Wednesday, January 31, 2024

My Work in the New "American Illustration 42" Book

I am happy to let you know that the jury of American Illustration 42 selected two of my poster illustrations for their prestigious book. 

The first illustration is created for a poster that I designed for 11th Festival Miroslav Krleža in Zagreb, Croatia. 
You can see more of this project here.

The second illustration was my theater poster design for The Miracle in Šargan for JDP-Yugoslav Drama Theater in Belgrade, Serbia. 
You can see more of this project here.





 

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Friday, January 26, 2024

Comic by Jack Kirby

My new acquisition is the closing page from Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers #7 drawn by Jack Kirby and Mike Thibodeaux in 1982. 

Not necessarily the most exciting composition or characters on the page, but beggars cannot be choosers. It still has all of Jack Kirby's signature elements (explosions, smoke, machines and weird characters). 

Below is this page as it appeared in colored print.

Here, you can read the complete comic in which this page appeared.




 

Interview for Croatian national TV

 My interview with Morana Kasapović for HRT, Croatian national TV.

 


Thursday, January 25, 2024

"Dr. Guy Bennett" by Frank Thorne

My recent acquisition is Frank Thorne's (1930 – 2021) newspaper comic strips for "Dr. Guy Bennett" from 1959. I bought these strips because I am fascinated with the ease with which he draws, especially faces. One feels that there is not any construction/architecture behind them. They are totally spontaneous.

Of course, later, Frank moved on to draw famous comics such as Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, The Green Hornet, Tom Corbett Space Cadet, Tomahawk, Mighty Samson, Enemy Ace and he was best known for the Marvel Comics character Red Sonja.

But I still like his early work.



 

Friday, January 19, 2024

One more gift from my friend. A three poster series for the Die Neue Sammlung exhibition Plastic+Design, design by Mendell & Oberer.

The studio was founded by Pierre Mendell and Klaus Oberer. They worked together from 1961 until 2000. Both designers studied at the School of Design in Basel, where they were steeped in the functionalist grid-based systems of graphic design that came to be internationally known as the Swiss style. Mendell & Oberer produced many exceptional posters for German cultural institutions, using minimal forms and colors to create maximally powerful designs.


 

‘Design Process Auto’ by Pierre Mendell

I received a gift from my friend, a poster by German designer Pierre Mendell for the exibit ‘Design Process Auto’ by Die Neue Sammlung in Munich.

'The exhibition provided an insight into the design process of automobiles, illustrating how designs and concepts are progressively refined until they reach a final solution. This process of simplification is reflected within Mendell’s poster. Through his design he wanted to convey the idea of progression. Using photography and line conversion techniques, Mendell demonstrated the exhibits subject matter through reductive form and bold use of colour — a familiar style amongst many of his work. The completed design demonstrates clearly and concisely that all car design starts from a single basic principle: four wheels.

Mendell’s familiar style reduces subject matter to its bare attributes, by utilising strong geometric form, striking colour, unexpected juxtapositions and missing elements, he allowed viewers to discover the exhibition on their own without taking the freshness out of the subject.

By supplying the viewers with little more than the first stage of car design, Mendell is encouraging the viewer to participate and engage with the piece, inviting them to fill in the details with their own imagination. Mendell’s ability to include and acknowledge the viewer demonstrates how accomplished and skilled he really is.

Through his reductive style, Mendell went on to define a whole generation of printed promotional material for cultural institutions all across Germany, earning him a reputation as one the worlds leading graphic designers.

His posters characterised the appearance of many public cultural institutions and for almost 30 years, Mendell continued to play a key role in the visual identity of Die Neue Sammlung.' –Mac Scott




Tuesday, January 16, 2024

"Ogego"Ogegod" by Zoran Janjetovd and Alejandro Jodorowsky

My recent acquisition, this wonderful original black and white comic page Ogegod drawn by Zoran Janjetov and written by the legendary Alejandro Jodorowsky. This is one of their many collaborations. 

Probably the most famous is Before The Incal, which Zoran continued to draw after Jean Giraud Moebius.






"Lune" by Hugo Pratt

My recent acquisition is a signed, artist-proof print from the portfolio Lune by Hugo Pratt. The subject is a little bit unusual for Hugo, but it is unmistakably him, with all his signature elements.



 

 

Monday, January 15, 2024

"The Secret Life of Nikolai Tesla" Movie Poster

My recent acquisition: a poster for the film Tajna Nikole Tesle (The Secret Life of Nikolai Tesla) from 1980, designed by Boris Bućan. Despite being a movie poster, this is quite rare. Even before the poster was released, the production company decided to change it to a different poster that featured big movie stars such as Orson Welles. This new poster replaced Boris Bucan's design almost before it reached the distributors. For that reason, only a few of them survived. 

I have had this poster once before, but I gave it away. Now, it is in the collection of the Modern Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb. I was lucky enough to find another one.