Jury-GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN / Published on July 6, 2020
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Pavel Pisklakov
Assistant Professor
South Ural State University
Chelyabinsk, Russia
PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE – PEOPLE OF DESIGN VERSION!
What are three basic rules you learned from your mentors?
■ Be yourself…
■ Think about the details,
■ Keep going!
Wow Mom, Chelyabinsk, Russia, 2020. Photo credit: Pavel Pisklakov.
Our mothers are the greatest superheroes in our lives. Wow, Mom! The poster was created for the International Poster Competition “We are SuperHeroes” organized by Worldwide Graphic Designers. Received 3rd place.
What project launched your career?
Designing the splash screen for a computer program, something like astroprocessor, launched my career.
Any music playing while you work?
No, not while I work. But in my car, you can find a crazy mix of Gogol Bordello, Lady Gaga, Sting, Cesaria Evora, Too Many Zooz, Madonna and Goran Bregovic.
Do you work in PJs or three-piece suits?
My work attire depends on the temperature, but usually, I choose something in between a PJ and a three-piece suit, something casual.
What is your current design state of mind?
At the moment this questionnaire is being answered, I must admit, I’m working fast, because tomorrow we are opening the exhibition of CIDEA Design Award – a big international student competition in different design spheres.
What living designer/architect do you most admire?
Many different people, usually it’s their body of work that is inspiring, not only the person behind the work…
What past designer/architect inspires you the most?
How would you like your designs to go down in history?
As a source of inspiration and a call for action to others.
What peer quality do you most value?
Thinking outside the box.
Moscow-Petushki, Chelyabinsk, Russia, 2019.
Photo credit: Pavel Pisklakov.
The prose poem ‘Moscow-Petushki’ by Venedikt Yerofeyev is about an alcoholic intellectual that travels from Moscow to Petushki and he is drinking while he travels. A blue glass and expressive ink letters depict his overdrunk condition. This poster was created for the Chelyabinsk State Chamber Drama Theater. Received Honorable Mention in Graphis Poster Annual 2021, Excellence Award at ‘Ink Art & Pattern’ Competition during Beijing Design Week 2019.
Which project is the epitome of your work?
All of my works sum the epitome of my career.
Virus is Almost Over, Chelyabinsk, Russia, 2020. Photo credit: Pavel Pisklakov.
What we expected to turn over fast, still stay with us, so we do not have to forget about masks, distancing and even when it would seem that everything is over, everybody should remember that nidus of infection could be next to them. Look, feel and try not to forget. This poster was created for Taiwan Global Anti-Virus Graphic Design Exhibition.
He Is Not Here, Chelyabinsk, Russia, 2020. Photo credit: Pavel Pisklakov.
The text on the poster is “He is not here” in Russian — the quote from the Matthew 28:6. This poster was created for the International Poster Project “Easter Poster 2.0” by Golden Bee Biennale.
I love Paris more than ever, Chelyabinsk, Russia, 2019. Photo credit: Pavel Pisklakov.
What always inspires you?
A new task!
Ways to Heaven, Chellyabinsk, Russia. 2020.
Photo credit: Pavel Pisklakov.
This poster was created for the “Heavenly Jerusalem” category of Golden Bee Biennale 14. Posters for this category dedicated to Jerusalem as the home of three religions and the symbol of the Kingdom of Heaven. Received shortlist at Golden Bee Biennale 14.
Keep Breathing, Chelyabinsk, Russia, 2020.
Photo credit: Pavel Pisklakov.
Everything passes and COVID-19 will pass too, what was considered as dark times will end in the near future. The quote by Mehmet Murat Ildan helps us to go back to the light, keep breathing and hoping for survival in the world of pandemia. The poster was created for «Breath-Symbiosis» — 2020 International Graphic Design Exhibition Against Infectious Diseases.
What is your favorite place in the world?
Inside my mind…
What design or architecture project do you wish you would have thought of yourself?
Gutenberg’s Bible…
Cover and dust jacket for ‘Anthology of Contemporary Ural Poetry’, Chelyabinsk, Russia, 2018. Photo credit: Pavel Pisklakov.
‘Anthology of contemporary Ural poetry’ is not only a multi-volume edition, but also a tactically and strategically meaningful cultural action that has been going on for 30 years. The beginning was the publication in 1992 of a dozen low-budget poetry books in the ‘Classics of Perm poetry’ series. The next step was the ‘Uncontemporary notes’ magazine and, finally, the publication of the first Anthology of contemporary Ural poetry (Gallery Fund Publ., Chelyabinsk, 1996). After that, three dozen other author’s poetic books were published, culminating in the publication of the second volume of the Anthology of contemporary Ural Poetry (Gallery Fund Publ., Chelyabinsk, 2003).
Entering the top three best poetic books of 2004 according to the version of the organizing committee of the XVII Moscow International Book Fair, this Anthology completed the formation of such a concept as the ‘Ural school of poets’ (USP). And the authoritative characters of that time literati such as Andrei Voznesensky, Dmitry Prigov, Vyacheslav Kuritsyn, etc. discussed the features and potential of this School, while others vigorously denied its right to exist. The third volume of the Anthology (Ten Thousand Words Publ., Chelyabinsk, 2011) and the USP Encyclopedia published in 2013 drew a line under this dispute. The book you are holding is the fourth volume of an unprecedented project in the world literary practice, which has long become one of the major topics of contemporary Russian poetry.
The 4th volume contains poems by 74 authors from Ural, biographies of these authors and their short interviews, and translations of poems by 50 foreign authors from 20 countries (USA, Italy, France, UK, Singapore, India, Estonia etc.) that were made by Ural authors.
The jacket and the cover of the book are different: under the multi-connected rhizome of the white jacket you’ll find a red fabric book cover embossed by gold. The text is the same on both: ‘Anthology’, ‘Contemporary Ural Poetry’, ‘2012–2018. On the spine you see text “Contemporary Ural Poetry” and list of years 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018. On the jacket’s flaps you see photos and list of all the 74 authors that were included into the book.
The cover became the winner of “50 Books | 50 Covers 2018” by AIGA.
What is your mantra?
Leave it and keep going!
What is your dream? THINK BIG!
I dream about a world of honesty, where skills and knowledge rule the world instead of money and social connections.
Tolerance, Chelyabinsk, Russia, 2020.
Photo credit: Pavel Pisklakov.
Tolerance is about being human, human with an open heart. If you and your heart open to the world, tolerance becomes a part of your nervous system, it penetrates to your nerves that vibe to the world around you. This poster was created for the Tolerance Poster Show (curator of the show – Mirko Ilić). The poster should contain word ‘Tolerance’ on the native language of the author. Received Graphis Silver Award Design Annual 2021.
Romanovs’ Execution, Chelyabinsk, Russia, 2018. Photo credit: Pavel Pisklakov.
This series of two posters were created for the 100th anniversary of execution of last Russian Emperor and his family. First poster, 16.07.1918, depicts the Romanov family, the second, 17.07.1918 depicts the basement where Romanov family was killed, right after the execution. The latter poster looks empty, but you shudder with horror thinking about what had been done here in the previous day that is shown on the former poster.
