Tuesday 1 December 2009

A Tough Subject




















I was asked by Przekrój weekly magazine to illustrate a really tough subject – the privatization of state owned companies. This is a process that has been going on in Poland ever since the iron curtain was torn down. The magazine wanted to run some texts about the outcome of this. The first illustration shows how the word "privatization" is being built.






















This picture was made for a smaller input from a priest about capitalism being a gift from god.






















I made this one for a text comparing state-owned businesses to private, the latter being the less corrupt and most profitable.

Thursday 19 November 2009

Black Cat Syndrome


A fresh illo that I made for Przekrój weekly magazine (#46, 2009).


And this is what it looks like in the layout.

Friday 13 November 2009

Silver Pearl Victory













I have designed the best looking magazine in Poland and Central Europe according to the jury of the prestigious Pearl Awards.

Last night Leenia magazine won a Silver "Best Overall Design" award. It was announced at the 5th Pearl Awards ceremony in the Rockefeller Center in New York. This is a cool award as it's held on behalf of the Custom Publishing Council – North America's leading corporate publishing association. Leenia magazine competed with 615 magazines submitted by 50 corporate publishing firms from all over the world. Yeah!

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Minimal Magenta





A logo for a creative boutique that makes magazines. The owner – a friend of mine – loves magenta and black. She wants to keep a minimalistic profile, hence the straightforward name of her enterprise: Pracowania Twórcza (that's Polish for Creative Workshop). The font I used is based on Craig Kroeger's excellent Hooge typeface.


Thursday 29 October 2009

Bronze Portfolio


Today I was awarded Bronze at the annual Chimera press design contest. This years party – the 7th edition – was rather poor in form (economic crisis?) but rich when it comes to quality of design. My prize was in the Portfolio Section and this is my 3rd Chimera award!

Tuesday 27 October 2009

About A Girl



A short comic about a girl. I specially made it for an exhibition at Karowa gallery in Warsaw held in 2003. The original was hand inked in A1 format (84.1×118.9cm). The reformated version of the comic was published this month in the 6th issue of the comic zine Ziniol.

Monday 26 October 2009

Listen, Baby


I made this illo for Przekrój last summer. The text was later dropped so it went unpublished. Might look good on a t-shirt or poster though...

Wednesday 21 October 2009

Introducing Myra Europa


This is a tribute to my brother Patrick and his wife Emma. On the 9th of September they became proud parents of Myra Europa – probably the cutest baby girl on Earth.

Wednesday 7 October 2009

My First Horror






















This is the first cover in a series that I made for publisher Prószyński and it's for a Dean Koontz book called Watchers (Opiekunowie in Polish). I remember I read this book as a kid so it was kind of cool to make. There's a funny anecdote about this cover. I was asked by the publisher to make a few test covers for horror books so I made this collage out of two pictures I had previously made. And they loved it! Nobody seemed to care that it didn't really fit to the plot.

The guy in the picture is a friend of mine, designer and excellent comic illustrator Benek Szneider, co-owner of Bitterlix studio.

Monday 21 September 2009

Mr Jerk And The Pigeons



This is a 2-page comic I made together with Joanna Sanecka (story) a few months ago. It was published in the 4th issue of Ziniol – Poland's ultimate comic zine. I might translate this into English one day but for now you'll have to do with a brief synopsis: Mr Jerk intends to get his bed crumble free with the help of a flock of pigeons. A great idea that turns into disaster.

Thursday 10 September 2009

Get a sex!


I made this drawing for this weeks issue of Przekrój magazine (#39/2009). It's for their cover theme, a text about the sexes and about intersexuality. A tricky subject to illustrate... Anyway, it was great fun to make. I hope you like it. You can read the whole text here.


And this is the published spread.

Monday 24 August 2009

Boy chasing girl


Sun, sand and water...
T is chasing his best friend Gaba on the beach.
A snapshot from our holiday at the coast.

Friday 21 August 2009

Fashion is danger


This is something I made just before going on my well deserved summer vacation – a fashion catalogue for the H@C brand of Coccodrillo. I won't show more than this cover as the inside is a repetition of the same graphic elements and loads of product shots.

Monday 13 July 2009

Smart and spicy


My debut as illustrator for Poland's largest student magazine ?dlaczego (#111, 2009). I was asked to come up with something for a text about spice drugs sold in smartshops.

Friday 10 July 2009

Happy rich girl


My third front cover of Funduj (#3 2009), a magazine about investment funds. The main text is about finances from a womans point of view. The client wanted a holiday feel to it and the style should be in line with previous issues.


Earlier version rejected by the client. Apparently this woman looks sad and poor because of her lack of shoes. I prefer this illo to the approved one.


And this is what the final cover looks like.

