Sabina Rece spent her first year at university quietly researching how to leave. She'd enrolled in a computer programming degree in Timișoara, her home city, and she'd chosen wrong. What got her out was a joke. She offered to illustrate a close friend's first poetry book, then actually did it, and it was the first time she felt she belonged to something. She built a portfolio, applied to study graphic design at a university in the UK, and that's where it properly began. She had no design background and didn't know anyone in the industry, so she worked most of it out alone.
Sabina opens doors for herself rather than waiting for them to open. If something doesn't exist yet, she builds it, which is how The Design Kids arrived in Romania, with the first chapter starting in her hometown. The same instinct runs through her design. She treats a brief like a story she's helping to tell, something she picked up designing posters for a local youth theatre group and is now taking towards film poster design. Romanian folklore and a make-it-work resourcefulness sit under it all: honest storytelling stripped back to its core, and clever routes through with whatever's available. On AI, she thinks people will crave real connection and story even more, and that the creatives who keep making work that's unmistakably theirs will be the ones remembered.
Can you tell us a little about your first few steps in your career. Was there a moment or experience when you realised this was what you'd do as a career?
I actually didn’t always know that I wanted to be a designer. I grew up loving anything creative and spent a lot of time drawing, always being the one taking pictures and editing them, but I never imagined turning it into a career. The real turning point came when I had to choose a career path for university, and, for better or worse, I chose wrong the first time. I enrolled in a computer programming degree in my city, and I spent that entire first year quietly researching how to get out of it.
That's actually when I started drawing again. I jokingly offered to illustrate a close friend's first poetry book – and then I actually did it. Working on that project felt so freeing in comparison to the disappointment I was feeling towards my career choice. It was the first time I felt like I truly belonged to something, and somewhere in that process, the idea that I wanted to be a graphic designer took hold. By the time the next university application cycle came around, I had built enough work to put together a portfolio. That same fall, I applied to a university in the UK to study graphic design, and that's where it all really began.
What lessons from your career have most shaped your style and approach?
I think the biggest lesson has come from working closely with other art forms, and exploring their relationship with graphic design. My time designing posters for a local youth theatre group really opened my eyes to how much creativity exists outside of a screen or a brief, and how all of that can be channeled into design. Sitting in on productions, seeing how a story could be built from nothing into something fully alive on stage, made me realize how free creation can feel when you let go of rigid expectations. It pushed me to bring more of that instinct into my own design process, to treat a project less like a formula and more like a story I'm helping to tell. (It also made me absolutely love theatre).
That instinct has only deepened over time. Illustrating a poetry book early in my career taught me that design isn't only about making something look good, but about translating someone else's world into a visual language that feels true to them. More recently, that same pull has drawn me toward film, cinematography, and that same love for storytelling. Film poster design feels like the natural meeting point for me and the right next step in my creative journey: distilling an entire story, its tone and world, into one image. Different mediums, but the same lesson each time. Good design isn't decoration, it's capturing the feeling of a story and giving people a way in.
Tell us about the core values or philosophies that guide your creative practice.
I'm someone who opens doors for myself rather than waiting for them to open. If something doesn't exist yet, I find a way to create it. If I were to look back, that's basically how my whole career started. It's also what led me to bring The Design Kids to Romania, pioneering the first chapter here in my hometown instead of waiting for that kind of community to already exist. If I see a gap, my instinct is to fill it, not wait around for someone else to.
That same philosophy shapes how I approach design as well. When I hit a wall, I don't abandon the idea just because it's difficult, I fight to find a way through it, even if that means going about it differently than expected. I'd rather stick with a problem and work my way around it, even when it takes longer, because that's usually where the more interesting solutions live.
What needs to change, so emerging and under-represented creative professionals have more opportunity, are seen and heard?
I believe it starts with placing more value on the arts and recognizing that creativity shouldn't be a luxury, but an essential part of culture, education, and innovation. Unfortunately, I still see examples of how creative careers are still perceived as less stable or less worthwhile, which means they're most likely going to be underfunded, overlooked, and inaccessible to many talented people.
Beyond that, access to community and mentorship can make all the difference. When I started out, I didn't come from a design background or know anyone in the industry, so I had to figure everything out on my own. At times, that felt incredibly lonely. That's part of why community has always mattered so much to me. Creating spaces where emerging creatives can connect, ask questions, share their work, and support one another is just as important as creating opportunities.
How important is it that creative professionals find their unique voice?
Looking ahead, what do you think are the key factors that will influence change for creative professionals?
My personal theory and vision for what’s to come is that the future belongs to creatives who double down on being human and on using those experiences to make art. With everyone talking about AI, I think we're going to see people crave real connection and story even more, especially within the creative world. That's not something a prompt will ever be able to generate.
So for me, the key factor isn't the technology, it's whether people trust that pull towards the act of creation enough to keep making work that's unmistakably theirs. I really believe that the ones who do will be the ones people remember.
How much does your city influence your work?
For me, there has been a bit of a conflicting feeling growing as a creative in a city that doesn't necessarily have an established design industry or an obvious creative scene, the way some of the biggest cities in the world do. Early on, I didn't quite know where to draw inspiration from locally. But there's real talent here. I’ve met some incredibly creative people over the years and even more so recently. The city just hasn't always had the infrastructure or platforms to match that talent.
That gap has shaped me more than any direct inspiration has. Growing up somewhere that isn't a recognized creative hub gave me this quiet determination to make it anyway, to be seen anyway, even without the scene or the connections that might come more easily elsewhere. In a way, Timișoara taught me to bet on myself early, and that's a mindset I still carry into every project.
How much does your culture influence your work?
Growing up in Romania gave me a real appreciation for storytelling in its rawest form. There's a history of folklore here that doesn't need to be used directly to be valuable, but rather drawn on as inspiration. The honesty in the way these stories are told is something I try to carry into design, stripping things back to their core.
I also think there's a specific kind of resourcefulness that comes from this part of the world. A "make it work with what you have" mentality. I see that instinct in a lot of Romanian creatives, and I recognize it in myself too. It has shaped how I approach problems: less about having the perfect tools or budget, and more about finding a clever way through with what's actually available.
Tell us some of your favourite, creative professionals and inspiring places in your city!
Timișoara being named European Capital of Culture in 2023 really changed the way I now experience the city. That year, it felt genuinely alive with exhibitions, installations, and events happening in spaces I'd walked past my whole life without a second thought. It was the first time I truly felt the city's creative potential, not just assumed it was there.
That period opened me up to so much inspiration, independent artists, small galleries, pop-up exhibitions and so much incredible work I might have never found otherwise. I don't have one favorite person or place so much as a renewed instinct to keep noticing, to pay attention to what's happening in the corners of the city.
What should emerging creative professionals keep in mind as they begin their design career?