Design management – a journey of pixels, passion, and perfection

Jul 8, 2024 | Design

Design management – a journey of pixels, passion, and perfection

Edit Palinkas  /  July 8, 2024

Our design for ImPulzus Creative Music Lab

If you know me, you know I’m a stickler for details. Design management is my playground, and I approach it with the precision of a conductor leading a symphony. Every pixel matters, and every element has its place. But let’s be real – this craft isn’t for the faint-hearted. I often hear, “I don’t have the patience for this,” or “Why does it take so long to get everything just right?” And my personal favorite, “Why can’t you just make it look good already?”

Here’s the thing: if you’re only worried about making something look good, you’re missing the point. Design management is about creating a perfect balance of form and function. It’s about making sure that every design element serves a purpose, aligns with the client’s vision, and resonates with the audience. When you start thinking about the project this way, you begin to see the bigger picture. You visualize the end product, feel the satisfaction of a job well done, and that’s what keeps me going through the countless hours of tweaking, adjusting, and perfecting.

Thinking globally, acting locally

One of my guiding principles is thinking globally while acting locally. In our interconnected world, a design might be viewed by someone on the other side of the planet. This global perspective shapes every project at Divisart, ensuring our work resonates across cultures and languages. By finding common ground, we create designs that speak a universal language, while still retaining a unique touch that sets them apart.

The personal touch

Every project I take on is a reflection of my personal commitment to excellence. Clients often say, “That’s why we ask you; we need that look.” It’s a look that combines professional polish with a bit of personality. I believe the details matter immensely – like arranging a symphony where every note and rest are perfectly placed. People notice when something is off, and when they ask, “What happened?” I’m glad to say, “That wasn’t me!”

The balancing act: clients and creativity

Working with clients can sometimes be a balancing act. Our interests might not always align perfectly, and it can be a challenge to marry their vision with my perfectionist tendencies. However, this process is also an opportunity for collaboration and growth. By educating clients about the importance of certain design elements, we help them see the value in every choice we make. This collaborative journey is essential to finding the perfect matches where our skills and their needs align seamlessly, ultimately leading to a shared vision of excellence.

The art of strategic planning

Design management is no small feat – it’s a complex dance of strategy, creativity, and precision. Our primary goal is to align every design effort with your business objectives, driving growth and success. It’s about creating a strong, consistent brand identity that resonates with your audience and stands out in a crowded market. We also prioritize user experience, crafting intuitive and engaging designs that captivate and satisfy.

Collaborative integration

The process begins with strategic planning, laying a solid foundation by aligning projects with your business goals and brand identity. Coordination and collaboration among designers, clients, and departments are key to integrating ideas seamlessly. Quality control ensures we maintain high standards from concept to execution, guaranteeing consistency and excellence. Efficient resource management—handling time, budget, and human resources – keeps projects on schedule and within budget.

Harmonizing vision and practicality

But let’s not sugarcoat it – balancing creativity with constraints like budget and timelines is challenging. It requires clear communication, flexible problem-solving, and a lot of patience. Ensuring stakeholder alignment through regular updates and transparency is crucial to keep everyone on the same page. Staying current with trends and technology means we’re always learning and adapting, while maintaining consistency across platforms demands clear guidelines and standards.

The rewarding journey

This journey, while sometimes challenging, is incredibly rewarding. It’s about more than just making things look good – it’s about making every design choice count, creating something that truly reflects and enhances your brand. It’s about the satisfaction of seeing a project come to life, knowing every pixel is just right. And that’s what makes all the effort worthwhile.

Our design for Romaversitas Foundation

The Journey Never Ends

Jun 23, 2024 | Personal

The Journey Never Ends
How Being on the Move Boosts My Career

Edit Palinkas  /  June 23, 2024

People are always asking how I manage to be constantly on the go. Honestly, it’s pretty simple — I just need my laptop, camera, and internet. That’s it! I can work from anywhere in the world. I don’t just live in multiple cities; I’m always hopping across Europe, chasing international connections, projects, and new inspirations. And get this — I do my best work on a train. I’m actually on a train right now writing this. So, here are all the reasons why I keep moving so much:

Diverse inspirations and creative stimulation

Traveling is like an all-you-can-eat buffet of cultures and artistic styles, which significantly enhances my creative work. The fresh perspectives and unique elements I encounter get seamlessly incorporated into my projects. As a photographer, I am particularly enchanted by different cities, landscapes, and cultures. Whether I’m capturing the vibrant streets of Berlin or the serene landscapes of the Swiss Alps, each location offers a unique source of inspiration. Countless graphic ideas spring from my travels, and I love integrating the forms of these places into my designs. It’s especially exciting to consider local influences when designing clothing patterns and plan a collection tailored to a specific location, city, or even country.

