Interview with Kirill Semenovich
Kirill Semenovich — graphic designer and founder of the studio "pale". "Pale" is focusing on logo design and brand identity.
Design Legend Interview
22 May 2019
I don't have a professional education in design. But it so happened in my life that from childhood I loved to draw. Then I learned how to make and edit videos. Then I fell in love with painting. I studied architecture at the RUDN university in Moscow. Finally, it so happened that after graduation, my portfolio of graphic design was bigger than the portfolio of architecture. Even then I started to work remotely in the field of graphic design. Then I founded my own brand design studio «pale». That's why, to some extent, I feel out of bounds and allow myself to experiment within the field of graphic design, combining different types of visual art.
I like to design systems, I like to design brand’s DNA. I like to create a product and watch it evolve. I love art as well. And I'm trying to bring design into the form of art.
It was my conscious choice to become a designer.
Most of all I like to create identity systems. That's why our studio focuses on branding.
The main thing is to love what you do. Don't be afraid to do new and unusual things for yourself. Set yourself clear goals, and follow them. Simply put - work and analyze your actions.
Probably - genius.
As a rule, a good design attaches immediately at the first glance, because its visual component. After that, you want to disassemble it into the bones to get to its soul. Understand why it is exactly what it is.
If we want to make life easier for ourselves. To be happy and not to bathe in the visual dirt - so you have to invest in a good design.
At the moment, it would be interesting to work on the city's identity. Experience with such a project was, but unfortunately it did not come to realization.
In our studio we have developed an approach to brand design using mental maps. At this stage, we use third party programs to implement our approach. That's why we're thinking and, if possible, taking steps towards patenting and developing our own cloud software. If we had more time, we would have realized this task in the first place.
We don't have any secret recipe. At least for now. We do all projects using a proven system. I think this is our success.
In different periods of time I like different works of other designers. And that's okay, because there's a lot of information, and you find someone who attracts more from time to time. At the moment I like, for example, russian studio Shuka. Ivan Bogdanov. Guccimaze. Сam Villanueva. But to be honest, I try to look less at the works of other designers for inspiration. I prefer to take it from other spheres, for example, painting, film, technology, family.
I can't say the exact names. I just like strange and unusual things. Something that can cause controversy. I think this is the design that sets the vector and develops our sphere.
Nothing original. Set a goal and go to it. Understand what you want, and decompose all your actions in stages to achieve the goal.
I graduated with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in architecture. Perhaps I would have been involved in architecture. Maybe I would make a movie, because video is my hobby. Perhaps I would become a priest. I don't know. Now I'm in the design business and I'm happy with it.
Design for me is the intersection of art and logic.
I started from "nothing" - without a design education. And my biggest supporter was God and my parents. And later I met my main muse - my wife.
Pale mental map I was talking about above. This is probably the main task. We also continue to work with companies and create new brands.
We are a young studio, so the immediate goals are to gain popularity, strengthen our position in the market and become one of the authoritative design studios at least in Russia (for starters).
I believe in people. I believe in the power of the collective mind. So when a group of people come together around an idea, it can have interesting consequences.
Everything about brand development is delightful to me. I like to design systems and create the rules by which these systems live. I'm interested in watching the brand grow and develop into something more.
Obviously, everything is moving in the direction of AI and algorithmic design, and this is good news. Designers should not be afraid that AI will replace them as professionals. On the contrary, AI will be the main assistant and tool of each designer.
It all depends on the project. On average, for example, it takes 2-3 weeks to develop a logo. There are four weeks for an identity.
Always start with communication with the customer - we make a brief, then proceed to the analytical part.
Love, think, play.
I think it could work both ways. When the design is progressive - it sets trends. When trends are no longer relevant - they give rise to a new level of design.
We use Adobe software package, especially Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro. We make web design in Figma. We design mental maps in Xmind. 3D modeling is done in Cinema 4D.
Most likely admiration and inspiration. Sometimes I'm upset that I didn't think of such thing myself.
My perfect partner is my wife. She brings me inspiration, she criticizes my work and completely influences how our product will ultimately look.
Usually these aren't design books. I like to read religious literature and in many ways this literature influences my approach to design.
Jesus Christ.
Black, our home, fried eggs, summer, pale.
Memento mori. Perhaps the thoughts of death are the most motivating.
I think so, yeah. I've always loved to draw. I often lay on the floor among felt-tip pens and drew. At the time, I didn't know who the designers were, so I wanted to be an artist.
Designer Interview
22 May 2019
I love to draw since my childhood — it is about creation the whole worlds. I dreamed to become an artist. And with growing up I discovered new areas through which I can express my emotions. So I started shooting a video. And then I studied architecture at the RUDN university in Moscow. Finally I created my own studio «pale».
«Pale» is a design studio. There are two of us in the studio: me and my muse — my wife. We focus on logo design and brand identity. Pale is a platform for experiments, where intersect various forms of the visual art. Pale philosophy is about humanity. We realize how little time is left. Therefore, we do not follow temporal trends. We create honest products with live stories. Our slogan: love, think, play.
If we talk about design as a process, we divide it into several stages: brief, research, concept, sketches and final product appearance.
What I like most is to create identity systems: develop product DNA and subordinate all the elements of a single logic. And in the future, I like to see how the product grows and how the visual part of it transforms.
