I'm an art director and graphic designer based in Moscow, Russia. I was born and educated in Kyiv, Ukraine, and moved northeast in 2000 to work for the then new and small Russian publishing house called Afisha. During the past eleven years I've designed and redesigned several magazines, guides books and books of fiction; opened up a new magazine in St. Petersburg; art-directed the creation of a new website and a few ad campaigns for the company's publications.

From August 2010 I'm holding a part time job of Design Director at Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design, a new Moscow-based post-graduate institution with research program developed and lead by Rem Koolhaas.

I prefer in-house team work, creating new publications, structuring and restructuring them. I believe in strong cooperation among design, editorial and photography teams within the publication. I'm a regular in Istanbul because I'm in love with the city. I collect antique rings and adore Central Asian and Turkic tribal textiles and rugs.

Mentions of my work: at Jeremy Leslie's magCulture.com, at the Brazilian nascapas blog and in Swallow Magazine (via eater.com).

Contact me at misha.smetana@gmail.com or via LinkedIn.












































During the photoshoot for Afisha-Eda Magazine. Photo by Sergei Leontiev