We’re continuing the series dedicated to our beloved creative alumni that we’ve managed to meet along our school’s journey and develop in a feisty creative family, with ideas and jokes flying around our heads. A place where we often brainstorm is in our #Above106 group, our place for future prospects and projects, a way of working on paying it forward to the younger creatives paving their way into the industry.

Today we’ve got Bogdan Petean on focus: a shy, reserved presence, but with a restless creative mind. With great attention to detail, he managed to get second place in our Cannes Young Lions Local Design competition, alongside his colleague, Irina Serbulea. Together they formed Jinkies, the duo that has fun solving briefs with every clue discovered on their way to design the perfect story. You can check out their extraordinary work, here.

This summer, he joined us at our TalentBet/CannesWeek event as a speaker on an important subject Typography- How to select, combine and work with details. This design element is essential for graphic designers, not only to build personality, convey a message but also to grab the viewer’s attention, build a harmonious brand and establish an identity. His talk was extremely helpful to the participants and we are glad to see his beautiful evolution. Let’s see what he has to say about his experience!

1.  What makes you happy at work and beyond?

The fact that I can make others happy, makes me happy. I always put a bit of my soul into the work I do, and this is something that brings value to the final product. The job that I have has this superpower of inspiring and helping people, and this fulfills me.

2. A childhood story announcing the creative person you are today.

I’ve always been drawn to this artistic side, drawing and painting anywhere, anytime, and everywhere. The world was my artistic expression playground. One of the more unconventional mediums that I’ve painted on are rocks, which inspired me constantly. I remember that I had a small exposition at some point when I was in kindergarten.

3. A trend / pre-trend you smell in the air and you would like to embrace & promote.

Honestly, I don’t follow trends when I work – in general, I rely on my intuition and experience, but if I would have to choose, retrofuturism is one of the trends that I’ve even used in one of the competition briefs.

4. An inspiration source that always gets you in a creative mood.

I find inspiration in everything – books, comics, street art, dance, film, traveling, sports, but music inspires me no matter the mood that I’m in. From the lyrics to the beat or the video, these are elements that give me the right mood to create.

5. A project you’ve done and people had a crush on it.

I think that the poster that I made in 2018 for the show Fear the Walking Dead. This one had the biggest reach on social media at the time, being appreciated by everyone that saw it.

6. A local brand that makes your life brighter, better, nicer.

Porc is clearly one of the brands that I love the most, for multiple reasons. One – because is created by Deliric, an artist that I really appreciate for his creative mindset and for his versatility. Two – I resonate with the brand values and with the visual style. Three – I’ve grown up with this brand from day one. Four – it inspires me and it gives me hope that I can make something creative, different, and commercially viable even in our country.

6. What did you like most about The Alternative School experience?

The small community that was born after this experience, even if we’ve worked remotely. A lot of creative people, full of energy, enthusiasm, and really awesome. And also the fact that I  strengthen the friendship with Ana, with which I resonated and worked really well – it was a match made in heaven.

7. What was your favorite talk and why?

When I grow up I wanna be just like Davor Bruketa, that’s for sure. Practically, this man is exactly what I picture a creative should be like – with contagious energy, a bit of craziness, lack of consciousness (in a good and calculated way), and a loooot of imagination.

8. How did you react when you found out your position in the final top?

Honestly, I froze, I didn’t know how to react. Before knowing the final results, in my mind, we were either on the podium or on one of the last spots. But apparently, the jury decided that we were good enough for the podium.

9. What was the most challenging part?

For me, the George brief was kinda hard. We were oscillating between a series of ideas, and every time we were discussing one, we either thought that it was genius, or really bad. In the end, we developed two final ideas, which were I think equally good – that was the moment that was harder for us to pick one. Even now when I think about them I don’t know if we made the right choice, but hey, that’s the beauty of the competition.

10. Why do you recommend this experience?

As a creative, you have to push your limits constantly, and this is a perfect opportunity to do so. This, and the fact that you can stand out from the crowd and use your abilities in a competitive and creative setup.

11. Your message for the Romanian creative community:

Thanks for inspiring me and for constantly pushing the industries boundaries. See you at the top!

Photos from Bogdan’s personal archive.

Featured image, courtesy of Dragos Toader. The photo was captured during his shooting with participants at The Alternative School for Creative Thinking trainings.

For his portfolio, click here.