Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Marek Hosek. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Marek, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.
I would say starting a non-profit benefit called “Art For Health”. A decade ago I went on a trip to Haiti with a good friend of mine as a photographer. I came back forever changed and wanted to create something which would help the people of Haiti. A group of my friends and I put on a benefit show with the artwork we created. The show raised $30K and is still going to this day. The million dollar mark is getting closer and closer.
We are approaching our 12th benefit this October and are super excited for what the future will bring. All proceeds will go directly to our non-profit organization https://community-empowerment.org. The funds help to send medical staff and artists into various communities to help set up systems for healthcare.
It’s an amazing group of people and I am so happy we are still going strong after all these years.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
Creating is a part of my every day life. Each day I wake up and have to make something or else the day is not complete. Wether it’s a digital piece of art, typographic exploration, a poem, a painting or a whole branding program. Making stuff is part of my DNA and I would not be filled without it.
In 1998, I applied to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago based on my portfolio and got into the program. Everything changed after that. I started learning fine art and transferred into the visual Communication program. I fell in love with graphic design. It was a medium where I combine all the art mediums and create a bigger story.
After school, I jumped right into working with some of Chicago’s top Agencies and finally ended up running my own shop. I have been on my own now for over two decades, navigating through the peaks and valleys.
I’ve worked on branding programs, advertising, packaging, digital design, fine art pieces, installations and even created original music. I think I’m just getting started in my career and cannot wait to see what’s next.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
This is super interesting to me. I have been creating digital art pieces for the last decade and always wanted a platform where I can trade and sell my digital art. In fact, I am creating new pieces which I will be selling as NFT’s soon.
The meta/digital world is here to stay and is not going away anytime soon. Creators must adapt and make the best of what these tools have to offer. It will be another exciting platform for creatives to flex creative muscles. I am pretty excited about it.
We have to make sure to keep living in reality and not just the virtual world. Keep on making things with your hands and smelling the flowers in this beautiful world. No VR will ever replace that!
Have you ever had to pivot?
Working on my own for two decades taught me to shift many times over. A big lesson, don’t get too comfortable. Just because you have a big fish client does not mean they will be there forever. I can count on one hand the number of times this happened to me. Had a cushy client with consistent work stream and BAM. They pulled the plug on me. Had to close my studio and work in the basement again!
I depend on smaller clients keeping my business going instead of one big fish. There is an old saying in my Czech language, “It’s better to have a constant drip instead of an annual big rain storm”. Have many smaller projects vs one big one. I am still learning from my mistakes and am hoping to get it right one day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mhdezign.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marekhosek/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marekhosek/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClj1Bi4zhDmOyB3JFAGnLSQ
Image Credits
Marek Hosek