Max Kolomatsky often finds himself looking for a sign.
The 25-year-old Brooklynite spends hours strolling around his neighborhood, scanning store windows, electricity poles, and community bulletin boards in search of poorly conceived flyers that could use a redesign.
When he finds something that inspires him — say a note messily scrawled for a FedEx delivery or a sign telling neighbors to pick up their dogs’ poop — he redesigns it on his iPad, prints it up, and hangs the new version next to the original.
“I really enjoy redoing ads for people who probably can’t afford to hire a good designer,” said Kolomatsky, a freelancer digital artist who does the work anonymously and at no cost. “I look for genuinely wholesome and obscure flyers, which I call ‘hidden gems,’ that give passersby a sense of who the person is and the story behind whatever it is they’re promoting.”
The Montclair, New Jersey native was inspired to start making-over posters while strolling through Ridgewood, Queens, last February.
A cluttered handbill seeking players for Catan — a German-style board game of strategy and luck — caught his eye.
It featured a photoshopped edit of two faceless men poised for gameplay accompanied by a small caption that read: “You could be this [guy].”
A bold, call-to-action read, “We recently moved in Bushwick and we are searching for people for awesome game board nights!!!!.”
Kolomatsky couldn’t resist.
“It was just an interesting and an outdated way of people reaching out to connect with others,” he said. “Their sign was hilariously bad.”
He shared the original and his redesign on his TikTok profile, @Cool_Looking_Bug, where it amassed nearly 7 million views — including the eyeballs of the Catan players who had posted the flyer.
“They saw the video and loved it — they definitely have a full Catan table now,” said Kolomatsky, who plans to join them for a game sometime soon.
He had a similar experience with a Goth band that put up a bulletin looking for a new guitarist and drummer. He redid it to look more professional but still edgy.
The rockers loved the new design and successfully found new members.
He’s also heard, through social media channels, that a pet sitter named Mayra enjoyed the quaint illustrations of puppies and cats he added to the charming picture of herself holding a dog that anchored her ad.
“Mayra was putting her face on the flyers,” he said of what drew him to that job. “No one does that.”
As far as Kolomatsky knows, none of the advertisers have ever disliked his reimaginings.
He makes a living doing designs for larger companies, but he’s loving this side gig and its surprising success.
“Knowing that the people who I’m doing this for actually really like it and that it helps their businesses is so shocking,” he said. “I hope this project inspires other [New Yorkers] to do something out of the kindness of their hearts.”