Paulina Berczynski is a surface designer and visual artist who splits her time between Berlin and Northern California. Her designs draw on her lifelong passion for fine art, traditional crafts, and vintage fabrics. Her work combines unexpected elements and influences to celebrate self-expression, individuality, community, and the beauty in everyday moments.
For Surface Design commissions, collab ideas and all other inquiries please get in touch!
pzberczynski(at)gmail
WhatsApp / USA Text +14155480117
EU +49 15153644190
My design work springs from a lifelong love of art, textiles, and adventure: Inspired by my Eastern European roots, my off-grid cabin in Northern California, my obsession with aesthetics and my life in Berlin, I blend my experiences into my designs. As an ever curious Gemini, an artist, and a mom (of two teens, a rescue pup, and a jungle of plants), I find joy and richness in life’s little details.
In the past I was the founder and creative director of a sustainable lifestyle brand that graced shelves from boutiques across the USA to major retailers like Crate & Barrel, ModCloth, Target and Urban Outfitters. FluffyCo was distributed in Japan and featured in press from DesignSponge to InStyle magazine, Elle Decor and Real Simple. One of my first collections even made it to the iconic Colette boutique in Paris!
I’ve worked on many different creative projects related to my interests in textiles, design, visual art and social practice. Here are some links for those curious to learn more!
FluffyCo was my sustainable lifestyle brand, based in San Francisco.
My fine art practice encompasses studio work and socially engaged experiments that focus on exchange and bringing people together.
Feral Fabric Journal is an online magazine about radical textiles in art and culture that I cofounded in 2018
For a list of my projects and professional experience, view my CV
What inspired you to start a surface design business… and are you really that obsessed with fabric?
My obsession with fabric and pattern goes back as far as I can remember. One of my first memories is playing fort under a bedsheet in Poland, and the light from the window filtering through. Another memory from grade school is of a sparkly pack of fabric swatches - variations of black and gold and silver stripes, the kind of fabric you would see on a party dress in the 1980s. The idea of someone designing special dresses using these amazing fancy fabrics made it seem like literally anything was possible.
Fabrics, patterns and surface designs hold so much potential – to make something, express yourself, or connect with a community – they are endlessly inspiring!
When I was designing for FluffyCo, I had the opportunity to design thousands of teeshirts, patterned dresses and accessories that people LOVED – they made my customers feel great out in the world, and brought them joy. Bringing inclusion, community, and joy is the main inspiration and intention for all of my work.
And yes I’m really that obsessed with fabric (and patterns too).
What is your creative process?
I’ve been self–employed for almost all of my life, so I definitely have a system for developing ideas. Working with a partner or client is great for accountability and clarity, but often…
it comes down to alone time and getting things done.
In all of my projects, I start with sketches and notes, and a lot of research and visual references that I print out so I can see it all at once. I look at tons of inspirations online for style and colorways, but sometimes I just start from concepts, sketches, or with some of my favorite shapes. Because I’ve been working in visual art and design for so long, I often come across ideas from the past that draw me back in and inspire something new. These inspirations can move between the different parts of my practice too- so research for a sculpture might turn into an article or spark a pattern idea.
I also use lists and mind-maps to organize my goals and the various things I am working on at any one time, but also the concepts and intentions that I want to make sure are present in the final product, whether that’s a fabric collection or participatory art. Sometimes I just map the things that are giving me anxiety so I can name them and put them aside. In terms of time, I like to work in little chunks that I call “work units” that are about 1-1.5 hours long. I work backwards from deadlines, and mark up a calendar for larger projects so I can make sure to get everything done in time. For client work I always use an app to track my time.
I use my MacBook Air, Adobe Suite, iPad with pencil, and an analog paper and pens almost everyday. I also have a basic Pantone book on hand, as well as the fabric, sewing, and printing tools I use to make art.
How did you get here?
My work has led me through a lot of interconnected creative practices. I think of these former versions of me as my past lives. Really though, everything is connected, and one project leads to the next.
I’ve worked in advertising as an art director, and as a graphic designer for bands, books, websites and journals. I also founded & creative-directed a sustainable lifestyle brand out of San Francisco called FluffyCo that went International… and I’m pretty sure launched the “Put a bird on it” trend of the early 2000s. Recently I’ve received art and research grants for experimental and participatory art projects in Poland, Germany, and California, and in support of Feral Fabric, a radical textile journal that I co-founded with Amanda Walters. I am always building on my past projects, research and ideas, padding around my various studios, endlessly absorbed in the newest bit of inspiration I just found, and wondering how I can incorporate it into what I’m working on.