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, hacker and internet culture. At fifteen, I found graphic design, and by sixteen I had my first clients. I then left home to study design in Denmark, chasing my craft.
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 consulting 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, spirit and strategy, roots and wings. Everything that I do is to honor the unique fragment of being that shines within me."