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When we introduced Magdalena Ksiezak on our New Kids On The Blog column back in 2013, the graphic designer was freelancing and had started experimenting with papercraft in her spare time. But how far can you take a humble sheet of paper? Well, when Magda’s vision and skills are involved, the possibilities are infinite.
By 2015, Magda’s unique and meticulously executed work had her in the door at Yelldesign, who you might know for their epic stop-motion animations and mind-bogglingly brilliant paper props! ‘It was there that my approach shifted and I was able to push my papercraft skills and focus on developing in areas such as storytelling in advertising, art direction and post-production,’ she tells.
More recently, Magda has been putting her honed skills to work freelancing for brands like Perrier, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, The Melbourne Museum, AFL Kids, and Dulux. The latter was a particularly memorable collab and showcases cute DIY projects. ‘From the get-go, there was a lot of mutual respect for everyone’s role and it just felt like a really great group of like-minded people coming together to make good things,’ Magda reflects. She’s also recently teamed up with Fitzroy-based agency Pretty Neat next, where things got a whole lot bigger! ‘I really enjoyed taking on a challenge to make some large-scale props,’ she says, of her human-sized (!) controller, lips and asterisk designs.
When Magda’s not working with brands, agencies and their clients or teaching, she’s trying to carve out time to pursue her own projects, including one ongoing project inspired by sneakers (!) and different eras of music. ‘Personal projects help with keeping momentum, of course sometimes that’s easier said than done!’ We can’t wait to see an exploration of Nike Air Max 90s, soundtracked to Salt&Pepa!
In the meantime, Magda will be hosting a live demonstration and also doing a live Q&A with Lucy in Melbourne early next month. ‘I’m really excited about being involved in the Meet The Makers at Mercedes me sessions, I think being open and sharing information is really important in the creative community, and if I can help with any tips or tricks, then it’ll make me very happy!’ she says. ‘I think with papercraft, people often think of folding origami, making geometric shapes or creating paper flowers; I hope to show that my process differs slightly and give a glimpse into the way I work start-to-finish to create imagery – essentially I’ll be sharing the hacks that I’ve learnt along the way!’
Meet the Makers at Mercedes me: Magda Ksiezak
Demonstration and Q&A hosted by The Design Files
Saturday October 6th, 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Mercedes me
525 Collins Street (Cnr Collins St and King St)
Melbourne, Victoria
Tickets $10, limited spaces – bookings essential.
