Vlad Tarcan is a brand consultant currently based in Bucharest, Romania, founder of Studio VT.
"I was born into a family of contrasts.
On my mother’s side they were artists. Deep thinkers. Composers, painters, creators of beauty and emotion. Among them was Béla Bartók, my great-great-grandfather. Art runs through my veins and I grew up under this full moon of introspection and imagination.
On my father’s side they were blue collar people. Farmers and mechanics who believed in hard work, honesty, and keeping things simple. They taught me the value of showing up and doing what needs to be done.
As a child, I loved to draw. Then I had my first computer when I was 8 and my life changed with gaming, hacking and internet culture. I started to design artwork for MMORPGs and by age fourteen, I had my first clients. A few years later, I left home to study design in Denmark, the holy temple of Scandinavian design.
When I came back to Romania, I joined an automotive corporation. I became their youngest-ever manager at age 23, leading a team focused on digital automation. But the suit never really fit. So at twenty-five, I left to return to design, this time in the world of technology as a product designer and then brand designer, having had hundreds of millions of people globally interact with my designs.
I now run Studio VT, a creative branding studio where I blend design, technology and storytelling for select clients. From time to time, I also hold creative trainings having trained hundreds of people from both private and public sector.
Outside of work, I walk quieter paths. I’m an introvert who mostly lives in his inner world. I lose myself in the study of spiritual philosophy and psychology. I think a lot about what makes us human, why we're here, what we fear, what we long for. I’m fascinated by mythology as the stories of our subconscious, and behavioral science as the invisible ropes that move us.
My life is a blend of art and structure, roots and wings. I honor this apparent duality and use it to advance my own mission: to make the world more beautiful. Because ultimately, as Dostoevsky said, beauty will save the world."