Meet Ilya: Head of Design at Rarible

Ilya Komolkin is Head of Design here at Rarible. He has been at the core of Rarible’s brand and vision since day 1. Incredibly passionate about visual culture, he is also a whizz at front-end development, product design, and user experience. From freelance design work, to big tech, to web3 startup: Ilya’s seen it all and brings his experience to bear crafting Rarible’s product vision.

Developing a passion for visual culture

From a very young age, Ilya Komolkin found himself drawn to the arts. In school, he was constantly drawing in class, covering his textbooks in doodles, probably paying more attention to his own creative explorations than anything his teachers were saying. When he discovered digital design tools, he unlocked a whole new world.

“I knew early on that my future would be connected to something visual. When I had my first computer class, I saw Photoshop 1.0 and Macromedia Flash and it blew my mind! I remember a teacher asking what I wanted to be when I grew up. I said "designer"—even though I didn’t fully understand what that meant. I just knew I wanted to work with technology and visual creativity.”

Over the years, he became involved in different cultural scenes, broadening his horizons and discovering new passions. He found himself falling down the rabbit hole of cultural phenomena: breakdancing, electronic music, street art, big brands, and of course — skateboarding. 

“For a while, I dreamed of becoming a professional skateboarder. The skateboarding scene helped shape my visual tastes, and I learned a lot about branding, messaging, and how to build community. From a skills perspective, it was the best time—learning through passion made everything click.”

Going pro

During University, Ilya worked at different design agencies and studios, developing his style and gaining experience in branding. Eventually he and friends created Common App: a fun content app for travellers to share their tips and recommendations in a blog post format with map view and pins with convenient routes. Unfortunately Google launched a similar project before Common App was able to fully find its groove, but this experience was invaluable for Ilya, and taught him a lot about every element of the startup process:

“It was one of my best experiences—I learned how a product team works. I gained knowledge about project management, product management, design, marketing, and even fundraising. We built traction, reaching 30,000 users. It wasn’t huge, but it was an international product.”

After Common App, Ilya spent seven years working in big tech, in both development and design. The corporate culture appealed to him, and the resources were mind-boggling – for example, a dedicated UX lab with a team of 20 researching user behavior round the clock! Eventually, Ilya grew tired of the slow pace of big tech, and Crypto came into his life, offering innovation at break-neck speed.

Around 2015, Ilya met Alexei and Alex and they began playing around with ideas and learning from each other. Ilya had been aware of Bitcoin since 2012, and while he definitely saw its value, he was unimpressed by its usability.

“Back then, you had to use a terminal to make Bitcoin transactions, and I thought, ‘This is crazy. I would never use it. It’s ugly.’ There was no UI, nothing intuitive. But when I learned about Ethereum, that completely blew my mind. The idea of smart contracts changed everything for me.”

“I remember standing on the rooftop of my office building that night, looking at the stars, thinking about Ethereum and all its possibilities. It was inspiring.”

Rarible was born one night over dinner. As small group of crypto enthusiasts discussed everything crypto, it became clear that they were all passionate about creator economies, and that NFTs paved the way for something truly revolutionary.

“I’ve always collected things—it’s been a passion throughout my life. Anything visual or collectible drew me in – Pokémon cards, Magic: The Gathering, music, skateboards – so NFTs were a no-brainer.”

The early days of Rarible

In the beginning there was, well, not a whole lot! Rarible’s founders had to wear a lot of hats in the early days while they steadily grew the company. As well as product and brand design, Ilya spearheaded the marketing and community development.

“I spent the first year of Rarible doing most of the marketing and onboarding thousands of artists. Six years ago, there were no web3 platforms where digital artists could earn money by selling their work. Many struggled to monetize their craft, so it was amazing to offer them a way to make a living from what they were doing. For me, NFTs are still more of a support tool than a speculative asset.”

Since then, Ilya has been at the heart of Rarible, helping it grow and evolve to where it is today. The company has exceeded his expectations, and our killer team has a lot to do with that.

“Rarible has become even bigger than we imagined. Initially, we focused on creator economies and supporting artists, but it’s grown into something massive—brands, partnerships, meme coins, and more. I can’t even imagine where we’ll be in two years.”

“People are a critical part of Rarible. It’s rare to find the perfect team – Everyone needs to be excited about what we’re doing, understand the space, and share a vision for the future. We’ve created a great team here, with great chemistry, and it makes things so easy and enjoyable.”

Ilya’s journey—from doodling in textbooks to shaping the visual identity of Rarible—reflects his deep passion for design, technology, and community. As Rarible continues to evolve, his vision remains at its core, driving innovation and creativity in the NFT space.