We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alexey Staroselets. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alexey below.
Alexey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
For me personally, taking risks is usually associated with a feeling of being stuck and/or dissatisfied with the status quo.
In my mid-20s I was studying management at university, while still being passionate about graphic design and visual arts. I was afraid that it was too late to change careers, that I wouldn’t make it in visual arts. I lived with this fear until my desire to learn drawing became overwhelming. I couldn’t bear with my longing anymore and eventually started taking private classes on art of drawing and painting. It became an important step in further discovery of my artistic potential, a reaffirmation to my passions, which allowed me to continue my development as visual artist and graphic design.
Years later, I settled into a senior creative position in the advertising industry. I’ve had almost everything I could dream of — big projects, great team, and appropriate compensation — but what was lacking is feeling of being at the right place, stagnating as a creative. I began to nurture the idea of laying off and going somewhere else, despite of my fear of losing financial security and career achievements. Over time, my perspective slowly shifted from ‘leaving a job’ to ‘starting a new enterprise’. Eventually, the pivotal moment has happened. At first it didn’t feel like success, but I kept moving forward driven by the desire for changes. After some time, I managed to set up my own small agency. I reconnected with old clients, found new ones and took part in many exciting projects that broadened my professional and life experience. My income was not as high and I had a lot more responsibility, but I’ve been at peace with myself.
The further I got in my endeavors, the more obvious it seemed to me: whenever I feel stuck—in my career, in my relationships, in my creative projects—facing a fear is a blessed opportunity. It’s inevitable that you have to take a risk if you want to move forward and get where you want to go. It’s important to acknowledge the feeling of dissatisfaction, embrace the fear and use it as a guide for change.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I started working with computers at an early age and my interests ranged from programming, IT and telecommunications, mathematics, music, advertising, graphic design, visual arts, philosophy and sociology. After graduating with a degree in management in 2008, I worked in marketing and advertising, ran a CGI studio, and even tried my hand at tailoring, all while freelancing as a graphic designer. In 2018, I completed the UCLA Extension Design Communication Arts programme, which led me into the film and music industries and introduced me to the diverse cultural and creative community of Los Angeles.
Currently I do freelancing in graphic design, creating music album covers, film posters, and designing film titles. In 2023, together with my wife, a creative producer in theatre and entertainment, we set up a company to build a mobile app for unconventional explorations, which became an amalgamation of a wide range of our mutual interests in art and entertainment.
As a visual artist and researcher, I’m currently working on personal projects in typography, photography, immersive experiences, long-term data preservation, digital liberty, and self-sufficient IT.
In response to the changing face of the modern Internet, I have re-entered the world of web development with an updated approach. I rebuilt my personal website from scratch to create a lightweight and eco-friendly playground for my creative endeavours, and I like how it came out. I’m passionate about the concept of a digital garden — a private place on the internet where I can control my data and communicate without the governance of gate-keeping platforms. I’ve started blogging to share my experiences, ideas and thoughts about what interests me, while improving my non-verbal communication.
Overall, I’m proud to acknowledge my multi-potentiality and I’m determined to continue my passion for learning, exploring and sharing my findings with like-minded people.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Creativity to me is about learning new things and sharing ideas, the sense of constant exploration, curiosity, experimentation and adventure through known and unknown. It’s the thrill of sudden discovery. It’s the feeling of freedom and joy of being myself and following my own path that makes me feel alive.
I like the feeling that my work is a source of curiosity and interest for others. I was excited by the amount of feedback and attention I received when I presented my research on the Hollywood Star font to the members of TypeThursday community in Los Angeles back in 2020. I felt encouraged to continue developing the project, published it on my website and started receiving requests from people worldwide who wanted to use the font for birthday cakes, school graduations, and other creative projects. I have finally released the font under the SIL Open Font Licence and have made it available for everyone to download from my web site.
There is a certain sense of accomplishment in seeing my creative output benefit the community.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
Everyone is a creator, in their own way and to their own limits. There are no non-creatives, because we begin to create from the first moments of our existence. It’s the amount of pressure that every single person faces in the struggle for self-expression.
Sometimes I feel pressured to live up to expectations, to have a clear statement about my work, to maintain a social media presence, to demonstrate success and recognition, to have a clear personal style, and so on. All of this is important in a way, but I don’t like the idea that everything should be labelled and explained. It takes effort to remain authentic and true to yourself.
I often have to deal with misunderstandings, but I use them as an opportunity to test my ideas and improve communication. I know how hard it can be to grasp the idea of working on something that doesn’t have a clear and valuable outcome, or can’t be monetized. I’m fascinated by working at the intersection of disciplines, by discovering phenomena that are not easy to identify, by not knowing things rather than knowing them.
I try to leave room for interpretation and meet like-minded people who are interested in the same things I am, inviting them for dialogue and collaboration.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alexeystar.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kalliostro/
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/alexeystar/
Image Credits
Sadie Goff