Going Beyond the Project

with Anna Filippova, Interior Designer

“I'm always in the design process — whenever I travel or go to places like museums, galleries, even showrooms, or reading a book — anything.”

Anna Filippova attended the Fashion Institute of Technology. She was drawn to the Hyphen & Co. aesthetic, beginning as an intern and continuing as a full-time designer. “I decided to stay because I saw a lot of potential and learning from Hyphen – which I did and still do – and I just really enjoy everybody here,” shared Filippova.

H&Co: What was the “aha” moment when you knew design would be it for you?

AF: I was actually debating if I should go into pharmacy school or design – very different. But my dad was in construction and I was always curious about how things are built and all that. Then I thought that maybe I should go into architecture, it's very similar. Whenever [my dad and I] would have conversations, he would explain how things are built and I thought ‘this is really interesting, I want to do something like that.’ I realized that architecture wasn’t the way for me and instead I wanted to do something a little bit more personal, which I think interior design is.

H&Co: Where does your creative process typically start?

AF: I think there are a few ways besides internal research and brainstorming with my team and Shelly. I'm always in the design process — whenever I travel or go to places like museums, galleries, even showrooms, or reading a book — anything. Sometimes it applies to certain projects, and sometimes I just keep it in the back of my mind just in case something relevant comes up.

H&Co: Who is your favorite designer & why?

AF: Besides Hyphen?! Right now I’m loving AvroKO, a hospitality design company. What I really like is the way they work through their concept and research, while creating this storytelling for the spaces they design. I have a few books of theirs. What I especially enjoy is how they talk about their design process, I find it to be captivating. I try to emulate this process in my own work.

H&Co: What is your current design obsession?

AF: Currently, I'm exploring maximalism. As a minimalist, I'm trying to understand it and implement it. I see maximalistic spaces and I’m like ‘OMG, this is cool. How do you put so much stuff together that looks intentional?’ So, that’s kind of an obsession I'm trying to figure out.

H&Co: What is something super simple that you just learned?

AF: This might be random but I just learned that depending on how you sand the wood with the sandpaper, depending on the level of the sandpaper, the stain goes on differently. That’s something super simple that I should probably know but I just found out!

Anna’s Favorites

From a cult-favorite burger spot on the Lower East Side to a Parisian-inspired Chelsea apartment, check out some of Anna’s favorite projects that she has worked on at Hyphen & Co.