Whether I work with children, teenagers or adults, teaching for me is all about designing and delivering unique learning experiences. I pay a lot of attention to visual materials – presentations, templates, creative tools. I experiment with a variety of formats, combining lectures, exercises, thought experiments and inventing my own methodologies and processes. When I teach, I learn the most. I hold PhD in fine arts and serve as Assistant Proffesor at Narrative Drawing Studio, Academy of Fine Arts Kraków, Poland.

Talks

On the Abandoned Altars – discussion on myth in contemporary culture (with J. Dukaj and M. Mleczak), Archeological Museum, Kraków
Mental Models in the Designer’s Toolbox — talk, UX Poland conference, Warsaw

Shapes of Thought — discussion (with J. Woynarowski), Copernicus Festival, Kraków, video

Culture in Action Artist Talk series (Popmoderna.pl) – interview, video

Infoimages — discussion (with J. Woynarowski), Joseph Conrad Festival, Kraków
Image and Text. The Best Enemies — talk, Gdynia Design Days Festival

Image. How does it work? [basics of information design] – talk (with J. Woynarowski), Galeria Labirynt, Lublin + BWA, Katowice

Space as Metaphor — talk, Think Tank Lab Triennale, European Capital of Culture, Wrocław

Courses and Workshops

Narrative drawing, Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (year-round course)

Illustration, Department of Art, AT Tarnów (year-round course)

Visual ThinkingVisual Writing, European Liberal Forum seminar

Infographic Poetry — subversive conventions of information design, PJAIT Warsaw

You will open this door anyway. A Primer of Interactive Storytelling — international one-week workshop held online (Polish Japanese Academy of Information Technology, Warsaw)

Story-driven — storytelling in teaching and learning — training for teachers, Municipal Gallery in Tarnów

Story-driven — creative writing for children, BWA Tarnów

Signals form the Future (with K. Janota) — speculative design + worldbuilding

Books

Model and Metaphor. Visual Communication in Humanities

complete book online

Story-driven — acitivity book for children complete book online

Topics

Metaphors in design
Visual thinking and literacy
Visual storytelling & visual writing
Qualitative information design
Graphic design for non-designers
Visual adaptation of literature
Worldbuilding in comics and video games

Maja Starakiewicz

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