PATRYCJA BRUŹ-SONIEWICKA
CEO & CREATIVE DIRECTOR

HI. I’M PATRYCJA.

I’ve been working in the creative world for over 20 years. I’ve built brands, campaigns, companies and projects. I’ve worked with fantastic, talented people on projects both big and small, and for most of that time I’ve truly loved what I do.

But there was something that had long captured my attention. Interiors. Colours. Objects. Furniture. Harmonious proportions. Things you can look at for a little longer than you need to.

IT ALL STARTED WITH A MIRROR

I was looking for the mirror I’d been dreaming of. I had a very specific image in my head. I knew exactly what it should look like. The problem was that it wasn’t to be found anywhere.

So I sketched it on a piece of paper. I can’t draw. But sometimes it’s not about being able to draw something. It’s about having something in your head that doesn’t exist yet – and you have to show it to others somehow. So I started thinking about how to describe it, and then how to make it.

Then another idea popped up. Then another. Colours. Shapes. Objects. Variations. Fabrics. Textures. At some point, that single mirror turned into a whole collection.

I invited Kasia and Bartek to collaborate with me because they have talent and an ‘eye’ for beautiful harmonies, minimalist, elegant and intriguing forms. They liked the mirrors and the rest of the collection, and the prospect of a shared adventure sounded exciting.

AFTER 20 YEARS OF CREATING THINGS THAT LAST ONLY A MOMENT, I WANTED TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT WOULD LAST

Over the years, I’ve worked in advertising, marketing, technology and e-commerce. They’re fascinating worlds. Fast-paced. Intense. Full of new ideas and wonderful people. But they also have their own particular nature. A campaign disappears. A website changes. Technology becomes outdated. A project you’ve spent months working on sometimes ceases to exist before you’ve had a chance to enjoy it.

At some point, I began to long for something more tangible, non-virtual, real. Something you can spend time with. Touch. Use every day. Look at for years to come.

That’s how HOGAI came about – for me, it’s a way of turning ideas that exist only in my head into things that come to life alongside people.

HOGAI is a place where things are created to bring us joy and move us. Here, we specialise in the engineering of wonder. We make things to live with and to love.

COLOUR IS IMPORTANT TO ME

I like beige tones. I really do. They make a great backdrop. But I don’t believe everything has to be a backdrop. I like things that have a mind of their own. Colours that transform the energy of a room. A single bold accent that can do more than yet another wall in ‘warm greige’. I was tired of the monotony of greys and beiges. I longed for colour, because to me, colour isn’t just decoration. It’s emotion. Sometimes energy. Sometimes tranquillity. And sometimes it’s simply something that makes you look at your bedroom in the morning and think: It’s beautiful. I love it.

HOGAI is the place where all my previous experiences have come together. A love of design. Strategy. Branding. Business. E-commerce. Technology. Marketing. And above all – people.

Because none of these projects would have come about if I hadn’t invited people to collaborate with me who share my language. Aesthetic, creative and – just as importantly – human.

WHERE DOES THE BRAND NAME – HOGAI – COME FROM?

I was looking for a simple, pleasant-sounding, abstract name with an appealing spelling. HOGAI came up during one of our brainstorming sessions. Later, I discovered that in Pashto, hogai means ‘a wonderful girl’. I thought that was a lovely meaning. Then Adam designed the logo, and I had no doubt that this was the one.

WHAT INSPIRES ME? WHAT STYLES AND TRENDS IN ARCHITECTURE OR DESIGN?

I find the whole history of the Bauhaus and the energetic Memphis movement that grew out of it absolutely phenomenal. It stimulates my creative thinking. It makes me smile. It fills me with wonder.