My name is Arina,

I am a graphic designer specializing in photo manipulation and retouching, as well as creating posters and covers for various purposes.

In this section, I want to present real commercial projects I’ve worked on as a designer and share what collaborating with clients looks like in practice. I will focus on my main areas of expertise: photo manipulation and retouching, as well as designing posters and covers for various purposes.

Through these projects, I will demonstrate how design addresses specific needs, adapts to an established visual identity, and helps capture an audience’s attention.

One of my longest-running commercial projects is my collaboration with Alla Dukhova’s TODES dance studio, which has continued for almost four years. Over this time, the project has become a regular part of my design practice and has allowed me to establish a consistent workflow with the client.

I joined the project after the client had already established its visual identity, so my role was not to develop a brand identity from scratch. Instead, I work within the existing visual system, maintaining brand recognition while creating designs for new events.

So, the studio started receiving posters for master classes. In the first case, these were series of posters for periodic master classes held during the dance season.

Any poster is adapted to three formats: square (1080 by 1080 pixels), portrait (1080 by 1350 pixels), and story (1080 by 1920 pixels)

Don’t you think blue is used almost everywhere? First, it’s the studio’s signature color, and second, I often suggest making a poster in warm colors, but the client always chooses blue.

Most of my work for TODES involves designing materials for dance intensives, which occur roughly twice a year—in the winter and summer. Each intensive lasts five to seven days. During these periods, participants attend masterclasses in various dance styles led by renowned instructors and seasoned professionals.

The intensives also play a significant role in developing dancers within the studio. TODES maintains regular dance groups that perform every two to three months, as well as performance teams that participate in events much more frequently. These teams perform at festivals, travel to other cities, and represent the studio at diverse venues, making them one of the brand’s most visible faces.

My role is to create the visual materials for each new intensive. Approximately every six months, I design for an upcoming event, taking into account its specific characteristics, the provided information, and the studio’s established visual identity.

One of the defining features of this project is its recurring nature. Each new intensive presents a separate design challenge while continuing the visual narrative of previous events. This requires maintaining a recognizable style while exploring new visual approaches that allow every event to feel unique.

Full design of the intensive

This is just a small excerpt of my work.

Over nearly four years working with TODES, I gained experience with a regular commercial client, learned how to account for the specifics of an established visual style, and mastered creating materials for recurring events. This project combines my skills in graphic design, imagery, and poster development, and it also demonstrates how consistent visual communication helps maintain a brand’s image.

I am particularly interested in photo manipulation and image retouching. This field allows me to go beyond the original photograph and create entirely new visual concepts by controlling composition, lighting, color, and atmosphere. I enjoy transforming ordinary product photographs into complete advertising visuals that look realistic while capturing the viewer’s attention.

With the development of AI and generative models, this process has become much more convenient. I can now use AI to explore different compositions, create environments, and generate an initial image before refining it manually. I adjust product details, lighting and shadows, textures, perspective, and other elements that contribute to the realism of the final result. For me, AI is a tool that helps me reach the right visual concept more quickly, while the final quality still depends on design skills and attention to detail.