I can't say I have the most favorite design. I like all our works. But I want to highlight the identity for Vitebsk City (Republic of Belarus). This is the first project where we used our unique approach with a mental map to design. Since then, we have been improving our approach to design and making all projects with pale mental map.
The first project for which I received a cash reward was a logo for a job searching company.
In our studio we use Adobe package, especially Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects. For the time being we use Xmind Software to work with the mental map. In the future, we plan to create our own mind map application, with a focus on brand design.
If we're talking about inspiration, I get it from different areas of our life: movies, music, video games, paint art, technology news, my family and so on.
It all depends on the specifics of the project. But basically at each stage of designing, we do accent on the following things: full research of a product, market and competitors. Then we work in detail with the pale mental map, where we find the concept for the project. And next comes the technical part.
Interesting question. I feel joy. And I feel like something moves quickly in my head. Hmm.
I'm still feeling joy.
Happy client, and the desire to put the new project in our pale portfolio.
The first impression is the visual appearance. If it does, I keep digging inside to decompose the image into semantic components and find the logic in the construction.
I think it's enough to realize that your work will be seen by people like you. The rest moral part — is only everyone creator's business.
Design is already evolving and will evolve towards AI. At the same time, the designer will still be in charge, and AI will be the main assistant for designers in all design processes.
Our studio is very young. And the first exhibition - in honor of the victory at A’ Design Award 2019.
As I said before, inspiration can come from very different fields: watching a movie, listening music, communicating with interesting people, reading a book, watching lecture on YouTube, playing a new video game, and so on - it all depends only on how open and receptive you are to absorbing and processing new information.
Pale studio works in ascetic design style. This concept was developed in the walls of our studio. The ascetic design is similar to the abstract art - it allows you to remove the visual frames and show the soul of the project through the figurative graphic elements. With the help of ascetic design, we also demonstrate the identity of our studio. And now we develope ascetic design dogmas - a set of rules that we follow when creating new products.
At the moment I live in Moscow. Undoubtedly, the environment affects to some extent the work we do. But I can't say that our design is «russian design». I don't think about it. I just do what I think is right and interesting.
We don't have any secret approaches. The main aspects of cooperation are transparency and honesty. Usually companies send us email or write to us in personal messages on behance and we start our cooperation.
When choosing a designer for collaboration, it is obviously necessary to look at works in the portfolio and further build communications on this basis.
We start with a brief - we write our questions and send them to the client. After that we analyze the answers, research the market, audience, competitors. Then we start working on concept. To do this, we go through several stages with the help of a mental map. When the concept is approved, we proceed with the sketches. Then we work through all the details and prepare the final design.
iMac and my sketchbook — all that I need for work.
I usually spend most of the day at work. That's why I spend most of the time sitting in front of my computer. I don't need to go to the office because I work from home remotely. In the evening I try to spend time with my family. Nothing special. I'm just a normal person.
I will not be original and I will say things in which I was convinced myself. The main thing is to set the goal, break it into small stages and work to the bitter end. And most importantly, don't forget that beauty is a consequence of love. If you want to do beautiful things, you need to be able to love.
The freedom of your creativity can end where the vision and wishes of the customer begin, who makes some changes to your concept. It's from the negative side. On the positive side, the other side of what I said - is the opportunity to create and make art.
Love, think, play. Our slogan. Our golden rule.
I think technical skills and creativity. Spicy combination.
We use Adobe Package tools, most often: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Premier Pro. For the development of web sites we use Figma. We make 3D graphics in Cinema 4d. We design mental maps in Xmind. We look at the works of other designers on Behance, Dribble, Pinterest. In general, a classic set of tools.
I try not to spend more than 4 hours a day on design. This is the best time for me to do the job efficiently. I record every minute I work. And at the end of the month I draw up a report on how much was spent this month to work. Which job did I spend more time on. It helps to evaluate everything I do, whether I do it right or not, and how much my time costs.
Depends on the project. I can say that on average it takes 2-3 weeks to develop, for example, a logo. It takes 3-4 weeks to develop an identity system for brand.
How much does a logo design cost in your studio?
Probably working on public and large projects. When you realize that hundreds of people will see your work. An example of such a project: I worked on the visual appearance of one of the main music festivals of Russia.
We work with clients from different fields of activity. Shops, wedding agencies, medicine, museums, city projects, religion and so on.
Most of all I like to work with mental maps and create a brand DNA. I like the approach that we used in our studio. It reminds me of a game. We just play and create new projects.
Our plans can be divided into two ways, linked together. The first is to gain further popularity in order to attract new clients and create interesting projects. The second is the products we produce inside our studio. For example, as I have already said, it is to form all the dogmas of ascetic design and to create a separate project. We are also working on our own pale mental map, patenting, and in the future we plan to develop a separate cloud application, which could be used by all designers in the design of their brands, logos, etc.
There are two people in our pale studio: me and my wife. But if necessary, we can invite outside professionals for specific projects.
Perhaps the most exciting and promising project at the moment is the development of our mental map, which I have already mentioned in part above.
Please feel free to contact me: play@pale.love. You can also write me a personal message in instagram @pale.design. Let's talk about the art :)