To Infinity and Even Beyond. Interview with Filip Birkner
We have known each other with Filip Birkner for over twenty years. I remember him as an enterprising maverick who knew how to attract attention. While still in high school, he was building the brand Ňyč Ňeznam, on which he managed to get the entire school hooked. A similar story is the case with filming adventure videos under the auspices of helove – by the way, check them out on Vimeo and YouTube. As a young multimedia creator, Filip travelled the world: From Denmark, where he had already studied design, to Madrid, Tenerife, and the Italian Alps. There, he wanted to pursue a lifestyle centred around surfing, but he quickly realized that such an active life was unsustainable in the long term.<br /> Filip decided to spend time with himself and went into the wilderness. From the craziest videos from surf spots, he moved on to serious photography of monumental nature in Canada, where he worked on dog sledges, boats and salmon farms. After these experiences, he firmly decided to return to visual communication and graduated from the most prestigious schools in the world: first, the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, and then, as the first Slovak, the graphic design department at Yale. Ultimately, his dream came true, and he won the 2024 Slovak Design Award— Communication Design, and this interview was created thanks to that
Let’s jump to the main topic — Yale. How did you even think of applying there?
During a New Year’s morning walk with our dog, Lesan, I remember my mom asking me if I wanted to continue my studies. I said no. I was determined to work. But she asked further, and I paraphrase: “What if you could dream and choose any school?”
“Yale has a great design department,” I replied. I learned this from Irma Boom, who was teaching there then. My mom said, “Then apply; it’s free to try. If they accept you, you can always decline.” So, I applied. The deadline was January 4th. How did the admissions process go? I sent a cover letter describing the perfect combination of horseradish and cranberries. I could add a maximum of twenty slides to the database. I divided my video portfolio into twelve sections and added text to each. Based on that, I was invited to a second-round interview. I was glad it was a video call since I didn’t have the money for a plane ticket and didn’t know anyone in New Haven. Five beautifully dressed professors appeared on the screen. First, I introduced myself and was supposed to present my favourite project. I took my father’s archery target, put my laptop on it, walked around it from the other side, opened the catalogue in front of the screen, the one from The Best Dutch Book, and eagerly described the creative process.
And that’s how you became the first Slovak in the Yale Department of Design. And you also got a full scholarship from them, right?
I did.
But still, the costs in the US are much higher than here; how did you solve this?
After graduating from Rietveld, they approached me with design ing a publication for them and the Sandberg Institut, on which we worked together if you remember. When a lady from the office asked me how I was doing, I told her that I had been accepted to Yale. She recommended I apply for Dutch funding to support students continuing their master’s studies abroad. The deadline was the next day, so I spent all night filling in the application form and received eighteen thousand euros for living expenses for the first year. Alongside that, I was also a technician in the printing shop and an audio visual technician at the Schwarzman Centre. It’s like the Great Hall at Hogwarts. And I sometimes modelled as a statue in drawing classes.