This site is a portfolio project, showcasing some of my projects and skills as a web designer, but most of all it is an attempt to present in the form of design what I consider my personality.
My name is Peter Mintchev, and I am a visual artist and web designer. I am based in Vancouver, Canada and Sofia, Bulgaria. My background is in the Fine Arts and I am still a practicing painter, with an active exhibition record. After graduating with an MFA from the University of British Columbia, I spent a couple of years teaching fine art in a number of post-secondary institutions throughout Canada. In the last five years I have worked as a senior designer in a number of international companies, where while working on many projects, my main goal was to translate my knowledge and passion for art into an approach in the field of design. This was both in aesthetic development as well as technical, particularly in the web design sphere, where the two are tightly knit. I consider myself in the young stages of my development as a designer, but I would be glad if you enjoy this site.
work
In the past few years I have mostly worked for internal company projects, coordinating work with marketing executives, developers and other designers. In most cases some of the design decisions are tightly dependent on marketing strategy and clients demands. However, the number of projects and aspects of my work I am showing here are not important to me because of their scale or scope of my involvement in them, but because each one of them has taught me something and helped me progress further.
web design
illustration
fine art
Visual Art is a very important part of my life and I am actively exhibiting and developing my art work. Often my design ideas are inspired or even directly borrow from the art world. Even in my design work I see images through the eyes of a contemporary artist. You are welcome to see my full artist portfolio at www.petermintchev.com
inspiration
I try to stay informed in of contemporary culture as a whole, from politics and sports to literature, art and design. The process of inspiration for me is filtering through this information to find points of reference, on which I can rely to build my practice, taste and even identity upon. Perhaps the best way to show who I am is to present what I like.
Gerhard Richter
Art
Gerhardt Richter is one of the most influential artists for me. His work is simple, conceptual and enigmatic and he is widely celebrated for this vary same qualities. If I could live with only one piece of art it would be one of his paintings.
Typography
Typography is a science and art that I am continuously trying to learn about. It is something that can make a design or ruin it. Choosing a font is like choosing a personality. I am waiting for the wen technology to make this a bit easier. We need standardization of CSS3.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Architecture
Web Design is similar to architecture in more than one ways. And the German Pavilion in Barcelona, by Mies van der Rohe, is an easy pick as a favourite building. It sets a standard both aesthetically and conceptually that I try to aspire to as a designer.
Robert Frank - The Americans
Photography
This photo book, is so full of visual narrative and surprises, that I think can be used as a compositional manual. It has strongly influence my own approach to photography.
De Kooning
Art
A lot of my inspiration comes from art. De Kooning is one of the painters that every time I think about I see in a different way. His work seems to shift between an intimate expression and a public statement. Seeing his painting in person I was surprised how exquisite they are.
Devandra Banhard
Music
The best thing about music for me is that not being able to play or technically understand it, I can experience it only on an emotional and aesthetic level, which in a sense is very objective. Devandra Banhard is one of my recent favourites, a musician that possesses almost schizophrenic stylistic diversity.
contact:
contact@proektdesigns.com
