has developed me in different directions since childhood.

I’ve always liked taking toys apart, studying how they were built, and trying to understand how they worked. I also attended art school. Now I realize that all of this is directly connected to what I do today: on one hand, I’m interested in the technical side of objects, and on the other, in their visual language.

One of the people who influenced me was my grandfather. After retiring, he took up beekeeping, came up with new solutions in that field, and wrote articles for specialized magazines. In his free time, he also made toys for me in his workshop. I think his example shaped my attitude towards creativity and invention in many ways.

And, of course, the professional community has a big influence. Designers, both people I know and people I don’t, constantly push each other forward. It’s a kind of race with no finish line.

This is a difficult question to answer definitively because the world is changing too quickly. I don’t really want to make short-term plans when it’s hard to imagine what our profession will look like in a few years.
With the development of artificial intelligence, it’s quite possible that many of the tasks designers and engineers do today will be automated. Some professions, in their current form, may even disappear completely.
If that happens, I’d be interested in trying myself as an artist. I’d like to work with abstract art, explore new meanings, and create not so much forms as the ideas behind them.
Perhaps this is what my future development will look like: gradually moving from designing specific objects towards exploring more abstract concepts.

One of the main pieces of advice I’d give beginner designers is to learn how to filter feedback. Listen less to people who are constantly giving advice, and pay more attention to those who really understand the subject but don’t try to impose their opinions.
And most importantly, keep working. Almost any problem can be solved if you give it enough time and find the right approach. It’s much more useful to spend time looking for a solution than to decide in advance that a problem is impossible to solve.
Even if you don’t manage to solve the original problem, you’ll find plenty of solutions along the way that will be useful in future projects.
Another important piece of advice is to take an interest in areas beyond your own profession. Unique ideas often emerge at the intersection of disciplines. For example, programming, biology, engineering, and design can lead to unexpected combinations and completely new approaches to familiar problems.

The main thing is never to stop and never settle for something that’s just good enough. You should always try to do the best you possibly can. If you don’t make an effort, a mediocre result will happen on its own.
Every project eventually comes up against external limitations: time, budget, technical capabilities. But until you reach those limits, you should keep looking for better solutions.
I often notice that when I tell myself in the evening that I’ve done everything I could that day, I still find a way to make it better the next day.
So I try not to treat the end of the working day as proof that a solution is final. Sometimes it’s useful simply to return to a project with fresh eyes.

I like to deal with small tasks in the first half of the day. Usually, before 11 a.m., I try to take care of all the minor issues or work on ideas that came to me outside working hours.
At around 11, I take a coffee break and then switch to large and complex projects that need several hours of uninterrupted attention.
At around three, I might go to the gym or study a foreign language. After that, my colleagues usually start having questions, so I spend the rest of the day on emails, discussions, finishing current tasks, and planning the next day.
I prefer to read design articles and watch videos in the evening, after six, when I no longer need to be distracted from my main work.

I don’t actively look for trends — they naturally appear in my information field. It’s all about the professional community and constantly keeping an eye on new projects by other designers.
When I come across articles about trends for the following year, I usually see lists of things that have already become popular. By the time these things appear in such roundups, many of those approaches may already be outdated.
I think every designer wants their work to become a trend. But you don’t need to study trends to achieve that — you need to experiment and create something new.
If you constantly follow trends, you’ll always be a little behind. It’s much more interesting to observe what’s happening, analyze it, and use that knowledge to find your own direction.

What one person considers good design won’t necessarily be good design for someone else. Perception always depends on experience, habits, and context.
For me, one of the main criteria of good design is intuitive control and interaction. Through photography, I’ve come across many debates about camera ergonomics and the placement of controls. But in practice, it often turned out that different cameras were equally good at doing their job, and people’s preferences largely depended on which camera they encountered first and what they got used to.
I think the main thing that makes design good is its ability to simplify complex interactions. How much functionality can you make accessible with a single button? How can you reduce the number of actions a user needs to take? How can you make it so that people don’t have to think about the device itself?
The less effort it takes to interact with a product, the more attention people can give to the task itself.

