In a way it all started in 1840 when my great grand-father founded a small goldsmith workshop in Poznan, Poland. The goldsmith workshop (and in time: a little jewellery shop) passed from generation to generation, surviving a great number of twists and turns on its way, with World War II and the Communist Era in the background. In the 70's my father, Wojciech Kruk took over the workshop, and after the fall of the communist system, transformed it into a modern company. The company, called W.Kruk became the largest chain of exclusive jewellery stores in Poland.
Yeah, you got it right: I'm talking about almost 200 years of family tradition here.
And there's another twist. 2012: that's the moment when my brother & I, the 5th generation in business, go on stage. We join forces and created from a scratch a brand new company called Ania Kruk. He's responsible for the business part, while I take care of the creative side: jewellery design, graphics, web and marketing.
Together, we write a new chapter in the same book.
Visit our website and online shop >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> www.aniakruk.pl
We don't like anonymous products and brands that consist of only a logo and a few marketing guidelines. We think that everything has it's story, and that story is worth telling. Emotions, personal approach and passion - that's what's behind ANIA KRUK. It's not un anonymous product, it's as personal as it can get: carefully designed (by me in collaboration with experienced goldsmiths), handcrafted in local small workshops, in our company run by me & my brother.
That's nothing new - you'd say. Designers have run boutiques since forever. Ok, but the thing is: we do it better. We do it more affordably. We work with different materials, like silicone, leather, brass, and gemstones - to show you that jewelry is fun, that you don't need gold and diamonds to have fashionable, quality jewellery. We have fun creating it for you. We hope you'll have fun wearing it!
100years.pl / website
A visual representation of the last 100 years of Poland - focused on the ethnic structure.
Illustration
I love drawing! I would like to have more time for it now. here you can see some old stuff :)
Sketchbook
I used to sketch people in trains. Here you have my small collection of drawings from 2011.
Arnie / typeface
Arnie is a text typeface designed for books and poetry. Due to its calligraphic origin, rather classical proportions and flat curves, it seems solid and stable. While big counters and varying line weight make it look light and airy in long texts.
Kotta / typeface
Kotta is a new and unusual text typeface that mixes the characteristics of an italic with legibility of a roman. / Thanks to financial support from Google, now you can download it for free from www.google.com/webfonts
Chico / typeface
I had the pleasure to work with Jose Manuel UrĂ³s on Chico typeface during my summer intership in Estudio Mariscal in 2010. Typeface was designed for "Chico y Rita" movie by Francisco Trueba - nominated to the Oscars in 2011.
Cookie is a script typeface, based on brush calligraphy. It has a little bit of the 1950s look, that makes you think about all the ads and pin-up girls from that time. It's sweet and friendly - but not too decorative. It includes Polish letters.
The development of the Cookie typeface was financially supported by Google Web Fonts, so now you can download it for free from here.
And if you want to know more about the design process you can read a short interview with me on the official Google Web Fonts blog.