It started at Moscow State University of Printing Arts, where I studied graphic design and got my first real sense of what craft means. But the education that shaped me most happened outside the classroom.

For years I art-directed at 16 Tons — one of Moscow's iconic music venues. It was the kind of place where you learned to design fast, think on your feet, and trust your taste. Posters, merch, stage visuals, identity — I did it all myself, and I loved every part of it.

From there I followed whatever interested me. Books. Brand identities. TV campaigns. Expensive brands and tiny zines. I worked at Yandex for nearly a decade — first shaping the visual identity of their classifieds platforms, then building the brand for Yandex Fintech from scratch. Big systems, big teams, real scale.

Through all of it, I never stopped learning. Courses, workshops, conferences — if someone good was teaching, I was there.

In 2022 I moved to Portugal and started my own practice. It felt like the right time to take everything I'd learned and do it on my own terms.

At the same time I spent a year doing a Master's in Communication Design at ESAD in Matosinhos. It was a chance to step back, look at design from a European perspective, and work alongside people I deeply respect — workshops with Fabian Harb from Dinamo, conversations with Sonia Diakova, time with André Cruz, Andrew Howard, and many others. It stretched my thinking in ways I didn't expect.

I still have enormous love and faith in design. Especially now, when design is basically everywhere — in every product, every service, every interaction. The discipline keeps expanding and I want to keep expanding with it.

Every week I co-host "What's Going On" — a design show on the Dear Designer YouTube channel where we break down the best new work featured on D1S1 that week. It's in Russian, it's informal, and it's one of my favorite things to do — talking about design with people who care about it as much as I do.

I'm part of various communities and clubs. I run D1S1 Design Spotlight. I take on projects that challenge me. And I'm still, after all these years, driven by the same thing — curiosity, and the people around me who make it worth pursuing.

I'm open for anything — anton@partdirector.ch, LinkedIn, Telegram.