You are a two-person team, you have been running the company for three years - how is it being a young entrepreneur in the creative sector? Maciek: Currently, in order to exist in the creative sector, you have to put a lot of work, passion and cunning into the business. To reach that level requires a lot of flexibility. In our case, the publishing house also acts as a graphic design studio and it functions mainly through cooperation with regular customers from the advertising, educational and architectural sectors. We share responsibilities and at the moment Asia is engaged in publishing matters, the promotion and sale of books, and I’m working with external customers. Thanks to the studio in OFF Piotrowska we are trying to use the additional features related to the organisation of cultural events: workshops, exhibitions and presentations of the publishing house for preschool children. So we operate on many levels, hoping that in time we will strengthen our position in the market so that we can focus exclusively on our book plans. Regardless of whether we do that, the satisfaction that we have had from completed projects has been huge. Having your own business motivates you into action, development, and the more you work, the more prospects you have – and this is certainly the biggest plus. You work in Łódź. What is your relationship with the city?
Asia: For us Łódź is not a cursed city. It can be difficult, but easier is not always better. The city has recently been changing positively and evolving rapidly. We are trying to keep pace and develop as a company equally as well. What is happening around us really mobilises us. You could say that we identify with Łódź a little. We also have some complexes in relation to independent publishers from Warsaw or Kraków that have been operating for a few good years and have a more stable position. Despite this, we try to follow our own path. Just like the city, we also want to be associated with good design, creativity and modernity, and at the same time maintain good traditions. Our first book was a novel, highly digital, the second was created from pieces of fabric, thread and paper stapled and glued together. I think it reflects our Łódź background fairly well. What does it mean for you that the city is a centre for creative industries? Łódź is a centre for creative industries because for a large number of people ideas are a raw material. Ideas for yourself, for your brand and activities, and focusing attention on original projects and topics. That’s why the Design Festival, Fashion Week and Fotofestiwal do so well here, as well as brands such as: Pan tu nie stał, Rush or Gloomy Sunday.
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financial situation of Poles and its gradual improvement is also certainly of importance. There are an increasing number of book/coffee shops and children’s clubs, which organise workshops with books. In the discussion regarding legislation on books ideas have been put forward for the state to support artistic bookshops. In our view, that would be a great thing.
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