I am a graphic designer, reacting on global changes. An imagemaker, creating impact with images. An educator, encouraging students to reach beyond limits.
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Jan Ciecierski, graphic designer, image maker, educator
I am a graphic designer, reacting on global changes. An imagemaker, creating impact with images. An educator, encouraging students to reach beyond limits.
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Design workshop – Creativity Through Disruption
Designers often approach their work linearly, defining the outcome at the creation of the design brief. Consequently, the end result often merely visualizes the predetermined idea agreed upon in the brief. While the design may meet standards, it frequently lacks originality and that spark that makes it unique. People tend to think along established paths,…
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Fulldome film “Beyond the Sky – The great space clean-up”
On December 1st, 2023, the premiere screening of the fulldome film ‘Beyond the Sky – The Great Space Clean-up,’ based on my graphic story and created by the Planetarium Noosphere team, took place at Planetarium Noosphere in Dnipro, Ukraine. The Ukrainian trailer can be viewed via the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8H9S6cRmx4 This fulldome film will be…
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Visual identities and key visuals
I design visual identities primarily for international organizations that focus on philanthropy, development aid, environmental development, and scientific topics, such as the WHO (World Health Organization), the ACP (The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States), POLIS (Cities and Regions for Transport Innovation), and the ICC (International Criminal Court). My biggest passion lies in creating…
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The strategic designer
I am currently preparing a semester for 2nd-year design students focused on strategy. In this module, the students will engage in real assignments provided by external partners and will learn how to apply strategies to achieve their goals. Throughout a series of six project lessons, students will acquire the skills to think and work strategically…
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Book illustration
The Nonexistent Knight by Italo Calvino I have been asked to create illustrations for one of my favourite books by Italo Calvino The Nonexistent Knight (Italian: Il cavaliere inesistente). A story about a knight that exists only as an empty armour. The book is about the struggle of being an empty armour, indifferent to emotions,…
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Storytelling in design
Storytelling plays an important role in both my teaching and my work as a designer. In my design classes, I use storytelling techniques as tools for inspiration. Within each interaction between a user and a design lies a story. Whether it’s the design of an exhibition, a book, a public space, or even an object,…
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Coaching the graduation projects
New Design and Attitude, 4th year students (2022) My role encompasses guiding students from the initial concept stage through project execution and final presentation. The goal of these graduation projects is to demonstrate that students are ready to enter the professional world by showcasing their ability to analyze the world critically, by defining their role…
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Speculative design – tutoring the 3rd year design students
I am fascinated by speculative design. It is a powerful tool that helps to conceptualize and visualize possible futures to gain a better understanding of the present. That is why I was extremely enthusiastic about the opportunity to tutor the speculative design semester for 3rd-year students. The project consisted of eleven lessons, during which I…
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Friendship in Lightspeed
I was inspired to start writing this story while observing the night sky. I am fascinated by the fact that light and the speed of light allow us to observe the history of the universe from its beginning until now. When you gaze upon stars and planets, you witness the incredible distances that are physically…
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Graphic designer
The world is changing – culturally, socially, politically, economically, environmentally… As a designer I have the urge to react on these changes and translate these inaccessible, invisible, incomprehensible changes into an understandable visual story.
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Educator
The world is constantly changing, so is design. As an educator, I currently work at the St. Joost School of Art & Design (Breda & Den Bosch, The Netherlands), where I help students to critically look on the changing world, discover the dynamic design practices and find their own position and role as a designer…
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Image maker
I think in images. Creating images gives me the possibility not only to form an experience, but to communicate a message to people from all over the world independent of their cultural background. I am fascinated by the idea that I can create an impact using only simple tools like paper, pens and paint. As…
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Picture book on space pollution
I conceptualised, designed and illustrated a picture book on space debris and the interference of human in space. Currently, in collaboration with Noosphere NGO, we are working on the development of an augmented reality book and an animation specifically designed for a planetarium. “Beyond the Sky – The great space clean-up”This book will take you…
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Collaboration with Noosphere
Together with Noosphere – a space NGO in Dnipro – I am creating an augmented reality version of my book “Beyond the Sky – The great space clean-up” and an animation that will be presented in planetaria.
