starting from the bottom

 

After moving to the U.S., working at a string of “immigrant jobs” and taking night classes at the New York-based School of Visual Arts, Anton was hired by New York Magazine. He scanned photos and cropped them for $6.50 an hour. At the same time, Anton supplemented his income by working as a taxi driver. “I liked working for a magazine right away. I also saw that if you do smart, creative work, you can easily grow in the editorial design field. It was all about what you can create.” After 4 years at New York magazine, he became a designer and then art director for a number of New York-based magazines in the 1990s: Allure, George, and YM.

 

 

W magazine, 2012. Layout designed by Anton Ioukhnovets. Living Large
Created with Sketch.

at the very beginning of my american life, i worked as a taxi driver and delivery person. then i realized that’s not what i came across the ocean for. i switched to something that i always liked—design, and it worked. —anton ioukhnovets

 

First job in the US, Castro Valley, California. Ioukhnovets and another man stand in front of a van

First job in the US, Castro Valley, California. Photo: courtesy of Anton Ioukhnovets.

plus magazine

 

In 2000, Anton collaborated on creating PLUS magazine with an old friend, Oleg Diachenko. They wanted to create a new type of lifestyle magazine for the younger generation of increasingly cosmopolitan Russians. In the process they realized that cultural references from the Soviet period could be used as an antidote to the “new Russian” mentality. “We embraced the past. I found the juxtaposition between luxury western brands and Soviet visual vernacular incredibly entertaining. It helped shape the visual language of PLUS,” Ioukhnovets says.

 

 

Plus magazine. A layout designed by Anton Ioukhnovets. New York
Plus magazine. A layout designed by Anton Ioukhnovets. Rules number two and three
Plus magazine. Cover designed by Anton Ioukhnovets. Nouvelles Tendances
Plus magazine. A layout designed by Anton Ioukhnovets. A navel and a cigar

Plus magazine. Cover designed by Anton Ioukhnovets.

 

Plus magazine. Layouts designed by Anton Ioukhnovets.

 

in a way, i’m proud that i grew up in the soviet union and am acquainted with the soviet visual heritage. if you find a whole new approach to it, you can do a lot of incredible things. —anton ioukhnovets

Anton Ioukhnovets sitting in front of a cupboard
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