The Creative Behind
the Work
the Work
Ryschell Dragunov is the designer behind ZeSaiphio Design. A multidisciplinary creative shaped by years of exploration, reinvention, and hands‑on artistry. Her path into design began long before software or studios. It started in childhood, learning to sew at twelve and building imaginative worlds and handmade creations that sparked a strong foundation in craft, structure, and visual problem‑solving.
Early Foundations in Craft
and Visual Thinking
and Visual Thinking
That early creative drive led her to study Human Ecology and Clothing & Textiles at university. During her studies, she also took courses in art, photography, and typography—initially out of curiosity, not yet realizing she was building the framework for her future career. She learned the traditional, pre‑digital method of magazine layout: cutting and arranging elements by hand, waxing and burnishing them into place. Typography and layout quickly became areas where she naturally excelled.
Throughout university, she worked retail jobs that strengthened her customer‑focused and operational skills—experience that would later support her entrepreneurial path.
Early Career and First Pivots
After graduating, she expanded her creative and entrepreneurial practice through independent apparel design work and jewellery design, explored early direct‑sales ventures, while also gaining administrative experience that sharpened her organizational and operational capabilities.
Her mid‑twenties marked a turning point. With the rise of personal computing and the early internet, she began exploring web design through Microsoft FrontPage and early graphic tools like CorelDRAW. This birthed the first company, introducing her to the fundamentals of running a business—staff management, bookkeeping, and building systems from the ground up.
Entrepreneurship and Reinvention
These skills became the foundation for more than a decade of entrepreneurship. She co‑ran several businesses, beginning with early internet services and evolving into an online Japanese anime retail business—her first major step into digital commerce. She later moved into the trade-show circuit, learning direct B2C marketing. Eventually, she opened a retail store specializing in band and novelty T‑shirts, goth apparel, and body jewellery.
She created all the graphics, signage, and promotional materials for these ventures, deepening her design instincts long before she formally entered the field.
Thirteen years of business ownership came to a close with the economic crash of 2009, prompting another reinvention.
The Path to ZeSaiphio Design
She returned to administration as a Senior Executive Assistant at IBM, where she refined high‑level organizational, event‑planning, and operational skills. During this time, she also began face painting for corporate events—an unexpected avenue that strengthened her sense of colour, detail, and composition.
When her IBM contract ended, she moved into sales roles. It was here that graphic design shifted from a supporting skill to a professional calling. With no access to formal schooling, she taught herself the tools she needed—building on her existing knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and expanding into marketing, branding, and visual communication. Freelance work followed, leading her to Microbusiness Training Centre
where ZeSaiphio Design was born.
where ZeSaiphio Design was born.
Building Technical Mastery and
Entering Editorial Design
Entering Editorial Design
Her first major contract—and next significant leap—came at Wild TV, where she taught herself HubSpot for marketing and Adobe Illustrator for design. When that contract ended, the pandemic created unexpected space to deepen her technical foundation. She used that time to immerse herself in Photoshop, Illustrator, Canva, and eventually Adobe InDesign, strengthening the digital skill set that would shape the next stage of her career.
That preparation opened the door to a defining opportunity: she was commissioned to design a magazine. She learned InDesign while building the publication page by page, then went on to design an entire magazine from the ground up. This became her entry into editorial design and led to nearly four years with a book publishing company, where she refined her craft in layout, typography, production workflows, and long‑form storytelling.
Layout felt natural to her after years of creating branding and visual systems—grounded in what she had learned at university and refined through trial and error—but she needed the technical environment to sharpen and formalize those instincts, which the publishing company provided. During that time, she designed more than fifty published books, a body of work that reflects both her technical mastery and her commitment to thoughtful, intentional design.
Craft, Curiosity & Creative Evolution
Throughout her career, she has maintained a parallel creative practice—jewellery design, face painting, and tactile artistry that continue to influence her digital work, giving her design style its signature blend of precision and play. Remaining endlessly curious and open to learning, she continues to expand her creative toolkit—most recently weaving Adobe Express, Premiere Pro, and Adobe Firefly into her evolving skillset—deepening the dialogue between her tactile artistry and the ever‑growing possibilities of her digital craft.
A Designer Shaped by Reinvention
Today, as the founder of ZeSaiphio Design, Ryschell brings together editorial expertise, brand storytelling, and a lifetime of creative evolution. Her work is shaped by resilience, reinvention, and a problem‑solver’s instinct to pivot with purpose. She approaches every project with curiosity, craftsmanship, and a belief that design should feel intentional, intuitive, and alive.
In addition to book and publication design, she supports authors with launch planning, promotional materials, and cohesive marketing assets—providing a comprehensive creative partnership that carries their work from manuscript to market with clarity and confidence.