Building a global network

What I’m about to say may sound cliché, but it’s truly fundamental. As a cultural project manager and creative professional, building a diverse network is crucial. Constantly moving allows you to meet new people, forge new partnerships, and collaborate with a variety of professionals. This can open doors to international projects, unique collaborations, and a broader audience for your work. This year, I’ve already attended major international conferences and exhibitions in Paris and Berlin. Especially if you’re new to this field, like me, the influx of information can be overwhelming. It hits you hard, and it takes days to process and sort through all the impulses.

This is when notes and project ideas come into play, and I write down everything. If I’m diligent, I can distribute them in time, organizing when to focus on what, trying to systematize the knowledge I suddenly acquired. However, what’s even more important is maintaining the new connections you’ve made. You can’t let them cool off. It’s an ongoing cycle with no end. If you’re skilled, you can juggle projects and work in a way that they generate and sustain each other.

Adapting to new trends and technologies

It’s clear that whether you’re traveling abroad, visiting a nearby city, or attending a local event, each experience can be full of opportunities. Different regions often adopt new trends and technologies at varying paces. By moving around, you can stay ahead of industry trends and incorporate the latest techniques and tools into your work. This adaptability ensures that your skills remain cutting-edge and relevant in the fast-evolving creative industries. If you can sense and capitalize on these new trends in time, you can gain a huge competitive advantage.

Now, the trickiest part is figuring out what’s worth your precious time and what’s just a shiny distraction. Good luck to us all on that front! Whether it’s embracing AI, integrating the latest educational technology tools to enhance training sessions, or making small but significant changes like designing a new administrative spreadsheet for a client — which, believe it or not, can drastically improve a team’s time management — the key is to adopt trends that genuinely boost your productivity rather than drain it.

Enhanced cultural competence

In my latest project ideas, I’m setting my sights on a completely international audience, which means diving into their needs, unique customs, and quirky habits. As a cultural project manager, understanding and appreciating different cultures is crucial. By immersing myself in new environments regularly, I develop a deeper cultural competence, which allows me to create more authentic and culturally sensitive projects. This cultural awareness can significantly boost the impact and reception of my work.

Take, for instance, one of my current projects. I’m exploring which local architectural elements resonate most with residents in different countries. It’s like being a design detective! In Hungary, our buildings are often adorned with folk motifs, which are deeply ingrained in our culture. Now, imagine trying to figure out as a foreigner what makes a pattern in different countries feel like ‘home’ to its residents. It’s a fascinating challenge that keeps me on my toes and ensures that my designs are not just visually appealing but also culturally meaningful. So, by constantly learning and adapting, I aim to create projects that truly resonate with people from all over the world.

Personal growth and flexibility

For me, moving around isn’t a hassle — in fact, it’s fantastic! Especially when it comes to larger projects, it gives us more chances to meet face-to-face and hash out the details. I know the online world has come a long way since Covid, but let’s be real, nothing beats the power of personal connections. Long-term planning definitely requires those in-person meetings. Plus, I never travel with just one goal in mind. For example, when I head to a textile exhibition in Paris, you can bet a concert or an art show sneaks its way into my itinerary.

Constantly being on the move not only keeps things exciting but also fosters personal growth. It challenges you to adapt to new situations, overcome obstacles, and thrive in diverse environments. This kind of flexibility and resilience is gold for a digital nomad. Moreover, the variety of experiences adds richness to your personal narrative, making your storytelling in photography, videography, and design more compelling and relatable.

So, that’s enough about my personal obsession with traveling. But you can see how much benefit, experience, and most importantly, inspiration it brings to me. Through my projects, it benefits you too, and maybe, just maybe, it makes the world a little better. Every small step counts.

Navigating the Maze of Tender Writing

Jun 13, 2024 | Tender writing

Navigating the Maze of Tender Writing
A Journey of Creativity and Resilience

Edit Palinkas  /  June 13, 2024

For those who know me, it’s no secret that I dabble in tender writing. This craft is no walk in the park. I often hear complaints like, “I don’t have the nerves for this,” or “The platforms are just too confusing,” and “Why can’t I just ask for the money I actually need?” There are also frustrations about system crashes, the endless writing required, and the time constraints. But my all-time favorite gripe is, “You need to come up with an idea for this.”

Here’s the thing: if you need to invent an idea for a tender, you’re already on the wrong track. However, if you can come up with something that fits your activities, aligns with what you already do, or just needs a little push to get started, tenders can actually be a blessing. When you begin thinking about the project, you start seeing the whole process, visualizing the program, the reactions of the people involved, their nuances, their smiles. This is what fuels me when I’m putting together a tender concept and helps me push through all the tedious bits — the administration, the computer work, the endless typing, thinking, and calculating.

And yes, the systems do freeze, crash, and restart regularly. There have been countless times when I’ve perfectly articulated something only for it to vanish in an instant, with no way to reconstruct what happened — just the application portal’s homepage staring back at me. Looking back, these moments have their own charm.

