Who is behind Hes Pattern?

Whoever designs patterns knows that inspiration doesn’t always arrive with a bang of fireworks. Sometimes, it quietly creeps in between Ewa's cup of black coffee, Tomek's fragrant tea, and a cat's tail on the keyboard. Hes Pattern is more than just a design studio—it’s a duo of people who know that a good pattern isn’t a matter of luck, but of strategy, intuition, and more than a few conversations about… everything.

Here is an interview with Ewa, Tomek, and—though she may be a woman of few words—Lili, a cat with surprisingly strong views on aesthetics. They answer the same questions, but from different perspectives: professional, personal, sometimes with a detached view, and sometimes quite seriously.

Because Hes Pattern is not a pattern-making machine. It's a story. And this is where it begins.

How did Hes Pattern emerge as a brand that combines strategic thinking with creativity?

Ewa: My path to creating Hes Pattern began by accident. And with curtains—adorned with swans, cabbage roses, and sweet cats. I designed them at a time when the artist in me dreamed of galleries and painter's canvases. Instead, life gave me a harsh but invaluable lesson in craftsmanship, technology, and working to strict specifications. I learned that a pattern isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s a precise process. That every pixel must have its place, and artistic vision has to fit within concrete production frameworks.
For years, however, I felt I was becoming more of a technologist than a creative. Until that one, unfortunate broken leg… And it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to me. The forced break gave me time for reflection. I realized my true strength lay in what I already had—in combining creativity with technical precision, in understanding the process and business needs. Design can and should be a powerful business tool, not just an artistic fantasy.
And it was with that idea that Hes Pattern was born—a place where every pattern has a strategy, and is not a matter of chance. Then Tomek joined me, and ever since, shoulder to shoulder, we have been building a brand that, at its core, combines the artistic with the analytical.

Tomek: For me, it was a natural step. I had already been helping Ewa in college, even though I don’t call myself a designer. I’ve always been the one to organize and refine Ewa’s visions so they can work in practice. When we decided to work together on our own, we were aware that each of us brings something different, but together we can achieve more. It was more of a common-sense choice than some big "eureka moment.

Lili: She was curled up in a ball, since she wasn't on this earth yet, but she's happy these two made that decision—it gives her a comfortable place to sleep on the desk and a little more attention, even if they sometimes have to interrupt their work to play. Purrrr...?

What does your day-to-day work look like?

Ewa: We start our day in the morning, which is to say, whenever our cat decides it's time. Lili can be more effective than an alarm clock—a quiet meow, an ostentatious stare at her bowl, and we know it's time to get up. At work, coffee is an absolute ritual. I always sit down at my desk with my coffee, and yes, I sometimes dip my brush in it instead of in the cup of water. Fortunately, no work has been harmed in the process!
Czasem odpalam od razu Kritę lub Photoshopa, zamiast coś tam tworzyć analogowo. W tle lubię sobie czegoś posłuchać.

Tomek: And that’s when you need a cannon to get Ewa’s attention.

Ewa: Not exactly. To avoid interrupting each other, we actually leave messages for one another in our files. We usually finish at 3:30 PM, but sometimes, if something isn’t working, we have to put our work aside—sometimes for the evening, sometimes until the next day. The goal is to be effective, not just to put in a set number of hours.

Tomek: A typical day? It means the plan is set, files are organized, everything is in folders, according to the rule: "Chaos will not pass." I like to sip tea—good, aromatic tea—and start a review of my to-do list. I sometimes get annoyed when Ewa describes a task too generally, like: "Something doesn't quite sit right with me, but I don't know what." But the truth is, interesting things often come from her ambiguities, because I see something different than she does.
We work on a task-by-task basis. We have certain things to do for the day, and we just get to it. It sometimes happens that I get up very early and by the time Ewa finishes her first coffee, I've already gotten everything done.

Lili: A typical day? First, a patrol: checking if the bowl is full, if the blanket on the desk is soft, and if the humans are in the right positions. Then, an observation session—sitting on Ewa’s desk, exactly where she keeps her sketchbook. After they manage to move the cat for the fourth time, it's time to move on to a couch nap.

What is your approach to deadlines and project management?

Ewa: “Just five more minutes” – that's probably me. While I don't drag my feet on purpose, I sometimes get caught in the vortex of searching for that something—the perfect motif, form, or tension between elements. I work in the Pomodoro system (my spine and eyes are thankful), and I have a schedule for every day, but… sometimes things get stretched. Or the work is so enjoyable that being "after hours" feels more like a luxury than a punishment.

Tomek: I’m more the type to just sit down and get it done. No ceremony. If I finish early—great. If not—oh well, but I don’t like to leave work unfinished. Unless everything goes wrong… then I go for a bike ride, and everything gets fixed. Or at least, I do.

Ewa: But we also have a story from the old days—from the time when we were still renting an office. Back then, we worked as if someone had told us the Earth would stop spinning if we paused for a moment. One day, I urgently needed to contact a client. Silence. I thought: I'll make some coffee. But the kettle broke. I went to borrow one from a friend's office—it was closed. The next one—also. Because it was SUNDAY. And we were the only people working for a kilometer in any direction. That was the moment we realized something was wrong. Ever since then, we've had a strict rule: no work after work. No conversations about patterns at dinner. No emails on vacation. And the world keeps spinning. What a miracle, right?