In my opinion, design can never be completely finished. There is always another solution that can solve the same problem in a different way.
That’s why I think you need to evaluate tasks based on how long a person will interact with the result. If it’s the design of a napkin, there’s probably no point in spending several months on it: a person will use it for only a few seconds. But if we’re talking about an aircraft engine, the possibilities for improvement are practically endless.
In projects like that, you always have to take external limitations into account — time, budget, technology, and resources.
But in both cases, I’m still left with the feeling that it could have been done better. I think that’s an inevitable part of being a designer.

My most significant work is probably still ahead of me.
I don’t have one project that completely changed my life or became the final expression of my approach to design. I see every project as another stage in my development.
I think every next piece of work should become more interesting, more complex, and larger in scale than the previous one. That’s why I don’t want to single out one project as the most important — I’m much more interested in what I’ll be able to create in the future.

I admire Dieter Rams. To me, he’s a true artist in the world of industrial design.
His visual language is so recognizable and consistent that even individual details of his products are easy to identify. At the same time, his work doesn’t just have a distinctive appearance — it also demonstrates how closely form, function, and usability can be connected.
His approach has been so influential that it has inspired many generations of designers after him. What interests me is precisely this ability to create not just individual products, but an entire system of visual thinking that remains recognizable over many years.

As it happened, I’ve moved between different countries and haven’t yet built a permanent community of like-minded people around me. But because of that, I’ve been able to observe how strongly culture and lifestyle influence design.
For example, this is particularly noticeable in architecture. In different parts of the world, even such familiar elements as door thresholds can have completely different designs and purposes. In some places, they are connected to traditions and beliefs about protecting the home; in others, to the need to retain heat and maintain a seal; and in some places, they are practically absent because the climate and ventilation requirements call for different solutions.
These differences show that design never exists separately from the environment in which it is created. We bring our own cultural experience into projects that people all over the world may eventually use.
Music doesn’t play a particularly important role in my creative process. I often listen to it while working, but mostly as a way to distance myself from distracting surroundings.
I believe design is necessary for the development of society because it directly affects how we interact with the world. Can a person with a disability get to where they need to go? How will a bottle be disposed of or recycled? Can a foreigner easily find their hotel? These are all, in part, questions of design.

I’d like to think that I’m easy to work with, but I’m probably not entirely easy. I always feel that I could have done better, and sometimes I have to consciously fight this desire for perfection.
It’s especially important to know when to stop and give colleagues the opportunity to find their own solutions. My approach doesn’t always have to be the only right one, and sometimes another person’s perspective helps achieve a result I wouldn’t have come up with myself.
What I value most in people is openness to new things. It’s not necessary to constantly introduce new processes into your work, but it’s important to know that they exist and to take an interest in new technologies, design trends, and related fields.
I think curiosity and a willingness to reconsider familiar approaches are important qualities for anyone working in a creative field.

Unfortunately, I haven’t participated in any charity projects or done any pro bono design work yet. A large part of the reason is that I haven’t looked for these opportunities before and simply wasn’t familiar with such initiatives.
But I’d be interested in trying this kind of work. Especially projects where design can address a specific social problem and make people’s everyday lives easier and more accessible.
I think it’s an interesting direction in which professional skills can be useful not only to a client, but also to a wider community.

Taking part in the A’ Design Award allowed me to look at my own work from a different perspective. In everyday work, there’s usually no time to stop and think about a project as a whole. You’re constantly solving specific problems, moving forward, and rarely asking yourself fundamental questions.
Preparing for the competition makes you reconsider the project: What is it about? How is it different from other solutions? What problems does it solve, and what is its value? You start comparing, analyzing, and looking at your own work from the outside. It’s a completely different process from everyday design work.
I see several important benefits to participating in the A’ Design Award. First, it’s an opportunity to better understand your own work and its significance. Second, it helps expand your professional network and meet other designers. Third, it can lead to new opportunities, contacts, and potential projects.
I also think competitions are important because they provide a kind of snapshot of design at a particular moment in time. They help the professional community discuss current approaches and find new reference points.
I’m pleased to become Designer of the Day. It’s an honor for me and an opportunity to present my work and my own perspective on design to a wider audience.

I love beautiful things and enjoy creating them. It’s my passion and hobby. That’s why I became a designer. Although I am an architect by education, I found designing buildings boring and monotonous, so I turned to design.

It so happened that many members of my family were connected to design in one way or another. My uncle was an artist, my grandfather and father were engineers, and my mother was an architect. I guess I had no other choice but to follow in their footsteps.