Yesterday, there was the usual Hungarian cultural tender deadline. Eight tenders were waiting to be finalized, amidst other work, family obligations, and choir practice. But I powered through, as I always must, and now it’s just a matter of waiting for the results. This waiting is the hardest part for me; the results always seem to come late. Then, in the most unexpected moment, you find out whether your cherished idea will get a little nudge from above. Regardless of the outcome, there’s always a need for re-planning, whether it’s because you won or because you didn’t.

The best advice I can give to those asking why and how to write tenders is this: if you are creative enough, have ideas, work in a community that adapts to new projects and programs, and most importantly, have the capacity to write them yourself or hire someone to do it, then why not? As many of us see it, especially in the cultural sector — and this is true globally, as I learned at the Classical:NEXT conference — every bit of support counts. Let’s tap into national and European opportunities as much as we can.

That’s all for now on tender writing. I’m off to rest after yesterday’s deluge. Cheers!

A Newbie’s Adventure at Classical:NEXT

May 22, 2024 | Music

A Newbie’s Adventure at Classical:NEXT
Embracing the Chaos of Networking

Edit Palinkas  /  May 22, 2024

Have you ever found yourself knee-deep in a project, staring at a fork in the road, utterly clueless about which path to take? When your project is hefty enough, the best move is to dive headfirst into a sea of like-minded individuals. And that’s exactly what I did: I took the plunge and registered for the long-awaited Classical:NEXT conference.

The Magic of Classical:NEXT: A Networking Nirvana

Classical:NEXT is the Mecca for anyone with a stake in the classical music world. Whether you’re there to promote your ensemble—as a member, leader, or manager—secure work as a distributor or producer, find performers for next year’s programs, or spread your projects worldwide, everyone has a mission. But there’s a common thread: networking.

I grew up with the motto “You never know who’s behind the pillar,” and this holds true in every aspect of life. You never know what the future holds or the impact of a chance encounter, often revealed years down the line. Armed with insights from last week’s three-day experience, we’re now ready to dive into new concepts and projects. The real challenge will be maintaining this momentum and communicating it to partners, sponsors, and supporters.

First Impressions and Unexpected Encounters

Before diving into the details, I must confess this was my first time at such a grand event. Typically, in similar situations, I’ve been the quiet observer. But this time, I knew that wouldn’t cut it. The program was too good, offering too many opportunities to stay on the sidelines.

Before the official conference even kicked off, I attended a preliminary lecture on the state of higher music education. And guess what? I immediately received the answers I was looking for — a surprising twist that set the tone for the entire event. From that first step, I knew which direction to take in conversations and where to seek connections. I found quite a few valuable contacts right off the bat.

Along the way, I stumbled upon unexpected information and influences, all pointing in the same direction. For those who know me, two areas truly capture my interest: music and architecture. Surprisingly, I made an unexpected connection in this field, and soon, we’ll be taking our first steps in this project.

Collaboration: The Heart of Innovation

One of the most enlightening aspects was witnessing numerous examples of successful collaborations, whether between musical organizations, musical and nonprofit organizations, or even musical and corporate entities. To the skeptics in Hungary: there is hope for these collaborations, but we need to cultivate an open-minded organizational attitude that encourages more of them. It takes creative ideas and the skill to pitch them, but with mutual interest, anything is possible. I was also pleased to note that there were a few areas where the presenters couldn’t tell me anything new, which is crucial for confidence.

But I must emphasize, the goal here is not knowledge acquisition but networking — understanding each other’s experiences, grievances, and solutions, especially for small organizations like ours. Even a single spark of inspiration means success.

Small Steps, Big Impact

Globally, there are numerous challenges in the classical music field that, while I may be a small player, many small organizations can drive significant change, both in terms of musical professionalism and community-building, as well as mitigating social segregation. Several of my new initiatives received validation, which is a good sign that we’re heading in the right direction. Let’s just say, soon you’ll learn more about the links between dyscalculia and music, music projects in social institutions, the YouMu project, the new Őrség Music Academy, and even the musical inspirations behind our new fashion brand.

Embracing the Journey

Don’t forget, the most vital aspect of Classical:NEXT is networking. While it’s a skill you can learn, the key is to be present, initiate conversations, and approach people. For those who have been hesitant due to fear — like me — this event is a golden opportunity. You’ll find that others will reach out to you, boosting your confidence until it becomes second nature.

It was an eye-opening experience for me that offered valuable insights, unexpected opportunities, and a renewed sense of purpose. It’s all about diving into the chaos, seizing opportunities, and again, most importantly, engaging with people. Trust me, there’s no better feeling than attending such events and having people greet you and inquire about your progress on the second day of an international conference.

Let’s keep the momentum going and make the most of the connections and inspiration we’ve gained. Here’s to new beginnings and exciting projects ahead! Cheers!