DESIGN IS A PROCESS OF BECOMING
Poiesis
The heart of my design process is in the word POIESIS. The entire design practice is developed around the universal cultural significance of the word POIESIS.
The meaning
Poiesis (ποίησις) means bringing into existence what wasn't before. The Greeks understood creation as revelation - making visible what wants to exist. Not invention from nothing, but attentive bringing-forth. Every act of making, from writing code to shaping metal, participates in this same fundamental movement.
Plato's philosophy
Plato saw poiesis everywhere: the poet composing verse, the carpenter building ships, the thinker forming ideas. All shared one essence - causing something to pass from non-being into being. He drew no hierarchy between crafts. Creation, in any form, was the same sacred work.
Heidegger's philosophy
Heidegger reclaimed poiesis as bringing-forth. Truth emerges through patient attention. Poiesis works with what wants to come forth. The craftsman doesn't impose will. They listen, allowing form to reveal itself through the work. Poiesis becomes a way of self-discovery through making.
DESIGN PHYLOSOPHY: POIESIS
I bring into existence what didn't exist before.
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PRINCIPLES ARE THE SAME
All creative acts follow the same process
PHASE I
Collect
As our bodies, our minds need to be fed. The more diverse the inputs a mind has, the better. Books, expositions, travelling, writing, good conversations, trying new food or a new sport, all enrich our collection of personally curated ideas and clues about the world around us.
PHASE II
Connect
Creativity is a strange process that happens randomly, striking us like a lightning bolt. Looking backwards, a creative idea results from connecting dots that seem unrelated. Trusting our brains that everything will connect and feeding it with good inputs is the best thing to do.
PHASE III
Connect
Now that the mind has a purpose, all its energy is focused on crafting the idea arised in the last phase. Removing the layers of complexity to uncover the core of the idea is the main scope of this phase. Like a sculptor who uncovers his art by removing what's not meant to be part of it.
DESIGN IS A PROCESS, NOT AN OUTPUT
Artefacts I design
SYSTEMS
Creating scalable systems
Good systems feel invisible until you need them. When designers and developers share a language, decisions happen faster, design stays consistent, and teams focus on actual problems instead of reinventing buttons.
DESIGN SYSTEM, PRODUCT STRATEGY
BRANDING
Crafting branding identities
In a world where technology has become a commodity, the only differentiator is the brand narrative. The story serves as a foundation for everything built in your company. It sets the guiding principles for product and communication.
VISUAL IDENTITY, BRAND STRATEGY, BRAND GUIDELINE
PRODUCTS
Designing digital products
Most products fail because they solve imaginary problems or ignore how people actually think. I start by understanding what's broken, then design interfaces that feel obvious in retrospect.
PRODUCT DESIGN, DISCOVERY WORKSHOPS, UX AUDITS
PAGES
LET'S CONNECT
SOCIAL
© 2026 George Mihai · Product Designer · Bucharest, Romania