Journal
BOND with Kirill
I'm Kirill, a Design Director with the Bond. My journey began in Russia, where I studied design and started my career. It then took me to the amazing town of Tallinn, Estonia, and now to New York. Interestingly, a couple of years ago, I discovered that my great-great-grandfather, originally from Germany, was an architect who also moved here and ended up spending most of his life in New York.
“The smaller the distance between design and people, the better.”
How did you end up becoming a designer?
My interest in design started around the age of four, when I was doing a lot of still-life drawing. I especially liked drawing objects with labels, like bottles of sunflower oil, so maybe something kind of snapped into place in my head during that period. Among my favorite toys were a few unusual ones: a plastic stencil panel with Arial-like Cyrillic alphabet and various kinds of Letraset. Even though I couldn’t yet write, I was always trying to create words and compositions.
My dad worked designing store windows and shop signs right after the Soviet Union collapsed—during the early years of capitalism and the rise of commercial graphic design in Russia. As a result, our house was always filled with Oracal stickers and letter cutouts.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Nothing special—I wake up, have calls, then more calls, and of course, design some things afterward. After finishing the practical part, I like to step out and move my body—for example walking—ideally at least 20,000 steps. The more I explore random neighborhoods, the more visual treasures I get as a reward.
After that, it's time for some instant content consumption to conclude my day: a dose of TikTok, Instafeed, or a random YouTube video about a topic I’ve never thought about before. This helps me understand what's happening in the world, how it evolves, how people think and react, and essentially, where we’re headed.
What do you love most about New York?
I absolutely love its rhythm—how different cultures, dreams, and ideas melt together into one authentic environment that inspires people to invest even more back into it, like some kind of perpetual motion machine. I appreciate how people in New York approach creation so unselfconsciously. Seeing the random signs and announcements that have clearly been made by someone without a design background, yet still so carefully crafted—it’s absolutely beautiful. It's like a child trying to copy a label with paints, but doing it in their own unique manner, free from prejudices and others' expectations.
What are you most proud of in your work?
The best thing is when your work comes to life, when people start using or interacting with it. The smaller the distance between design and people, the better. I don't really like it when the result is exalted as something off limits, meant only for a chosen few. In this sense, I absolutely love commercial packaging design and all kinds of prints because they have the added element of tactility. It's easier to convey aesthetics through them, and they have the most potential to become something many people will interact with.
“I think handcraft will always be in demand. It doesn't matter in what form”
How do you see the future of design?
I think handcraft will always be in demand—it doesn't matter what form it takes. I’m not necessarily talking about handcraft in the traditional sense, like hand-drawn illustrations or typography. More broadly, I mean something that can't be faked—unique, personal style will continue to carry significant weight. This will become more pronounced as we move further toward the automation of processes, and its value will increase. There always has to be someone to turn the gears.
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