Front Cover

"I believe people design from their deep love of the process of life or from their deep desire to keep that process at bay."

 

Natalia Illyin

Essay by me

I remember learning numbers and letters in kindergarten and I was so excited. I had always seen squiggly lines of writing in cartoons and I always wanted to figure them out. I wanted to be part of the secret grown-up reading club. As I learned each character I assigned them all personalities. The number 7 was badass, but he was cool. He was a rebel without a cause and wore a really badass leather jacket. 6 was his girlfriend, and she smelled nice and gave great hugs. The letter D always came off as a grumpy fat dude. And despite my first name beginning with R, I wasn’t a big fan of how aggresive he was. I never thought much about my early fascination with letters until I became a designer.

I am human first, and designer second.