Creativity cannot be bought, it cannot be faked and it cannot be generated without imagination. The very nature of design is to bring something new into the world. There is an ancient Chinese word, Wei Ji that translates as both crisis and opportunity, and it is deep inside this juxtaposition of meaning that a creative mind lives. Aleksandra Lipska grew up without wealth or excess, but what she would gain from a life without those much-coveted luxuries is wealth beyond any monetary value. Aleksandra found her imagination.
Finding a job and earning an income is just part of life but as often happens with life, sometimes it also means prioritising a regular paycheck over the path you truly wish to follow. It is a noble and honourable endeavour to commit to taking responsibility for your own independence, yet many creative minded people find it impossible to ignore the frustrated artist within.
Alex has been working in retail for several years, maintaining her own quality of life but her creative voice has also been growing and growing until finally, she couldn’t ignore it any longer.
“I wanted to change my profession to something where I can create and express myself, and that’s how I decided to enroll in the Academy.”
Growing up in Poland, Alex was not a child to complain about what she didn’t have, instead she would find a way to create her own version of a toy she couldn’t buy or a game that they couldn’t get their hands on.
“I would, for example, make paper dolls with replaceable outfits, build a spy-computer out of cardboard, do Christmas decorations out of crêpe paper or simply just draw.”
From Poland to Ireland to Switzerland, Alex is clearly open to trying new things and embracing change. She is also a naturally curious person with not only an ability to figure out how to make her own toys, but also the intellect to figure out the basics of tech without much guidance. These are all skills that feed into the mind of a graphic designer. Every design is a problem that needs to be solved, and every solution is a creative one. It is as though Alex was destined to pursue graphic design.
The creativity came naturally as she always liked to “draw, and I liked art and music classes, and during my school time I did a lot of sketches”. But problem solving is key.
“Besides being interested in art since early years, I was also very good in IT classes. I got my first computer for my First Communion; At the time we didn’t yet have connection to the internet in my house and the operating system on that PC was Linux. As you can imagine, there was not much that a child can do with a computer without available functioning games or internet, so I would just learn how computer works in general, what are its possibilities, what programs are installed.”
And so, she found her path. The flexibility of the Academy makes it an ideal option for those who need to continue working full-time. People have responsibilities, busy home and work lives yet still possess strong ambitions to pursue a creative career.
“I was looking for a possibility of getting a higher education while working full-time; it was important to me to find an affordable and professional course that fits my current schedule. It felt like the Academy has everything that I’m looking for, especially that I still have difficulties with German language and like this I can learn in a language that I’m fluent in.”
Along with work and life, timing is also of the essence. We tend to want to rush into things that excite us and while enthusiasm is a great motivator, it can also lead to unforeseen missteps. As Alex learns more about graphic design, there are life lessons that she is absorbing by osmosis, and one of those is the clarity of hindsight.
“I also learned that to some people, like me, it requires time to figure out what we want to do in our lives and which path to take, and I think it’s important to give yourself time to figure it out, instead of feeling the social pressure to organize your life and future before you even know who you really are.”
And these wise words are an important confidence builder for anyone starting a new journey. The time is neither right nor wrong; it’s simply a personal decision. Learning is a process and takes hard work, dedication and a willingness to open up to new ideas, which of course is something Alex is clearly good at.
“To me, being able to learn and expand my knowledge, as well as self-improvement, are really the most rewarding things in life, it just makes me happy to feel that I am growing. Of course, positive feedback from the Academy’s tutors or students is very significant as well, it proves to me that I’m improving in the right direction and it keeps me motivated to follow with the rest of the course.”
As Alex progresses through her course, she is learning about the details of design and the value of details. Every pixel and every serif has a place on that page, and finding the confidence to commit, and the eye for the tiny little spaces, can be a huge decision in the process. But eventually, all of this will come together as the repertoire of the professional designer Alex will become.
“Ideally, I would like to work for myself as a freelancer or have my own design studio, but I’m sure that with the right team I would also enjoy working for an agency. I guess working for myself would give me more freedom, artistically and timewise, which is not easy to achieve in a constantly busy, rushing world.”
And again, when her time is right, she will move in the direction her design life takes her. There are endless choices of specialist areas in graphic design and Alex is embracing all the opportunities her studies can offer.
“I feel really comfortable with video editing, and I would absolutely love to edit films or music videos. At the same time, I’m also interested in computer games and that would be another area, where I would be happy to be involved in, but I would also feel great with designing movie posters, logos or ad banners.”
With the world at her fingertips, an innate talent for design and a growing set of skills – anything is possible.
