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!