Marcin Benedek
Marcin Benedek
Graphic designer / Cinematographer / Co-Founder of MB/MH
Warsaw, Poland
www.mbmh.pl
instagram @mbmh_studio
WHAT DO YOU DO?
“I am a graphic designer and cinematographer. ”
Together with a friend I have been running a creative studio, MB/MH, for five years already. The studio focuses on branding, web design and web development. We have been lucky to do branding and design for many great clients, a lot of creative people and institutions such as the Polish Pavilion at the Biennale in Venice. Several graphic design studios used our development services repeatedly. The first collaboration was with Think Work Observe from Italy, then a few others such as Worship from Canada, or Confederation from UK. Most of our work until now involved web projects, but we also work with print, animation, photography and promotional videos. We design titles for films.
WHAT STEPS DID YOU TAKE TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?
I studied sociology and cinematography. I have always been passionate about graphic design and art. I am what one could call a self-taught graphic designer. But it only means that I do not have a college degree in design, but I am a huge believer in learning and knowing the craft, so I learned it on my own. I had a lot of luck being contacted a few years back by Think Work Observe, amazing designers who gave me the opportunity to work for clients from abroad.
FOR OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR FIELD, WHAT DO THEY USUALLY LACK?
I am trying to get ahead of myself. Creative people are different, they have different approaches to problem solving, which is good. I am interested in the ones that are the best, who do not lack anything.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON RIGHT NOW?
Branding for a stomatologist. Web design for a sculptor that works with Carrara marbles. Web development for a United Kingdom based graphic design studio.
WHAT'S YOUR STYLE?
I prefer to think that the project dictates the style, even though looking from distance probably some style can be found in my works.
My website tells best what my approach is: www.mbmh.pl
I believe that creative people have the task of communicating emotions, sometimes a project needs to be bold and use energetic colours, other times it has to be calm and minimal. It would be stupid to stick to one aesthetics.
WE ARE ALL SLASHIES WITH MULTIPLE SKILLS, WHICH ONE DO YOU WISH YOU COULD DO MORE OFTEN?
Communication skills are probably the most important, it’s the number one condition of doing creative work. It’s like the saying that courage is the condition of development of all virtues. Creativity starts with communication.
WHAT IS FRUSTRATING YOU RIGHT NOW?
I learned the hard way, that no matter what you do, some people are just difficult, and you should learn the skill to see them coming and probably not work with them even if the subject is great.
If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
I have trouble delegating tasks. I like to be involved in too much things personally. I could hire someone to join my partner Max, who is responsible for most of development work. Or just to do all the work that I do, so that we could compare and choose what is best.
Let's bring out the time machine. What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I would not tell myself anything. Things turned out okay, so I would not like to spoil it.
If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Anything. Psychology, rhetorics, storytelling, possibilities are endless.
What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
I am looking for new clients for my studio MB/MH, for graphic design and development work. But we are open to be surprised with different creative opportunities. I also hope to do more video projects as a cinematographer.
DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL CLIENT.
I can describe an experience. Probably our best client found us and reached out to us, the Polish Pavilion in Venice. Then they were very nice and trusting in all stages of working together.
An ideal collaboration is when the client miraculously appreciates your work, even though the possibilities are endless.
WHAT IS YOUR HOURLY RATE, RETAINER, OR SALARY RANGE?
I do not think it’s of much use to specify an hourly rate. Everything depends on the projects. It also depends on the budget of the client. We work with people from different countries and their possibilities are not the same. We also value working for free on amazing projects. I recently made title design for free for a very nice short movie.
HOW SHOULD SOMEONE APPROACH YOU ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER?
Whatever you feel most comfortable with. For now here's my email.
HOW DO YOU STAY CREATIVE?
Anything beautiful is worth getting hurt for — Prince :)
But in reality, a practical advice would be that inspiration is in the doing not in waiting.
This member profile was originally published in February 2018.