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Presentation and workshop on space pollution
I gave a presentation and workshop on space pollution for kids, at Stanza International Bookshop in The Hague. The story of the presentation was based on the picture book I wrote and illustrated “Beyond the Sky – The great space clean-up”. I used paper cut out illustrations from my book, to tell the story of…
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Creative thinking workshop
As a designer and educator I have a fascination for developing methodologies and learning processes that activate creative thinking. That is the reason why I made a research on methodologies that stimulate thinking and have created a one-day creative thinking workshop for students. In multiple assignments students were generating unexpected ideas by using methods that…
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Narrative arc
Exercise: Design a simple 3d model of your project (depending on your project, it can be a product, a situation, an exhibition, an intervention in public space). The 3d model must be in scale of a small puppet – for example lego or playmobil. Take a camera and document the interaction between your puppet (the…
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Inter-cultural city park: Beijing – Breda – Den Bosch
Workshop: 2017, inter cultural hybrid parkA 5-day workshop organised for the CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing) and Akv St’Joost (Breda and Den Bosch) students. The area of focus were three parks, in Breda, Den Bosch and in Beijing. The places were chosen because of their similar recreation purpose, but due to the different…
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Clean space – workshop
Workshop: 2017, Clean space workshopA 5 day workshop for students. Students were engaged to conceptualize and design a campaign to give attention to the problem of space debris. I invited artists from the European Space Agency artist in residence program and an analog astronaut to give inspirational speeches, and feedforward on the projects.
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Visual storytelling
A 4-day blended workshop on visual storytelling for students. In this workshop the students created their own visual story. It was a visual adventure where visual experiments and intuitive work were standing in the foreground. The story and concept were shaped by making images and experimenting with images. I invited several speakers (illustrators, animators, designers…
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Creating a design process
An essential part of each design project (both academic and professional), is the managing of the design process. In order to lead a process from initiation to completion, a designer must have insight into the planned progress of all project phases. The designer must be able to anticipate how much time is needed to complete…
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How do I write a design research question?
An effective design question has an idea-finding potential. It offers the chance to answer the question in a variety of ways. It invites many new ideas, possibilities and actions. It frames the topic, problem and the aim, but gives a lot of freedom for innovative thinking.
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Ladder of abstraction
Ladder of abstraction is one of my favourite methodes, that I use with my students on a regular basis. This method can be used to: explore a still unknown subject, argue a design statement, break through designers’ blocks, and give new directions for further design research. Ladder of abstraction is a method that allows you…
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Teaching critical design thinking
I teach the 2nd, 3rd year students and accompany the 4th year graduation projects. My focus lies on tutoring and supervising of projects from the conceptualisation to implementation. The lessons and activities are build on the five steps of design thinking: Empatize Visualising own design process. Considering the phasing of the projects, what will be…
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How to come up with a project idea?
There are various methodologies that I frequently use in my lessons, that help students to develop ideas for a project theme. Some methods have a more analytical approach, and some are based on direct intervention and experiments. Research current Topics The most obvious source of inspiration can be the newspaper. Search for current topics (science,…
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Storytelling
Introducing storytelling and various storytelling-methodologies plays an important part in the lessons and workshops I give. You can see every design as a story, because we experience it over time. A building or interior is a sequence of physical spaces through which you walk; An exhibition takes the visitor literally on a curated journey through…
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Usability testing
Usability testing is of great importance in the design process. During a course, I ask students to facilitate at least two usability tests – an intern test with fellow students playing the user, and a second test with the real user. By testing a design, the designer can easily evaluate the prototype by its’ communication,…
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