CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS (CCA)
Danny Skitsko currently lives in San Francisco. He was born in the Soviet Union but raised in California, where contrasting ideologies have influenced his approach towards design ‒ thorough conceptual rigidity and structure in congruence with playfulness and intuition.
WHERE WERE YOU BORN AND WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW?
I was born in Moldova and now live in San Francisco.
LEFTY OR RIGHTY?
Righty
MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?
Morning owl and night person.
FICTIONAL OR HISTORICAL CHARACTER YOU’VE ALWAYS IDENTIFIED WITH?
Ferris Bueller’s friend Cameron.
ARE YOU MUSICAL AND/OR DO YOU PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?
Guitar/synths
FAVORITE CHILDHOOD TV SHOW?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
LAST BOOK YOU READ?
Albert Camus’ The Stranger Do you have
ANY PETS?
My 8 gorgeous plants
WHAT LANGUAGES ARE YOU FLUENT IN?
Russian/English
FAVORITE MOVIE?
Roy Andersson’s “You the Living” and the entire The living Trilogy‒by far!
FAVORITE FINE ARTIST?
Josef Albers, Alfredo Jaar, Jason Jagel
FAVORITE CHARITY?
Operation Christmas Child‒I used to get a shoe box with presents back when I was a kid in Moldova.
FAVORITE FREE TIME ACTIVITY?
Riding my bike and going to Point Reyes.
LAST COMPLIMENT YOU GOT?
Someone said that I sound like Mark Ruffalo but I’m not sure if it was meant as a compliment.
DO YOU COLLECT ANYTHING?
Photographs of TVs that I draw on found on the sidewalks of my neighborhood.
COLOR USED MOST OFTEN IN YOUR DESIGN?
Black
TYPEFACE USED MOST OFTEN?
Planeta and Fugue
GREATEST STRENGTH/WEAKNESS AS A DESIGNER?
Caring too much / caring too much.
IF YOU WERE NOT A DESIGNER, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?
Barista, green coffee buyer, furniture designer, illustrator, or a mail man.
A MANTRA OR SAYING YOU LIVE BY?
I don’t really go by a mantra but one of my two favorite lines are: Contrast is your friend ‑ (by one of my instructors) Bob Aufuldish Easy to know that diamonds are precious. Good to learn that rubies have depth. But more to see that pebbles are miraculous. ‑ Josef Albers
