We were lucky to catch up with Zuzia Kudasik recently and have shared our conversation below.

Zuzia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

As a sustainable graphic designer, I emphasize my work’s innovative use of materiality and eco-friendly design practices. In short, this means that I aim to create printed design work that is carbon-neutral, and pushes the traditional boundaries of graphic design.

This led me to a design for change project, using recycled natural materials to comment on the harmful nature of current consumer waste habits. When working on my project, “Into the Sea: Poster Triptych”, I questioned the materials that are seen in traditional designs and showcased innovative printing and typography methods as sustainable alternatives. In this piece, I used moss, cyanotype, hemp net, and organic luffa to create posters that emphasize current waste habits. Check out the final piece at (zuziakudasikgd.com/portfolio/poster-triptych).

Zuzia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hello! I am Zuzia Kudasik, a Polish-American Graphic and Illustrative designer based in Denver. Over the past four years, I have had the pleasure of learning about Graphic Design, and through this, I have found a passion in life. While I have always been artistically inclined, I found that design work sparked my interest like never before. This led me to begin the graphic design program at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, where I immediately embraced the ways of “design thinking”. I am intrigued by communication, and through personal experiences, I knew that the field of efficient communication was the best choice for me. I am an ambitious graphic designer with experience in environmental and sustainable design practices. Growing up in the mountains, nature has always been a major source of inspiration for me, and I intend to bring organic processes to the design industry!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When COVID first hit I was only in my second semester of college, and honestly, I thought that I was going to have to drop out. The pandemic came at an extremely pivotal time in my life, and I simply could not imagine a college experience without the social aspect of it. However, after the first batch of online classes, I began to realize that maybe the pandemic was not a derailment, but rather just a part of my path. I began to notice that I was doing better in my online classes than I ever did in person and that finding my own motivation to work from home was the exact fire that I needed to find my passion. Eventually, I created a workflow that inspired me, and I was able to shift my perspective from ‘doing homework’ to building my dream portfolio. In hindsight, a traditional school setting was a lot more stressful for me, and although the pandemic seemed like the end of the world, I learned so much about myself as an artist that I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

As a full-time artist, there are a lot of things that I find to be rewarding, but I will narrow it down to my top two. For me, independence as a person is super important, but the creative community does an incredible job at collaborating and connecting various creatives. I think that the collaborative nature of this field is incredible, and I am constantly inspired by my peers and fellow creatives. Also, I think that being able to work for yourself is a huge reward as a creative since our workflow looks very different compared to other fields. I traditionally struggled with authority figures, so being my own boss every day and creating on my own time is something that I find very rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://zuziakudasikgd.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zuzia.creates/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zuzia-kudasik-3b68311b7/

Image Credits
Installation photo and Posters shot by James Reiman