About Sasha Zibreg.

I didn’t know there was such a thing as a Media and Graphic Arts when I was a kid, but today it’s a perfect fit for me. It combines the best of my skills, and the opportunities that have unfolded over time.

At age 14, I wanted to be an artist. I didn’t have a clue about comparative advertising or brand recognition but colours and drawings fascinated me. Unfortunately, I did not receive a lot of support from my family; especially my father. He did not want me to go to school “to be the family artist”, and to fill our bedroom walls with framed pictures of my work. But I was lucky that my mother was a brave woman and she enrolled me into the College of Architecture and Civil Engineering (not exactly what I wanted but it was better than accounting).

After graduation, I had saved some money and toyed with the idea of going to London, England to learn visual communications. I end up working as a part-time painter in Chelsea whilst learning about outdoor advertising, TV commercials and Multi Media.

A year later, one of my friends had founded the Advertising and Media department of the Yugoslavian National Theatre, and asked whether I was interested in that work. A few months later, I won the job. The next ten years I spent working and learning. It was so exciting that I almost always arrived before and remained after work, on my own time to go through the books and magazines, and spent endless hours of exploring new ideas and experimenting.

In 1991 the war had broken out in the former Yugoslavia and I was heading to the Far East, Hong Kong, to work as the Marketing and Promotion director of “Aida, The Opera Spectacle”, complex and grandiose outdoor theatrical performance. What seemed as a short term opportunity lasted for another three years, touring with “AIDA” all over the world. At that time my close collaboration with “Pepsi-Co”, Europe began, in marketing and promoting their own events. During the Pepsi Co. marketing campaign “Pepsi For the Children of Chernobyl” I was among the few to be granted access to the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor and surrounding area to record a documentary about the life and suffering of the people.

Today, terms such as “digital” and “Interactive” are thrown around and as if they are an ends to themselves, rather than just a means to a creative solution. A computer, as well as software programs such as Photoshop or Illustrator, are fundamentally no different than a paper and pen. They are just tools, and as such have no intrinsic ability to create anything themselves except in the hands of an experienced designer. The computer was a rebirth for me. Professionally, it put me on a level playing field. Combined with my artistic talent, education and marketing experience; I had found my niche.

From 1995 I have been living and working in the Toronto area, Canada, serving a variety of clients, teaching Media, Advertising, CIW (Certified Internet Webmaster) programs and loving what I do. And believe it or not, my 80 year-old father hangs some of my graphics on his wall.