Wednesday 8 July 2009

Teenage dream come true


Yesterday was the day of Michael Jackson's funeral and the day of Morrissey's first visit to Poland. I went to the gig at Stodoła with great expectations. It's like a teenage dream come true and I wasn't disappointed. Mozz was in great shape, talking and joking a lot with the audience inbetween songs. Highlights of the evening: Life Is A Pigsty and You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby. Morrissey, so much to answer for...

Thursday 25 June 2009

Sweet indolence


My latest commission for Przekrój, #25 2009. I was asked to illustrate a text about procrastination. It took me all night and the next day I went straight to work, tired as hell.


Additional illo for the second spread.


And another one. Inspired by Fritz Lang's Metropolis.


Friday 5 June 2009

Get ready for some urban action


This is a completely new urban magazine about Warsaw. It was made on behalf of Centrum Development & Investments Polska (CDI), a real estate developer specializing in shopping malls all over the country. The reason for making this magazine is their latest investment – the legendary Centralny Dom Towarowy on Krucza street. This modernist shopping mall, commonly known as Cedet, was designed by Zbigniew Ihnatowicz and Jerzy Romański and built 1949-1952. CDI are about to give the building back its original facade, destroyed in a fire back in the '70s. They will also ad a new extension, thus closing the historical Bracka street and making this place the hottest shopping spot in the city. So much about the building. When I designed the magazine I wanted it to reflect the minimalist and modernist look of the building. I chose to use only one colour in the entire magazine. There are only four typefaces used: Hooge designed by Craig Kroeger (headlines), Museo by Jos Buivenga/exljbris (leads), JB Cursive by Jean Boyault (sections) and DIN by Albert-Jan Pool (copy). The retro looking logo is actually the new logo of the shopping mall. It was recently designed by artist Wojciech Fangor. I didn't want to use mainstream photos in the mag so I did a lot of research on blogs and on Flick'r. The black and white picture of Jerozolimskie Avenue on the cover was shot by Phil Moore. You can see the Cedet on the far right. The magazine will be distributed for free in shops and cafés in the city centre. It will also be on sale in larger newspaper stores.


Table of contents (in this case map of contents) based on an old city map from the '70s. Most of the sections here tell about reel places in Warsaw and are thus to be found on the map.


Feature article by star writer and crème de la crème gossip columnist Agata Passent.



Warsaws hottest bar district is located in Plac Trzech Krzyży. The first text is about the bar Szpilka. I made the panoramic shot of the square in the 2nd spread. The black page is a brilliant feature by Tomasz Piątek – writer and bon vivant – summing up the night life at Plac Trzech Krzyży.


Starbuck's has arrived in Warsaw. Good in some people's opinion, not so good in the opinion of others.


This text covers Sorry, Ghettoblaster – a monthly club night. It's run by dj's Sekta and Kosakot. Photos by Karol Grygoruk.



Interview with Tomasz P. Chenczke (CEO of CDI) about the Cedet building and its surroundings. Illustrated with visualizations of the building.



The fashion section covering the new Ermenegildo Zegna shop at Plac Trzech Krzyży. The fashion shoot is a mix of catwalk shots and futuristic backgrounds.


More fashion. This time about Olga Bittner – winner of last years edition of Warsaw Fashion Street.


'80s street fashion. A comparison of yesterday and today. Photo on the left by late fashion photographer Janusz Sobolewski. On the right by Karolina Kosowicz.




Interesting dispute between Tadeusz Rolke and Grzegorz Lewandowski about Warsaw's intelligentsia yesterday and today. Rolke (born 1929) is one of Poland's best known documentary photographers, famous for capturing the atmosphere of Warsaw in the '50s and '60s. Lewandowski represents todays varsovians. He runs Chłodna 25, a café and artistic melting pot. I shot the backgrounds.


A history lesson about the famous Bracka street.



Interview with architect studio Grupa 5 and their vision of a futuristic, and possibly better Warsaw. On the first spread is their proposal of the new Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.


Interview with Bogna Świątkowska – promoter of urban culture and founder of Bęc zmiana. The text is illustrated with pictures of some of Bęc zmiana's artistic events in Warsaw's urban landscape. I made the portrait of Bogna.


Text about the upcoming Sztuka Ulicy street art festival...


...and Warsaw Summer Jazz Days.


A sum up of singer Morrisey's career who will play in Warsaw on 7 July. Illustration by cartoonist and singer Krzysztof Ostrowski.


Alina Szapocznikow (1926-1973) is a Polish-Jewish sculptor who lived in France. The Warsaw Museum of Modern Art is currently presenting an exhibition of her amazing work. I found the black and white contact print among the archival materials I received from the museum.


A comic called Love terrorist set in Warsaw. I wrote the script and my friend Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz illustrated.


The last page of the magazine will present interesting photo blogs about Warsaw. First up is Ludwik Lis and his black and white snapshots of a less known capital.

The next issue of Cedet will be out this autumn.