This month we sat down to chat with Ivett Lénárt, our graphic designer responsible for both the YKRA and YKRA KIDS branding design! Read the interview to get to know her better.

Hi Ivett, tell us about yourself and your work, what you do?

I graduated from the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in 2018, with a degree in Graphic Design, and I've been working as a freelance graphic designer since. I’ve been a member of two coworking offices shared with friends and acquaintances, the Bauhaus Collective, and the A-RAD Collective. Things changed because of Covid, I got stuck at home, and I ended up working from home ever since. Nowadays, I spend most of my time — around 80%, working on YKRA’s branding design, and in the remaining 20 percent I work on everything from logos to visual identity concepts for other clients. In my spare time, I like to work on my own personal projects.

What does your average day look like?

I usually get up at around 7:30, grab the first outfit I can find, and take Frici, my dog, for a walk. Afterwards, I continue my day at home with a mint tea, breakfast, and I start working at around nine, with a break for lunch at noon, and I end my work day at around five or six. Of course, I also have meetings, but this is what my day looks like working from home. In the evenings I either meet up with friends, watch a film, read, or just go to the park for long walks with Frici.

How do you like to spend your free time?

We enjoy hiking with my husband, and we spend a lot of time in nature. This summer we also went on many trips to the Mátra — a mountain range in northern Hungary — where we stayed in our small family holiday home. I also used to do contemporary dance, but these days I’m more into hiking and cycling. When it comes to movies, I love everything from Wes Anderson. There’s also a series that I still love to this day, The End of the F***ing World – it’s a British dark comedy-drama show. I also love to cook and bake, and I love experimenting in the kitchen!

What YKRA projects are you working on now?

We’re in the process of redesigning the YKRA Magic Beeswax packaging, and I’m also working on the YKRA Kids calendar card, and I’ve just finished working on our annual holiday postcard. The new YKRA Kids sample, which will be based on my university degree project, is also a big project I’m working on. Looking back, the YKRA Kids logo design was my first work I did for the brand a few years ago, as well as the Matra packaging design.

What’s in your bag?

Pencilcase - I'm super happy to finally own a pencilcase! I used to just throw my pens and pencils held by a rubber band in my bag — it was a complete mess.

YKRA Magic Beeswax - I always have something with me that has a connection to YKRA, right now it’s the new design prototype for the beeswax box.

Eitt Sett Chocolate - This is one of my favourite chocolates from Iceland. I discovered the brand when we were out there on our Erasmus student exchange programme, and I was sent this bar in a huge pack from a good friend. It’s a unique mix of liquorice and milk chocolate.

Scissors - These scissors were a present from my husband, mostly because I keep breaking all our plastic ones – I happened to break one just yesterday! So these are not just pretty, but practical as well.

Analogue Camera - This was also a gift from my husband, we've been using it for 7 years, and it’s been with us on all our trips and holidays.

Fountain pens with cartridges - They're my favourite tools for calligraphy, which I discovered during a calligraphy workshop. They’re such a pleasure to use.

Domino Set - This set is from Ecseri Piac – Budapest’s largest flea market – and the story behind it is that we visited the market during the renovation of our apartment, to buy furniture, and we couldn’t find anything we liked…but we really didn’t want to come home empty-handed, so that’s when this domino set came into the picture. We've played with it a lot since, so it was definitely worth it!

Book - The „Life Under the Northern Lights” book was my degree project when I graduated in 2018. It’s a book that introduces you to 35 creatures living and extinct, and I started working on it as part of my thesis during my Erasmus semester abroad. I really loved working on the concept. 

MATRA MINI Backpack - Actually, before this bag I had a SCOUT backpack in blue, and the only reason I updated to the MATRA MINI was to fit my laptop in as well, but now this backpack has become my favorite! It's much bigger, and easier to pack in.

Photos by Botond Wertán