Design — is a process of cognition, ordering, and reducing entropy. In design, we manage the unknown, discover and structure it.

manageunknown

Yan Zaretsky

art-director and designer

I manage design teams, consult designers and directors

Interfaces & web design, digital and offline branding

I lead complex projects, focusing on business value and user needs

Design

Product and Applications
Web (custom and no-code)
Branding
Seal
I design projects at all stages: developing a brief with the client, conceptual design, layout, and production supervision.

I work systematically, using design as a method for solving business problems: defining business needs, establishing design evaluation criteria, and iterating until the goals are achieved. I immerse myself in the objectives and specifics of each project, paying attention to detail, and holding myself accountable for the results.

Management

Design-team
Projects
Clients
I manage design teams. I help designers collaborate with each other and with other departments. I establish workflows and methodologies based on the company's needs and the project's maturity. I train, mentor, and inspire designers.

I manage the project's workflow. I launch and fine-tune the DASH1 system design. I ensure a controlled process and results across three stages: operational, tactical, and strategic.

Consultations

For designers
For managers
For business
For businesses: auditing the current state of design, mapping out project development, reviewing the design department's principles and methodology. Developing design evaluation criteria and effective interactions between the design and business teams. Professional development and lectures for the design team.

For designers and managers: mentoring, portfolio reviews, project audits, career path adjustments, identifying growth opportunities, consultations on working in a team or individually, or freelancing.

Read more →

Work experience and portfolio

Art-director with hands-on design.

I lead several project teams:
14 designers
4 developers
2 illustrators

Download CV
Customer or project
Year
Role
Context
GRAD
2025 ← 2020
Art-director
Launch of a service for geologists, a stage of hypotheses and active development
St. Petersburg Digest
2025 ← 2018
Art-director
Launch of a periodical, design-layout and concept development
Praxis Group
2024 ← 2019
Art-director
Leading project teams, creating concepts for annual reports
1+N
2021 ← 2020
Art-director
Concept and design of a corporate monitoring system
NWCC
2020 ← 2014
Art-director
Supporting the company in the communications and digital environment
Mad Espresso Team
2015 – 2020
Art-director
Launching a coffee shop, developing a concept, and scaling
Loudy
2019
Senior designer
Launching a Music Startup, Forming a Business Model
Grower Cosmetics
2019
Designer
Branding, launch, and development of organic cosmetics
MuseumFabergé
2018 ← 2014
Designer
Developing the museum after opening, launching temporary exhibitions and events
Cascara
2017
Art-director
ERP system for managing a coffee shop chain. Web + iOS app
Terminal Design
2013
Designer
Project work for the agency's clients
Erarta
2012 ← 2010
Designer
Opening of the museum, formation of new directions

Achievements

Awards

Jury

Speeches and lectures

Year
Event
Topic
2025
AVA Digital Tour, St. Petersburg
With the current or against the wind
Feedback
Networking show about design
H, career.talks
Emotions vs. Rationality: How Can a Designer Find Their Way?
2024
Design View, St. Petersburg
Design topology
Space
Pendulum: A Design Method for Projects of Any Complexity
Design-weekend, NN
Autonomous designer map
2023
Dprofile Lecture Hall No. 35, St. Petersburg
Passionarity in design
Kolesa Group
Graphic design in the product
Dprofile Lecture Hall No. 15, St. Petersburg
Perfect design doesn't work
GO! Deep Learning
The dichotomy of creativity and design
Design View, Moscow
The pendulum as a matrix of the design-process
Design-weekend, Suzdal
Design-file. Interview with Sergey Gurov
Design-weekend, Suzdal
Dprofile design-review
Design-weekend, Suzdal
Design Phenotype

Publications and exhibitions

Year
Publication
Information
Project
2021
International Yearbook Brands & Communication Design Vol.1, 2021/2022
RedDot Edition, 2021, p.540, 769
Grower Cosmetics
Wrap It Up
Sandu Publishing Co., Ltd., 2021, p.300
Grower Cosmetics
Europapier
Documentation Aspect
Paper and Design
Grower Cosmetics
Seoul International Book Fair
Documentation Aspect
Frankfurt Book Fair
Documentation Aspect
Skillbox Media
Documentation Aspect
2016
Visual Harmony: Proportional Relationships in Graphic Design
Sendpoints Publishing, 2016, p.152–153
Old School
2012
2nd photobiennale of contemporary photography
Russian Museum
Photo
2011
Stability
Erarta
Painting
2008
Homo bonus
Social poster exhibition, St. Petersburg State University
Poster

Clients

Long-term clients
Gazprom Neft Scientific and Technical Center
Digital Modeling Laboratory of St. Petersburg State University
Gazprom Central Station
Aspect Engineering
Praxis Group
MuseumFabergé
Grower Cosmetics
SPb Digest
Erarta
Mad Espresso Team
North-West Coffee Company
For work inquiries

Personal projects

Workshop ↗

Coworking space for designers
masterskaya.design
I'm one of the founders of the "Workshop" project — a designer coworking space in St. Petersburg. It's for designers who need a workspace and a professional team. We connect, organize design events and meetups, and publish our own Journal. Contact us if you'd like to join us, or just drop by and meet us.

Design, Life, Dark Rum ↗

Telegram channel
t.me/munkdesign
Telegram channel where I write mainly about design. Announcements of lectures, reflections on the profession, cases and working details of projects. With irony, but also with a thought and self-reflection. Only in russian language.

Shimmer Stories ↗

Handmade home decorations
shimmerstories.ru
A family project in which I am the designer)
Handmade knitted home decorations made from premium and eco-friendly materials. I'm responsible for the brand and the most beautiful packaging.
I also acted as a producer for — Shimmer Stories, which released folk audio fairy tales on streaming platforms. Simply because it's awesome!