Illiteracy, unprofessionalism and amateurism give birth to themselves.

Artemy Lebedev – designer, blogger, traveler and businessman.

Lebedev – wayward person, which combined a design studio and a cafe network. He drew the metro scheme and logo for the Bolshoi Theater. He is involved in many companies and projects in the field of design, advertising and marketing. The most famous of them: “Artemy Lebedev Studio”.
We picked up 9 comments about Artemy’s approach to his beloved business, to himself and to the people with whom he works.

1. Illiteracy, lack of professionalism and amateurism give birth to themselves.

In both business and personal development, success depends heavily on how seriously we take business. Yes, people start life with different social capital: someone in the wealthy, and someone in the ordinary families. But talent can be destroyed by laziness, budget – by poor management, dating – by a crappy reputation.

Diligence, a thirst for knowledge and professionalism in all respects lead up to the one who has neither a lot of money, nor innate abilities, nor an influential circle of friends.

2. Commercial demand seems to me a normal and natural consequence of what I do.

The logo of the burger “John Fedor”, which was developed by Artemy Lebedev’s studio. The story received a great response after Artemy called this logo one of his best projects. Subsequently, the customer refused the work performed..

Lebedev believes that any work should be paid, and each product can be sold. In 1991, he published a school newspaper with a classmate. Artemy was responsible for commercialization and printing. All materials were placed free of charge on the bulletin board, but schoolchildren paid for a subscription so that the newspaper was delivered to them personally.

So, two friends launched a modest business in conditions that initially did not provide for the existence of a market. Layout and printing of the newspaper became the foundation for his career. Lebedev later began to typeset books and draw logos..

3. Maybe I’m a bad businessman, but I never tried to sell something to the masses. We have a limited number of customers. These are people with whom you can chat in person. Many orders of Lebedev Studio seem incredible, because there was no order as such. We just did what someone liked.

Moscow metro logo designed by Artemy Lebedev Studio.

Artemy Lebedev says his studio is not working on a conveyor belt. Some projects arise on orders, and some are random. So it was with the Moscow metro – Artemy made the site metro.ru in 1996, having no connections with the metro leadership. But a good selection of content and design helped to gain an audience. The portal came people who loved the metro or worked in it. Later, when the metro was looking for contractors for corporate identity, Lebedev already had sufficient authority in this area.

4. Everything I do is natural for me.

A bottle of cold coffee from the cafe Artemy Lebedev on Bolshaya Nikitskaya.

Lebedev’s design studio makes the metro and Russian cities more understandable, and develops a style for companies. He also roasts coffee, sells sandwiches at vendors in Sheremetyevo and has a network of cafes in Moscow and Riga..

Artemy admits that such a synthesis of design and restaurant business is an accident. But this accident is the result of proper diversification. The studio is engaged in various things, but all of them are necessary for people: both design, and strong coffee, and tasty sandwiches.

5. It always seemed to me that it was not enough just to satisfy the taste of the crowd, but it was necessary to develop it.

Ossetia’s travel brand from Lebedev Studio.

Lebedev is an intellectual philanthropist. He says that one of the tasks of the studio is to educate the audience. Noting cool ideas in other countries or cultures, he is trying to develop them in Russia, taking into account local realities..

6. On each of our projects is written “Art. Lebedev Studio”, and then a list of those who worked on it. I’m not afraid that someone will call and lure people. They know: as soon as they change jobs, they will cease to be mentioned..

Employees of the Moscow office of the studio.

Lebedev has a strong personal brand, but appreciates the contribution of each person to the result: “no matter what we do – orange chips, mugs, a website – the project will bear the names of those who implemented it.” Major global brands do not do this – on the product you will see the logo and company name, but not a dozen names.

For managers and designers, this is an indicator of value, respect for their work. Someone wants his name to be mentioned, because he is vain, someone – because it’s nice to be on the same list with Lebedev. But what difference does it make if a person is doing his job well?

7. Only a general who himself was a soldier can lead a creative team.

Excerpt from the basic law (constitution) of Lebedev Studio.

Artemy is the boss who puts himself in the place of an ordinary designer. He sees professional failures and moments when you should not interfere with a person. An anti-corporate culture is established in the studio – if someone acts like a boss, he leaves. Best one who has a cool job.

As a leader, Lebedev meets with clients, counts money, monitors deadlines, but does not interfere with the creation. The company has no ranks, and employees do not know about each other’s salaries. They can only compare professional successes, not amounts. If the employee tells about his salary, he will be fired the next day..

8. If you do not know how, and you have nothing to show, but really want, take it and do it. I started that way.

The logo of the company “Exclusive Logistics”, developed by the studio. The authors stated that they intentionally made a “simple geometric logo.” The sign indicates the oversized transported goods..

Once Artemy Lebedev let slip that he began his career as a designer, not knowing what it was. He filled the portfolio with fake projects: he came up with companies, designed them logos, printed business cards.

The portfolio was convincing. Soon the first orders appeared. Gradually, Artemy replaced all the fictional projects with real ones, and began to rely on real experience..

This is not an example of forgery and deceit being good. This is an example that there are no right ways to start doing what you love. You can start without education, work experience, connections and other supporting factors. Nobody will remember them if you prove your competence in practice and continue to develop..

9. Simplicity for the sake of simplicity – an intellectual dead end. Many guys reread books about Apple, but not one – about how to go their own way, spit on Apple. Only with respect for beauty can real simplification be achieved.

Everyone knows that it’s convenient to use simple things when you don’t need to read instructions on several pages. Ingenious is simple, but in order to get to a good idea, you need to deeply explore the entire field of knowledge in which you work, and keep a fresh look. This is true for both entrepreneurs and employees: you can find an extremely simple and effective idea if you know market trends and are completely immersed in the process without looking at others.