The whole story

Where I come from

At the start of my studies in New Media Art at PJAIT in Warsaw, a friend from high school got in touch and asked whether I would fly to China with him. I did not think about it for long. China is one step from Japan, and I had been fascinated by Japan for years, ever since I started watching “Naruto” in 2008. It was this fascination that led me, at 12, to start training battodo, the Japanese art of the sword, which I practised for about five years. It taught me patience and precision.

The trip turned into more than two years of learning Chinese at BLCU in Beijing, completed with HSK 5, the exam that certifies advanced Mandarin, and the start of a degree in Digital Media Art at Donghua University in Shanghai. I had to interrupt it because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I did not give up on Chinese: I defended my bachelor's thesis in Chinese studies at the University of Warsaw. Japan is still waiting.

In China, something surprised me at every turn. I rented a power bank in a café, and a bike or a scooter straight from the street by scanning a QR code in WeChat. In 2018 I did not see a single parcel locker in my part of Warsaw, while my housing estate in China had three. I also liked how seriously people there learn about other cultures. Here we say “think globally, act locally”. There, I had the impression that everything is done with both themselves and the rest of the world in mind.

How I work

I like to lead a project from start to finish: get to know the client, talk about their needs, prepare sketches and prototypes, agree on the details, release the product and then keep developing it. A friend says I could build a rocket from scratch (probably thanks to playing with Lego as a kid). There is something to it, but I am just as happy to take something that already works and improve it. Most of all, I like to take a step to the side, because then the same problem looks completely different.

Translation taught me that one text can be translated well in many ways. Design is the same. A solution can be simple, but there is never only one way to get there. I make sure everyone feels important, needed and involved, and that the project stays on time and on budget.

Outside work

Games. I started with Tibia and Heroes III, which showed me the world from above, with its mountains and forests. Today I play Go and enjoy board games and strategy games. I love Japanese series like Metroid and Castlevania, where you return to familiar places and open new paths. I like the move from plan to action, from theory to practice, and connecting the old with the new, the physical with the virtual. I travel, meet friends, and walk around the city and in the forest. I have a soft spot for crude humour.