Currently, I work in graphic design, but I am very drawn to product design. I would like to design objects that people use in their everyday lives—lamps, furniture, household appliances. However, I don’t want this to become routine, so I haven’t fully shifted to that field.

Just work. Create a lot, observe what others are doing, and perhaps produce a lot of "work for the drawer." The rule of 1,000 hours, even if some don’t believe in it, works. But to become a true professional, you need to work your whole life. The first 1,000 hours are not the finish line but just the first step.

The difference between a good designer and a great designer lies in your environment. You can become a good designer on your own, but to become great, you need to learn from others. It’s important to find people you look up to, strive for their level of mastery, and learn from them.

A truly good design not only solves the problem of aesthetic perception but also addresses the task it was created for. Good design should be convenient and effective to use. It should help, not just please the eye.

Good design is always functional design. By investing in good design, you gain additional benefits beyond basic functionality. This could be incredible convenience or the aesthetic satisfaction of using a unique item.

I would like to create things that I would use myself. For example, comfortable furniture or practical work tools. To make a perfect item, you need to deeply understand the user. And who do we know better than ourselves?

A dream project implies that once it’s completed, I’d say, “That’s it, I’ve done everything I wanted.” But I don’t have such a project. Life constantly throws new challenges at me, and I’m happy to take them on.

There’s no secret. Just daily work and the support of the woman I love. She has no connection to design, but I always take her criticism to heart, and it has never let me down.

Definitely Dieter Rams, Arne Jacobsen, and Le Corbusier.

One of my favorite works, which always catches my eye, is the Lounge Chair by Charles and Ray Eames. It has remained relevant for many decades and, after 70 years, is once again at the peak of popularity.

I believe I haven’t created my greatest design yet; it’s still ahead of me.

I think the best advice is to learn from professionals. Absorb their experience, copy, and analyze the work of those you consider experts in their field. Over time, you’ll develop your own vision, which will help you grow.

I would have become a beekeeper. That’s a bit of a joke, but my grandfather became a beekeeper after retiring, and as a child, I was fascinated by what he did.

Everything is design. A flower is nature’s design; a city is the design of architects; a phone is the design of engineers. Every day, we encounter design, often without realizing it. Design determines why the things around us are the way they are.

The people around me helped shape me—through their right or wrong actions, they made me who I am. But the greatest help came from my wife, who always gives me her honest critical opinion.

Only work and passion for what I do.

The main challenge at the start of my design career was the lack of time to work on my own projects, as I had to spend all my time fulfilling client orders.

A designer should guide the audience through a story about the problem, the solution, and the importance of that solution. Only in this way can they prove its value.

I don’t know which project I will showcase next. Every day, I work on various projects for clients, but I can’t always disclose information about them.

I don’t want to be someone who sets a goal, achieves it, and then retires. I want to create every day for the rest of my life.

It’s hard to speak for others. Perhaps they expect me to surprise them in some way.

This question covers a lot of ground. Design creates a more comfortable and convenient space for people. As a result, it frees up time that people can spend on self-development or with their loved ones.

In addition to my primary work, I’m currently designing pendant lamps.

One of my favorite projects is the authentic "Pintarcam" camera, originally designed for 3D printing and later crafted from wood and brass. This project brought me joy primarily because I use it myself.

I would like to see greater adoption of generative design. It could help create unique properties and functions for mechanisms, making them lighter and stronger.

I think 3D printing will become widely used, from household appliances to buildings. Right now, it’s mainly startups or specialized production, but in the future, it will become very common.

It depends on the project. Some can take a few hours, while others might stretch over several months.

It starts with research—finding references, defining functionality, and listing requirements. It’s essential to create a clear project brief (technical assignment).

Once, I came up with the phrase, "Everything is design"—whether it’s a small flower or a complex mechanism, it’s design, regardless of whether it’s created by nature or humans. Years later, I found out this phrase was also said by Paul Rand.

Designers definitely create trends. Of course, not out of thin air—they must be immersed in the context. But the design comes first, and then the trend follows.

Technology plays a significant role in designers work. It’s everywhere—from software used for designing to the latest advancements in manufacturing.

I use a variety of software. This includes graphic editors like Photoshop and Illustrator, 3D software like 3ds Max, and CAD programs such as Fusion and SolidWorks. A 3D printer is an essential tool, along with compass for drawing, knives, airbrushes—everything depends on the task at hand.

