She painted Android. The history of Russian women who created one of the most recognizable logos in the world - ForumDaily
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She painted Android. The history of Russian women who created one of the most recognizable logos in the world

Irina Blok. Photos from the personal archive

Irina Blok is a native of St. Petersburg and the creator of the Android logo. The funny green robot of its authorship is now firmly associated with the Google operating system, which is used in many smartphones. Irina arrived in Silicon Valley, not knowing English, and became the author of the brands that Americans face every day. One more andthe success story of our people in the USA - from ForumDaily.

From St. Petersburg to San Jose

Draw Irina adored since childhood. The fact that the girl has artistic abilities, it turned out in kindergarten. Irina's mother loved the myths of ancient Greece and often read their daughters. The myth of the Argo ship impressed little Ira so much that she, in the garden, took away the clay from other children and made a big ship. That was the beginning of an artistic career.

“When my mother saw the ship, she almost fainted. But at that moment she decided that I needed to be sent to an art school,” Irina recalls a story from her childhood.

In 1995, Irina Blok was eighteen years old. She just studied in Leningrad Higher School of Industrial Art, when the long-standing issue of moving to the US was decided positively for her family. Relatives of her grandmothers and parents' acquaintances lived in the city of San Jose, which is considered one of the centers of Silicon Valley. Irina's parents and engineers went there.

«I had a red Chinese down jacket, so old that all the down was constantly falling down. We shook it - and the fluff was again distributed throughout the entire product. And I had boots - also so old that they were simply falling apart. I threw both the down jacket and boots into the trash at the Amsterdam airport. I remember how the cleaning ladies laughed there: they couldn’t believe that someone would even walk around in such clothes,” admits Irina.

Irina Blok in the very red down jacket, 1995 year. Photos from the personal archive

Irina Blok in the very red down jacket, 1995 year. Photos from the personal archive

And here it is - America. Irina has one year of art education behind her, a complete lack of knowledge in English and a great desire to continue her studies. Taking her large-format canvases brought from St. Petersburg, Irina got on the bus and went to the University of San Jose. It was close to home and had a design program - that's all that was important to Irina.

At university, Irina came across a professor of architecture. The conversation turned out to be absurd: the teacher in English explained when it was necessary to bring documents for admission, Irina listened and did not understand anything. The only thing that she was able to squeeze out of herself: "I am an art student." Despite the language barrier, the professor took Irina to a department that works with applicants. There she was given all the necessary papers. Subsequently, Irina graduated from the university for four years.

She admits: since she studied the artistic profession, she could do without perfect English. By the way, Irina still, 21 years after moving, believes that her English is not ideal.

Career path

Nanny, storekeeper, salesperson - Irina took on any job while she was studying at the university. When she was already in her senior year, one of the professors told her that local famous designer Sam Schmidt was looking for a designer. Irina tried out and was accepted. To combine work and study, she I planned a week where I studied for two days and worked for two. She learned a lot of design art in practice. I worked for that company for a year.

After finishing her studies, Irina got a job as a brand designer in Landor associates, a renowned brand consultancy. It was Landor Associates who created the original FedEx and HP design. Volunteering in an art club helped Irina get into a world-class company - one of the specialists introduced her to people from Landor. For her back in 1998, it was a dream job.

Irina Blok, 1999 year. Photos from the personal archive

Irina Blok, 1999 year. Photos from the personal archive

But even here she did not work long. In 2000, a university friend who worked at E-Luxury, one of America’s first startups, invited Irina to an interview. She was interviewed successfully, and the recommendation of a friend played into the hands. So Irina began working as a designer at E-Luxury, which sold luxury goods online. However, the business did not go. Silicon Valley in 2000 covered the dot-com crisis, E-Luxury closed. All employees were on the street. Irina including.

And although the chances of finding work during the crisis were slim, Irina began calling all the companies from the Yellow Pages directory in a row in search of the one she hired. In most of them, her calls reacted with surprise, but luck still smiled at her. She phoned to Yahoo, where at that moment they were just looking for a person. Directly by phone she was invited for an interview. So in 2001, she became a senior designer at Yahoo.

On her first day of work, she was shocked by the fact that everything in the office was purple and everywhere there was furniture in the style of Austin Powers. Irina asked herself what she had forgotten in this company, the interior of which contradicts her, I feel wonderful. But in the end, work at Yahoo turned out to be one of the most beloved of her entire career.

Irina was part of the team building the Yahoo brand. The company at that time was 500 people, and she was considered one of the biggest in the Valley. Irina worked there for five years, having left the company as a senior art director..

The birth of a green robot

The next in her career was another giant of the IT-Google market. A bit earlier, Irina’s manager went to Yahoo and now called her to a new place.

“Come work at Google or you will bite your elbows for the rest of your life for not trying,” Irina recalls her words.

Back then, in 2006, Google was already one of the most attractive companies in the world. Getting a job there is like winning the lottery. Irina won and was hired as a senior designer. Google rated Irina's work in Yahoo. In addition, she surprised everyone with her creativity, designing her portfolio in the form of a Google search page. As a result, Irina became part of the creative laboratory, which developed new ways to promote products.

After Google purchased Android in 2005, another task arose - to tell the world about this operating system and create a logo for it. The marketing message had to be the same as the idea of ​​Android itself - open and humane.

Irina went to work. It took her less than one day to come up with a logo. The current Android logo, she drew the first attempt. Her team made many sketches, but it was Irina’s sketch that perfectly matched the requirements of the technical specifications. It was simple, scalable and recognizable.

The logo was approved within a couple of weeks. The last word was said by the creator of the Android platform Andy Rubin - he liked the sketch at first sight.

Irina Block on the cover of the magazine along with the logo she painted, 2015 year. Photos from the personal archive.

The most important thing in the Android logo is that it is open to all. Anyone could add new parts to it without changing its main essence. It was revolutionary, because usually you can’t do anything with logos.

«This was, I think, the most interesting idea of ​​this logo. Not even in the form of the logo itself, but precisely in this fact,” Irina says about her invention.

Having made hundreds of logos, Irina cannot single out just one as her favorite. This is explained simply: while you are making a logo, you are one with it, as soon as you draw it, it has nothing to do with you.

Is there life after google

However, now logos are only a small part of what Irina does. During her career, she became involved not only in design, but also in product development.

“Now I have such a wide profile that I do everything that may concern the end consumer: from architecture to mobile publications, print solutions and logos,” is how Irina describes her current competence.

Google Irina left in 2009 year, after three years of work. Next was work at Adobe, teaching at the Art Academy in San Francisco, during which Irina taught her students to think outside the box, the position of the lead designer at Apple.

Irina Blok, 2016 year. Photos from the personal archive.

Irina Blok, 2016 year. Photos from the personal archive.

Together with a startup Сurbside Irina went all the way from an idea to launching a mobile application that allows you to make purchases online at the nearest store, and then drive up and simply pick up a package of goods collected for you. Currently working at another startup worth over a billion dollars - Zendeskwhich is engaged in cloud service platforms.

The creation of the Android logo did not bring fame to Irina, and she herself does not consider this idea to be anything special in her career. Irina continues to work in the world of design and is not at all interested in management - she is more interested in creativity than management. And her main dream is to continue doing what brings pleasure.

 

See also:

As a former Muscovite became one of the best cartoonists in the USA

Our Beverly Hills: a doctor with Soviet roots about his clients Michael Jackson and Mile Jovovich

Lady with a dog. How ex-Kharkiv wore dogs of all Hollywood stars

As a Ukrainian, he sold his business in the USA for $ 10 million.

How Ukrainian built in the US business worth $ 250 million

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