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alexandru năstase / active status

currently senior designer
inquiries only after
august, 2020
@google

Design Mentor @ Mento Academy.
Working Hours: 10:00 AM - 06:30 PM (EEST).

Who I am

I’m a multidisciplinary senior designer and art director with a special attention for type design. I always can be found exploring somewhere in between design, technology and art trying to get them to coexist.

It's my belief that my responsibility as a designer is to make this new language, on which we build new technologies upon, as accessible and as natural as possible to people.

I have close to 15 years of design experience ragging from offline environments to full online services, owning the entire design process and its areas.

Testimonials

First off Alex I really want to say you are developing a very thoughtful system of design that really is starting to impress me. Your rules are tight but balanced. You really are thinking a lot about the big picture and I love that.

JONATHAN JACKSON RAUBERTS
Creative Director @ Showtime Networks

I had the opportunity to work on innovative travel software with Alex. His designs are visually outstanding and he always took the time to share his knowledge about how to improve user experiences and interfaces. Even so, his best quality is his positive attitude. If you ever have the pleasure of working with him, you will understand what I mean. Your designs are so good man. It's fun to implement them. Hope to work with you again in the future, Alex!

DAVID PARK
Software Development Engineer at Microsoft

Creative Eye, Highly original ideas, Optimistic-Design oriented, Well organized, Serious and strong in ideas, very Good team player

Vlad Zinculescu
Senior UX Designer at Booking.com

Working with Alex was a real honor. His original and clean visual design style, combined with a smart front-end development skill, using the latest web standards makes him a great Web Designer. Aesthetics and functionality are his goals. Respect to his work is due.

Alexandru Gorbanescu
Visual Designer & Creative Director

No matter how short the turn around or how complex the project Alexandru consistently exceeded expectations, delivered on time (even on unrealistic deadlines) and produced exceptional work throughout our whole time working together. He comes highly recommended.

Alexander C. R. Budik
Account Manager within the Video, Ad & Marketing Sector

Alexandru is an extremely pleasant guy to work with. As an Art Director, he's incredibly knowledgeable and insightful and consistently gives helpful feedback on projects of any scale. He's helped widen my knowledge of design and also inspired me to achieve my goals in other areas of graphic design and front end development.

Rachel Ward
Senior Designer at After Digital

Alex is a designer with complete skills. Really understand technology, and know how to use it effectively. As an art director, he always take a deep insight to the project that he is working on and dig in to find ideas and possibilities for the execution. He is able to combine aesthetics and technology to blend together to create a design that works beautifully. Definitely recommended.

Della Permana
Art Director at F#

I have had the chance to work with Alexandru for several months and highly recommend him: not only has he wonderful design skills but he also proves to be a great asset regarding development-related topics. He always pays attention to detail and is always committed to producing the best deliverables possible.

Pauline Quoy
Digital and Tech Producer | Senior Project Manager

Alexandru and I only worked together for a short period of time, but I already got to know him as a guy who can easily integrate in an existing team and has no problem adopting to new environments adding value to the team. Even more so, with his approach he helps drive whole client deliverables to the next level, as he doesn't approach design just a part of a visual output, but applies his code knowledge and experience and thus delivers great results with the purpose of the project and the tech limitations or consequences in mind. Undoubtedly a great asset to a design team in a tech company!

Marius Kriening
International Online & Mobile Business - APAC, EMEA & Emerging Markets

Alex is an unbelievable talented graphic designer. He is hard working and can provide quick turn-around on projects. When we developed and launched a new website/iOS app for Passenger1 , Alex was instrumental in enhancing the visual appeal and usability of the site for our users - B2B travellers.

He is very innovative and always looking for new solutions and fresh ideas that can advance his knowledge to exceed his client’s expectations and goals. Alex is a fun person to work with, and is always helpful and insightful. He is a passionate designer and always seems to have great awareness of new creative strategies and technology, which makes him a great asset to any company.