Every element can influence how a design is perceived. For example, the same piece of furniture finished with rough fabric or smooth vinyl can completely change its perception and affect the atmosphere of the space. Objects can either blend into the surroundings or become focal points.

"Did it help solve your problem? Did it help you achieve the desired result?"

I always want to understand what makes that design great, so I might apply it in my future projects.

The ideal partner is someone who is a professional in the technical aspects of the product being developed. I believe in synergy.

Many people I’ve met or whose work I’ve studied have contributed to my ideas and influenced my work in one way or another.

The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton
Design as Art by Bruno Munari
These books didn’t fundamentally change me, but they gave me some interesting ideas.

There’s no secret—just a desire to create something new and daily hard work.

I’m proud of my achievements; they reassure me that I’m on the right path.

My favorite color is green, my favorite place is by the sea or a river, my favorite food is steak, my favorite thing is camera.

One day, while I was working at a printing house, the waste pigment container of a very large industrial printer overflowed, but I needed to finish printing a batch. There was no one else in the office except me and a colleague, so we decided to clean the container ourselves. When we removed the container, it opened up, and black powder spilled all over the room. This powder is extremely fine and behaves like wate-it spreads over every surface, fills every crack, and is very difficult to clean. Only specialized personnel were authorized to service the equipment, so to cover what we did, we spent the entire night cleaning the floors and furniture. In the morning, when the company management arrived, they noted that we had worked all night and gave us a bonus. Little did they know that we had spent the whole night trying to hide the traces of our "crime"

Engaging work makes me happy—feeling that things are going as planned or that I’ve figured out how to solve a particular problem.

Maybe. From a very young age, I loved drawing, taking apart and reassembling toys, and observing how they were made

I don’t have the most optimistic vision of the future, but I still hope we’ll learn how to disassemble and reassemble molecules into the desired order to create objects, food, and clothing at home—similar to the replicator from Star Trek. This would solve many issues, such as waste management, food delivery to remote areas, and even space travel.

For me, design is everything at once—it's a hobby, relaxation, and an opportunity to grow and explore the world. Often, the final realization of my ideas isn’t as important as the process itself. The development phase, the selection of references, and the exploration of areas necessary for a project’s implementation are what truly interesting to me.

I enjoy designing physical objects the most. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a sculpture, a table, or a business card. I love things you can hold in your hands, feel different textures, observe how light interacts with them, and marvel at the engineering solutions that made them possible. I appreciate design that allows for interaction.

I don’t have a favorite design because, for me, it’s all about the process. Once a project is finished, I feel happy with it for a while, but then I want to move on. It frustrates me when I come across an old piece of work because it forces me to reflect and think, “Have I really not created anything more interesting since then?”

The first thing I remember was after the construction of the Donbass Arena stadium for the Shakhtar football club. I worked on designing souvenir statuettes made of bronze and marble, featuring a stylized depiction of the stadium. They were intended for Euro 2012. It was a significant project. Back then, 3D printing wasn’t available for prototyping. We had to find people who could create a physical model based on the 3D design I developed, and then produce these souvenirs in small batches.

My favorite material is metal. I particularly love brass or bronze. They allow for a wide range of ideas to be realized using a single material. You can leave the metal raw or polish it. You can treat it with ammonia to create a patina or coat it with galvanization. Different parts of an object can look entirely different depending on the concept. My favorite technology is 3D printing. Nowadays, any creator can bring their ideas to life within just a few hours. Prototyping, small-batch production, creating tiny figurines or massive statues—it’s all possible.

I feel most creative when I have a clear idea. I can focus on it and work for hours. I see the final goal and move toward it. At such times, I can sit down to work and only realize at the end of the day that I haven’t gotten up from my desk, eaten lunch, or even had tea. Unfortunately, it’s not always like that. Often, the ways to implement a project reveal themselves during the process—I take one step and can only see one or two steps ahead, no further.

Design brings me peace. It’s my form of meditation. After completing some projects, I feel joy and satisfaction, but during the process, it’s a calming experience as I engage in something I love.

I’m definitely happy. It’s impossible not to feel joy when you see the results of your efforts. There are some projects I revisit some time after realization, sometimes feeling that joy again and sometimes reflecting on whether anything could have been done differently.

