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DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?

: I`m originally Russian designer, who recently move to LA, California. My friends took me to the "Day of the Dead" celebration, where I was very inspired by painted skulls, and decided to make my own take on it.

DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?

: I wanted to create my own take on Dia de los Muertos skull, combining it with traditional russian art. I wanted to show variety and multiplicity of it.

DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?

: Honestly, I don`t know yet.

DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?

: It took me approximately a week of work in my free time for each piece.

DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?

: This work was a pure inspiration, I didn't plan it, just came home one day and it was clear, what i wanna do. As I said before, I`m originally Russian, so I have a lot of respect to traditional russian art, I was studding it for years, so subject wasn't a question.

DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?

: I posted it on society6

DI: What made you design this particular type of work?

: Inspiration and desire to create new.

DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?

: I was inspired by traditional Mexican and Russian folk artists

DI: Who is the target customer for his design?

: Mostly designers and people interested in art and culture. I wanted to show variety of Russian art to the people who haven`t seen it before and to give a new point of view on it to the people who are familiar with Russian art.

DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?

: I googled my idea before I started working on it, and didn't find anything similar. Sure there are plenty of painted skulls in Mexican style, but I haven`t seen any Russian variation. Plus, i did this series in 3d, which give it another approach and different look.

DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?

: Name was a problematic matter, I was thinking on it for a while. I think "Folk Fusion" suits very well, it is short and describes the base concept of the wok.

DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?

: I was using mixture of 2d and 3d software: photoshop, 3dsmax, zbrush.

DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?

: I think concept of mixing unmixable is the most unique aspect of this work.

DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?

: Nope, I did it myself.

DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?

: I think you can consider using 3d a technology here. To create photo realistic image without spending a lot of resources helped a lot.

DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?

: Yes. Whole work was based on research of each particular style. I wanted to be true to the rules and nature of art styles, so I had to collect and sort huge amount of information. I used artbooks, internet, and even some notes from my culturology classes.

DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?

: Combining personal project and full time job was a big a challenge. Also picking certain number of styles. Lots of beautiful art i had to left behind untouched.

DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?

: I wanted more people to see my work.

DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?

: Managing time for work. Also I enjoyed art research and learning more about art styles.