Wendy Leung
Technical Project Manager at Passenger 1

Alex was so kind to help us with the design of our new We Love Progressive Facebook and Event page group logos. After a few discussions we had together he caught up the whole idea exactly like we imagined it. The products and logos were designed in a timely manner and are a perfect match with our needs. This WLP logo created powerful brand awareness and we believe it is a masterpiece. We hope that others will work together with him and get the satisfaction of a truly dedicated artist. WLP is grateful for his work.

ALEXANDRU & MIRCEA BABESCU
Founders of We Love Progressive & UNDRGRND

Recognitions

& mentions
  • Featured on WebDesignLedger
  • Nominated & Honorable Mention on AWWWARDS
  • Featured on Smashing Magazine Wallpapers “Red April”
  • Featured on Smashing Magazine Wallpapers “Blooming”
  • Featured on CSS Awards
  • Featured on WebInspeer Gallery

Expertise

what I actually do

During this time I've had the chance to get my imagination dirty with projects ragging from Brand Identity, Prints & Editorials, Websites, Native Applications, Digital Products, Experimental Environments, and also building full functioning Typefaces.

I do end-to-end digital product design from client workshops to conceptualization and strategy, user research and usability testing down to final visual design and development supervision to ensure quality.

Over the span of my career I've had the privilege to work with clients of all sizes, from various sectors, and with multicultural teams, globaly, from New York to London, Berlin to Jakarta, San Francisco to Barcelona and back to Bucharest.

I pride myself with the curiosity to explore where most won't go, obtaining unique design solutions which add value and deliver over and above expectations.

Always aiming for balance between function and form but also striving to align business needs with user needs in order to offer value to both participants.

Digital Design

covering all mediums, online & offline
  • User Interface Design
  • Responsive Design
  • Type Design
  • UX & Prototyping (Rapid&HiFi)
  • Web/Desktop/Mobile App Design
  • Graphic Design
  • Print & Editorial Design
  • Packaging/Label Design
  • Branding & Identity Creation
  • Brand Guidelines
  • Design Systems
  • Book Design & Layout
  • Front end Working Knowledge
  • Back end Processes Basics

"To become an expert, you have to always remain a student"

Type Design

retail and bespoke
DESIGN
  • Custom Font Creation
  • Script and language extensions
  • Pictograms and emojis
  • Font modification
  • Font design refinement
  • Letterspacing
Engineering
  • Quality assurance
  • Hinting (screen optimisation)
  • System integration
  • Kerning
  • Font mastering
  • Font formats
read my code of conduct

Collaborators

When it comes to complementary solutions outside design, I'm fortunate to have a network of highly talented and trusted collaborators from developers, copywriters, marketers and photographers, which allow me to produce work throughout a numerous mediums.

Personal Code of Conduct

adopted from AIGA - The professional association for design

A professional designer adheres to principles of integrity that demonstrate respect for the profession, for colleagues, for clients, for audiences or consumers, and for society as a whole.

These standards define the expectations of a professional designer and represent the distinction of an AIGA member in the practice of design. AIGA members who have agreed to adhere to these standards are denoted in the Designer Directory.

The designer's responsibility to clients

1.0

1.1 A professional designer shall acquaint himself or herself with a client's business and design standards and shall act in the client's best interest within the limits of professional responsibility.

1.2 A professional designer shall not work simultaneously on assignments that create a conflict of interest without agreement of the clients or employers concerned, except in specific cases where it is the convention of a particular trade for a designer to work at the same time for various competitors.

1.3 A professional designer shall treat all work in progress prior to the completion of a project and all knowledge of a client's intentions, production methods and business organization as confidential and shall not divulge such information in any manner whatsoever without the consent of the client. It is the designer's responsibility to ensure that all staff members act accordingly.

1.4 A professional designer who accepts instructions from a client or employer that involve violation of the designer's ethical standards should be corrected by the designer, or the designer should refuse the assignment.