This depends on the type of design, but it must meet two key criteria. First, it should grab attention because we only have 1.5 to 3 seconds to engage a consumer. Second, if it’s product design, its primary focus should be on function. For example, the design of an airplane is dictated by its functionality. Phones have evolved into rectangles with full-screen displays because this shape serves their main function, and good design highlights that functionality.

I see how design trying to move toward eco-friendly. Green initiatives are widely recognized and rewarded. Designers should collaborate with technologists and material manufacturers to create durable products or, if that’s not possible, maximize their recyclability. However, corporations must be interested in this effort, and designers can help them achieve it

Inspiration must be sought continuously; it’s an ongoing process. You need to visit museums, travel, read, and simply observe the world around you. You shouldn’t limit yourself to just one field, as inspiration can come from anywhere, even areas unrelated to design.

The first step is research. You need to study what has already been done in this field. Create a list of key points and prepare references. Sometimes there’s no need to reinvent the wheel—it takes too much time. Next, compile a list of qualities that the design should possess and compare it with the collected information. This allows you to eliminate negative aspects or combine positive features from different sources. In most cases, this is a winning workflow.

I prefer minimalism at home, so most of my belongings are purely utilitarian. I can highlight a coffee table from the Carpathians. A local craftsman made it from a cross-section of oak that is over 200 years old. The tree grew in his yard, and he shared its entire story about this tree.
The second would be tetrapods—a sculpture project I started but didn’t finish due to moving. In 2013, there was an exhibition of painted tetrapods by various artists at the port in Mariupol. Ten years later, I decided to recreate this experience on a miniature scale.

If it’s a workday, it typically goes like this: I wake up at 7:30, have breakfast, and start working. At 11, I have a tradition of drinking coffee. I usually have lunch at 2, either at home or in a restaurant. After lunch, I study Spanish—I started learning it six months ago. Then I work until about 6 or 7 PM. However, work doesn’t always mean completing tasks; it can also involve reading articles about design, looking at photos, or studying new software—anything related to my main job counts as work. In the evening, I enjoy walking around the city with a cup of coffee, sitting in the park, or playing padel.
On a day off, I make sure to go somewhere. I might simply stroll through the city center, take a tram to nearby towns, or go hiking. If I don’t feel like going out, I’ll spend the day drawing.

"The secret of success is constancy of purpose." This is probably the most important advice you’ll hear in various forms, but the essence is that if you want to achieve something, you must work on it continuously and develop your skills. It may seem like others are more talented and that success comes naturally to them, but that’s not true. The truth is that they either worked very hard or simply talk a lot without having practical knowledge.

The Pareto Principle. Usually, a good design can be created quickly and still be successful. However, if you want something extraordinary, be prepared to invest all your free time into it. Also, be ready for the possibility that not everyone will fully appreciate the qualities the design gained from your efforts.

It’s essential to always be curious and amazed by everything. Find something new in everything and continuously learn. With a sense of superiority or overconfidence in your knowledge, you can quickly find yourself falling behind.

It all depends on the task. I buy tools based on the specific project’s needs. In everyday work, I use Photoshop and Illustrator, and I increasingly use 3D Max. For design engineering, I use CAD programs like SolidWorks and Fusion. Of course, I also use a wide range of physical tools—model knives, brushes, and airbrushes. I’m always experimenting, and hardware stores are like paradise for me. Lately, I’ve replaced books with the internet. You can find any information there in a convenient format.

I find it very difficult to manage my time, as I’m constantly distracted, and by the end of the day, I feel like nothing has been accomplished. I often use a notebook—a simple notebook where I write down what needs to be done. Because while I focus on one task, I tend to forget everything else.

It’s hard to say because there are different objects, and different ways to approach them. In general, there is no need to sit and work on a complex task non-stop. The idea has to mature. You start the project, do research, and then go off to do other things. The thoughts start to form in your mind and an insight arrives, which needs to be nourished with new information. The longer you work this way, the better the result will be. So the best answer would be, "The work will take all the time allocated for it."

"Why is it so expensive?" People often think some things can't possibly cost that much. And most likely, if you think it’s simple, you probably don’t understand in this field at all.

I mostly work alone. Of course, it’s easier to work in a team on complex projects, and I do turn to this approach occasionally because it’s always better to get expert feedback from a professional. However, team work can also be distracting. The best approach is to work independently, making calls at specific checkpoints.