Ira Benifand, a 22-year-old designer from the Chelyabinsk region, has successfully pursued her passion for graphic design despite losing her hearing at the age of two. She recently graduated from Sphere College in Chelyabinsk and is eager to begin her career, focusing on packaging, book design, and corporate identity.
Ira’s journey began in Trekhgorny, where her uncle, musician Ilya Benifand, is well-known. Despite her hearing impairment, Ira attended boarding school No. 10 for deaf and hard-of-hearing children and later chose to study graphic design based on her mother’s encouragement and her lifelong love for drawing.
Ira’s teacher, Natalia Lisevskaya, highlights her student’s determination and resourcefulness in overcoming communication barriers. While fluent in sign language, Ira also effectively utilizes voice assistants and social networks to communicate. AI technology assists her in accessing lecture material by converting speech to text, and she actively engages with her teacher and peers through Telegram.
One of Ira’s notable projects is a line of packaging for dairy products with unique flavors, showcasing a “glamorous design” aimed at attracting young consumers. Her mentor emphasized the logo, featuring a bee transforming into a cow, as a testament to her professional skill.
Ira’s talent has been recognized in international competitions, where she reached the final of a packaging competition with her “Nectar Milk” project. She chose not to disclose her disability, participating on an equal footing with other designers and earning a diploma for her work.
For her thesis, Ira rebranded a Chelyabinsk women’s hairdresser into a men’s barbershop, creating a mascot that she hopes will attract more clients. The project is set to be implemented in Severka.
Her teachers underscore the strong motivation and ambition of hard-of-hearing students, who are determined to overcome obstacles and pursue meaningful careers. Ira plans to work independently, taking orders online, but remains open to opportunities in larger companies due to the advancements in communication technology.