On My Radar: Olga Makarchuk

What’s the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen recently?

I loved the Isle Of Any and Oscar Hudson ad for Coinbase! If someone hasn’t seen it yet, it recreates the 3D video game environment with really complex live-action, and it’s also a funny take on utopia, 1984 style. So brilliant! I love the idea of mimicking the digital with something real and crafted, and this is something I am trying to achieve more with my own work. Also, in a world dominated by AI, it’s really fun and refreshing to see someone going the most complicated route of making things.

What website(s) do you use most regularly?

I’d name a few. Mubi – for random cinematic discoveries, Eternal Family TV – for lots of wonderful inspiration outside the box (though most of the titles you can only watch in North America), and Cartoonbrew.

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought?

I consider myself to be a tech savvy person who originally started as 3D Animator. Though I am really un-tech in my everyday life, and would rather surround myself with tactile objects than apps/devices. So, on my tech wishlist (apart from some new hardware in need of upgrading) would probably be a bat detector – a device meant to help you discover bat calls, otherwise inaudible to the human ear as they're too high pitched.

What product could you not live without?

My sketchbook. I keep all of them. They're such a good source of ideas for all the projects – past and future!

What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?

No Other Choice, by Park Chan-Wook. It’s very timely, darkly funny and unpredictable.

What film do you think everyone should have seen?

Cleo from 5 to 7, by Agnes Varda. It’s one of the most beautiful French New Wave films. It feels simple and light, and yet magical and transformative. Spirited Away, by Hayao Miyazaki; an Alice in Wonderland-style quest, which, like many of Miyazaki’s films, deals with topics of restoring the gentle balance between human world and the nature, full of spirits and magic.

What’s your preferred social media platform?

I like social media as a way of reaching out to friends or discovering new art, but for industry related social mingling I’d prefer Pictoplasma, OFFF, Weareplaygrounds and all the other amazing real life events.

What’s your favourite TV show?

It’s not too original, but probably my all time favourite would be Twin Peaks, by David Lynch. It has that perfect combination of mystery, humour and suspense, which never fails to enchant me. Otherwise, I like watching a lot of British comedy series when I need something to lift up my mood, and animated series like Common Side Effects on adult swim. And for a bit of comfort, I’d watch early 90s Japanese adaptation of Moomins.

What’s your favourite podcast?

More often than not, I would find myself listening to podcasts not related to my professional life, like On Being with Krista Tipett. It describes itself as ‘the adventure in the art of living’, and I think it is very much true in a way that it blends science, philosophy, poetry and all sorts of things. I find it very inspiring. 

I am naturally very curious, and occasionally would listen to random BBC podcasts or an audio book while working, and if I need some upbeat chat about creativity and all its conundrums, I’d go for Creative Pep Talk, hosted by illustrator Andy J. Pizza – it’s brilliant and funny, with great topics and guests! 

Not quite a podcast, but something I like listening now and then is NTS’ Time Is Away. If you only get to listen to one of their shows, I’d recommend their Sister Corita Kent special. You might have heard about her as someone who wrote 10 rules for artists, later popularised by John Cage. Every time I listen to it, it gives me a huge boost of creative superpowers!

What have you been most inspired by recently?

I love discovering magic in everyday things. So, my list would be: nature, animals, music, car boot sales, street fashion, eccentric people (like the park ranger in my area who looks like a superhero), conversations on the bus and long trips to somewhere new.