Lili: They say it all the time. Just five more minutes, I'll just finish this, we'll play in a second, Lili, I just have to send this email… Pfft. The cat knows that isn't five minutes. That’s a separate unit of human time—a five-minute eternity stretching into infinity. That’s why the cat has learned not to wait. I watch, I evaluate whether they are moving. If not, I swat at their ankle. If they are moving, I nudge them with two paws and make a dash for it. It works.

How is the unique character of each pattern created?

Ewa: I look for inspiration everywhere, not just in industry trends. Sometimes it’s architecture and art, and sometimes a fascinating pattern of stones or the color of tree bark. To get started, it’s coffee and Rammstein—sometimes Metallica or Iron Maiden. They work on me like an espresso. This helps me gather energy before I dive into the details and start creating the concept portfolio where I organize my thoughts and visions. But once I fall into the work rhythm, I switch to more cinematic moods—symphonic landscapes, game soundtracks, or Scandinavian folk. This musical collage is my way of tuning in to the unique character of each project.

Tomek: What Ewa mentioned is great when we’re tidying up the battlefield after a design session. At work, I like to hear my own thoughts, so I value silence. If I'm doing something monotonous, I turn on some Polish rock. My role is to structure what pours out of Ewa's concept portfolio into a cohesive, functional project. Sometimes, like with that music, I just have to find that one key rhythm.

Lili: Silence is music, if you know where to listen. And if something is playing, the cat prefers it’s not louder than her when she demands the balcony be opened.

How does your creative and analytical duality strengthen your projects?

Ewa: It's a bit like being in a band—I'm the vocalist. I need a moment of silence to listen for the idea. Before I start, I like to have the atmosphere set just right—my thoughts, inspirations, and the direction. To me, a pattern is a song with a meaning for a specific audience.

Tomek: Well, then I'm the guitarist. I come in with a strong riff, no unnecessary sound checks. To me, a project is action—something is happening, something is being created, there's no need for too much deliberation. There’s a concert to play, and that’s it.

Ewa: And that’s what saves us—I sometimes slow him down, he pushes me forward. Sometimes I get too carried away with something, he holds my sound in place. If we both worked the same way, we’d either be stuck in infinite planning, or we’d make ten versions of one pattern and each one would be “the final one.

Tomek: And so we're like a good duo—a little bit of tension, a little bit of laughter, but in the end, we're always on the same team.

Lili: The cat is sure that for them, she is like a purring percussion. Purring even after the lights go out.

What inspires you and how does that influence your projects?

Ewa: I am captivated by nature’s courage in its combinations. Plum purple with a muted caramel. Rust intertwined with moss. It all seems to clash, yet it works—as if nature has its own school of design that humans haven’t quite grasped yet. And a microscopic photo of a moth’s wing? A patchwork like something from the studio of an avant-garde tailor from the future.

Tomek: Lately, more than anything, I've been captivated by... the Błędów Desert. And in general—places off the beaten path, not so obvious, sometimes with a history, sometimes just peaceful. I like discovering places like that, a bit like the GPS has forgotten they exist. In nature, I gain perspective. It’s like someone pressed the 'reset' button, and you instantly know what's important and what you can let go of.

Lili: The cat was captivated by Ewa’s fresh watercolor. She was just passing by when a wet brush attacked her out of nowhere. Now the work looks more... like a limited edition. And also the garbage men outside. They come in such a beautiful, big truck with lights.

How do you approach creative challenges?

Ewa: I don't believe in creative inspiration. You can wait for it like you wait for Santa Claus—with the same result. I have my own proven methods. One is SCAMPER—a set of questions that shakes ideas out of the mental drawers in my head. The second is a mind map, which I draw out like a path in the forest: from idea to idea, until I finally get to a place where something starts to shine. And when I feel like a project is going in circles, I use a method from art school—I set it aside for a few days, literally turning it to face the wall. After some time, I come back and see what’s not working. It works every time. And if I need inspiration, I always return to nature. Textures, colors, patterns—they are my eternal source. Untainted by any trends, fads, styles, or anything—as pure as a forest spring.

Tomek: I work a bit differently. When something isn’t working, it means I have to move. Literally. I go out to the garden, get on my bike, or do something physical. The brain starts to work differently then, because it detaches from the problem, it doesn't get stuck on it. Once, while pulling withered ivy tendrils off a wall, I came up with an idea for a pattern that had previously seemed impossible to move. So I'm in the garden, not in my head.

Lili: The cat knows when something is stuck. They both walk around the room, mumbling something. Sometimes they go out, and the cat can then go on a hunt for a treat pouch hidden in a cabinet.

Ewa: Lili, but you could throw those remains of your pouches in the trash yourself sometimes, huh?

Thank you for reading to the end 🙂

We hope that among the stories about Rammstein, technical precision, and feline interventions, you found something that resonates with you. At Hes Pattern, we believe that patterns should have a soul, but also a solid business foundation. If you're looking for a partner who understands your business and, at the same time, has the courage to create something absolutely unique, then you've come to the right place. Remember that you can always count on our analytical mind and creative grit