Today we’d like to introduce you to Anastasia Temirkhan.
Hi Anastasia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure where I am on this journey—because I believe being a designer means living in a state of continuous voyage. I started as a product graphic designer, and over the years, found myself increasingly drawn to branding and visual identity—especially when working with cultural institutions and small businesses.
In 2022, my life took a major turn. I moved from Moscow, Russia, to Lugano, Switzerland. Starting over in a new country demands strength, time, and a great deal of patience. I arrived with no network, no friends, and a cultural context I did not yet understand. I felt a bit unmoored. To ground myself, I threw everything into poster-making—sharing work online, submitting to competitions, and building relations with the local community.
It was tough. But the openness and generosity of the graphic design world helped me integrate. I also began to understand that the methods that once worked for me no longer applied—I had to adapt and evolve. That shift ultimately led me to set up my own independent practice, which now connects me with clients from Europe, the Middle East, and even South Korea.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Well, it depends on how you look at it — I am still walking this road, but it has not been without its struggles and it is up to you to decide how to tackle them. We live in a time of rapid shifts—cultural, technological, even emotional. That requires staying open to change.
Some challenges are internal. I tend to be self-critical and regularly ask myself: What defines my creative voice? Is my visual language still relevant? Those questions can be hard, but they also push me forward.
Other challenges are more external—starting from scratch in a new place, building a network, navigating uncertainty. But I have also experienced a lot of generosity and connection. Social media, in particular, has made some amazing international collaborations possible—relationships I could not have imagined even five years ago.
I am grateful for the people who have helped shape my path—especially my mentor Peter Bankov, Anna Kulachek, and many colleagues. Their belief in experimentation and honesty continues to inspire me.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in creative direction, branding, and visual identity design. My work spans art exhibitions, coffee roasters, cultural institutions, and even vinyl covers for recording labels. On the surface, these might seem unrelated—but they are all tied together by my passion for the arts, authenticity and visual storytelling.
Posters are central to my practice. I often begin an identity system by designing a poster—it is a space where I can explore techniques and aesthetics that later translate into a broader, coherent visual language.
My style is grounded in simplicity, rhythm, and essential forms. I love combining typography with abstract shapes in a way that speaks to the emotional core of a brand or project. A lot of my inspiration comes from the world around me—objects on the street, textures in nature, cultural juxtapositions. I am endlessly curious, and that curiosity fuels the individuality of my projects.
A recent highlight is a project launched with my colleague Mikhail Lychkovskiy in Times Square, NYC: a collaborative tribute to our mentor Peter Bankov to celebrate the 5-year anniversary of his school. Inspired by the film Paris, je t’aime, 12 of us—alumni from different backgrounds—each created an 8-second motion poster.
My own contribution features origami red horses, a metaphor for ideas in motion—uncontainable, alive. They charge through a vibrant composition with bold typography and layered brushstrokes, anchored by the phrase “Where ideas run free & wild.” I also integrated Chinese characters (師傳) meaning “mentor,” as a nod to cross-cultural transmission of knowledge.
I collaborated with Enrico Gisana to animate the poster, and seeing it play in Times Square reminded me that creative work at its best is a dialogue: between mentors, collaborators, viewers, cultures, and ideas.
What sets you apart from others?
Well, my laugh is quite loud and distinctive! I would like to think that my approach with clients is rather personal. I do not just take a brief at face value—I ask questions, challenge assumptions, and try to get to the core of what truly matters to them. This may be demanding at first, but it is key to developing something distinctive that resonates years down the line.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I am fascinated by the relationship between creativity and personality, so I gravitate toward anything that speaks to that. Lately, I have been inspired by interviews with Ryuichi Sakamoto and contemporary Asian artists.
I also make a point of combining practice and continuous education with a certain frequency, to the extent that is it possible. I make time to participate in inspiring workshops that offer new inputs and insights. These couple of years I particularly enjoyed the Typographic Printing Program by Dafi Kühne (Näfels, Switzerland), Weltformat Festival Workshop with Balmer Hählen (Lucerne, Switzerland), the Design Summer with Jumping He, Anna Kulachek, and Florian Lamm (Hangzhou, China), the Summer Workshops: Poster Design Basel (Switzerland). I also regularly participate to courses organised by the Poster School of Peter Bankov (Prague, Czech Republic). Conferences like last year’s AGI Congress in Basel can be particularly inspiring.
Over the years I have learnt that everyone has a story to tell and there are always takeaways one can learn from. Also, our practice is evolving fast and being connected with people from different spheres offers useful insights. Honestly, I am always happy to grab coffee with people I admire and I am not afraid to reach out on social media to connect with someone doing cool work.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://atemirkhan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/th.aristocat/
Image Credits
Photo by Erica Monzali, Min Seop Kim, Art innovation gallery