The designer's responsibility to other designers

2.0

2.1 Designers in pursuit of business opportunities should support fair and open competition.

2.2 A professional designer shall not knowingly accept any professional assignment on which another designer has been or is working without notifying the other designer or until he or she is satisfied that any previous appointments have been properly terminated and that all materials relevant to the continuation of the project are the clear property of the client.

2.3 A professional designer must not attempt, directly or indirectly, to supplant or compete with another designer by means of unethical inducements.

2.4 A professional designer shall be objective and balanced in criticizing another designer's work and shall not denigrate the work or reputation of a fellow designer.

2.5 A professional designer shall not accept instructions from a client that involve infringement of another person's property rights without permission, or consciously act in any manner involving any such infringement.

2.6 A professional designer working in a country other than his or her own shall observe the relevant Code of Conduct of the national society concerned.

FEES

3.0

3.1 A professional designer shall work only for a fee, a royalty, salary or other agreed-upon form of compensation. A professional designer shall not retain any kickbacks, hidden discounts, commission, allowances or payment in kind from contractors or suppliers. Clients should be made aware of mark-ups.

3.2 A reasonable handling and administration charge may be added, with the knowledge and understanding of the client, as a percentage to all reimbursable items, billable to a client, that pass through the designer's account.

3.3 A professional designer who has a financial interest in any suppliers who may benefit from a recommendation made by the designer in the course of a project will inform the client or employer of this fact in advance of the recommendation.

3.4 A professional designer who is asked to advise on the selection of designers or the consultants shall not base such advice in the receipt of payment from the designer or consultants recommended.

Publicity

4.0

4.1 Any self-promotion, advertising or publicity must not contain deliberate misstatements of competence, experience or professional capabilities. It must be fair both to clients and other designers.

4.2 A professional designer may allow a client to use his or her name for the promotion of work designed or services provided in a manner that is appropriate to the status of the profession.

Authorship

5.0

5.1 A professional designer shall not claim sole credit for a design on which other designers have collaborated.

5.2 When not the sole author of a design, it is incumbent upon a professional designer to clearly identify his or her specific responsibilities or involvement with the design. Examples of such work may not be used for publicity, display or portfolio samples without clear identification of precise areas of authorship.

The designer's responsibility to the public

6.0

6.1 A professional designer shall avoid projects that will result in harm to the public.

6.2 A professional designer shall communicate the truth in all situations and at all times; his or her work shall not make false claims nor knowingly misinform. A professional designer shall represent messages in a clear manner in all forms of communication design and avoid false, misleading and deceptive promotion.

6.3 A professional designer shall respect the dignity of all audiences and shall value individual differences even as they avoid depicting or stereotyping people or groups of people in a negative or dehumanizing way. A professional designer shall strive to be sensitive to cultural values and beliefs and engages in fair and balanced communication design that fosters and encourages mutual understanding.

The designer's responsibility to society and the environment

7.0

7.1 A professional designer, while engaged in the practice or instruction of design, shall not knowingly do or fail to do anything that constitutes a deliberate or reckless disregard for the health and safety of the communities in which he or she lives and practices or the privacy of the individuals and businesses therein. A professional designer shall take a responsible role in the visual portrayal of people, the consumption of natural resources, and the protection of animals and the environment.

7.2 A professional designer is encouraged to contribute five percent of his or her time to projects in the public good-projects that serve society and improve the human experience.

7.3 A professional designer shall consider environmental, economic, social and cultural implications of his or her work and minimize the adverse impacts.

7.4 A professional designer shall not knowingly accept instructions from a client or employer that involve infringement of another person's or group's human rights or property rights without permission of such other person or group, or consciously act in any manner involving any such infringement.

7.5 A professional designer shall not knowingly make use of goods or services offered by manufacturers, suppliers or contractors that are accompanied by an obligation that is substantively detrimental to the best interests of his or her client, society or the environment.

7.6 A professional designer shall refuse to engage in or countenance discrimination on the basis of race, sex, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability.

7.7 A professional designer shall strive to understand and support the principles of free speech, freedom of assembly, and access to an open marketplace of ideas and shall act accordingly.