My Posters Featured on GraphisBlog

Today, the prestigious Graphis published on their GraphisBlog an article about my poster designs for the plays "Oedipus" and "Titus Andronicus" in production with JDP-Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade, Serbia.

You can read the article here.

The article also featured some of my other theater posters, including my recent posters for Lincoln Center Theater plays, "The Coast Starlight" and "The Skin of Our Teeth". I designed these two posters in collaboration with Nicky Lindeman from the advertising agency SpotCo.

You can see more of my poster designs here.

 

One Thing Leads to Another

Recently, when browsing on Boo-Hooray, an online underground movement archive, to my surprise, I noticed that they featured my art created in 1979 in their "Record Dreams" catalogue.

I created that art on my kitchen table as the LP cover for the then-unknown Croatian punk band Dirty Theater (Prljavo kazaliste). I came up with the idea for this cover partly because the band was very young and didn't know exactly how to play. They wanted to sound like The Rolling Stones, but they sounded punk because of their lack of skills. Also, referencing The Rolling Stone's song "Some Girls", Dirty Theater had a song named "Some Boys". Because of all these elements, I created this image. The record became an instant hit in Yugoslavia. 

After that, I did many other things. I moved to the US and almost forgot about that project. 

Suddenly, in 2012, the Hayward Gallery in London created "Someday All the Adults Will Die": Punk Graphics 1971—1984 show. Among others, they exhibited my cover.

In the review of their show, The Huffington Post featured my art with the caption "One of the revolutionary graphics on show". 

Soon after that, Rizzoli published the book "Punk: An Aesthetic", in which they featured Dirty Theater's LP. I was extremely pleased because Dirty Theater's LP was featured on a spread with one of my favourite records, "No Exist" by The Clash.

In 2018, Jens Muller and Julius Wiedemann featured the cover art in a spread about my work in their monumental 2-volume book "The History of Graphic Design" published by Taschen.

Then, the cherry on the cake, in 2023, MoMA (Museum of Modern Art in New York) included that cover in their collection. 

Not bad for a 2-day work on a kitchen table.

 

My Work Featured in Graphis #373

I am pleased to announce the release of the online version of Graphis Journal #373. This issue of the journal dedicated 18 pages to my work and an interview with me. The printed version of it will soon be available. 

Graphis was founded in 1944 by Walter Herdeg and Dr. Walter Amstutz in Zurich, Switzerland. The magazine was started with the September/October 1944 issue. In 1986, Martin Pedersen purchased the company from Mr. Herdeg and later moved the headquarters to New York City. 

 

The Daily Heller: Clearing the COVID Cloud

In today's Daily Heller, Steven Heller is movingly describing his encounter with Covid infection.

"But the most incredible consequence of my particular variant (and I wonder if other sufferers have had the same experience) is that many of my daily disorders, including movement issues and insomnia, simply disappeared. It was as though my system is designed to handle only one major crisis at a time. The fog, while uncomfortable and unknowable, blocked out everything I did not want to deal with, either overtly or covertly. Of course, anyone who is even the slightest bit ill could not care less about fulfilling their daily routines and one-off responsibilities. When the one responsibility you have is fighting and beating the viral enemy and protecting (as best as possible) your family from catching it too, writing Daily Heller columns, meeting deadlines and editing other projects is not as compelling or important."

To illustrate his story, he used two comics from my A.C. 2020 series. "Thanks to Mirko Ilic for generously allowing me to use his AC (After COVID) 2020 comic strips. They are perfect representations of exactly how I was feeling."

 

Blast from the past.

By pure chance, I came across this article from Huffington Post from 2012 announcing an exhibition that explores the influence of the punk movement on art and Graphic design.

The article is illustrated by one of the items in the exhibition, the record cover design I made for the Croatian band Prljavo kazaliste in 1979 with the caption "One of the revolutionary graphics on show".

 

 

PRINT Awards 2022

 Print Magazine just announced the winners of the annual competition PRINT Awards 2022.

I am happy to share with you that my poster for the theatre play "My Husband" by JDP-Yugoslav Drama Theater has won first place in the Posters + Outdoor category. 

You can see both Cyrillic and Latin versions of the poster and read more about the play here.

 

My Interview on "Consulting Unplugged"

I had the pleasure to be interviewed by Andrew Pek on his popular podcast and educational platform called "Consulting Unplugged". Known as the "Consultant's Consultant", Andrew Pek is an internationally recognized authority on innovation, design thinking and entrepreneurship. 

From start-ups to mature companies, Andrew has helped organizations such as Bayer, BNP Paribas, Biomerieux, Citi Group, Estee Lauder, Ferring, Intracellular, The Limited, Pfizer and Steelcase become more innovative. Andrew has been invited to speak worldwide and his views on innovative leaders, change management and design thinking have been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, The New York Times, Investor Business Daily, Chicago Tribune and Readers Digest. He is a best selling author of "Stimulated: Habits To Spark Your Creative Genius At Work "​ (Greenleaf Book Group 2008).

I didn't dare watch the interview but if you would like to do it, here is the link.

"APD Talks blog" on WeChat

I am pleased to share with you that I am one of the three designers interviewed by the APD Talks blog. APD (Asia-Pacific Design) Talks is a graphic design blog on Weixin (Wechat). This particular post is about posters, and it's featuring, among others, my poster designs and the Tolerance Poster Show.

You can read the interview and see more images here.

 

News from Sina, China

I am very happy to share with you that today, Sina, one of the largest and
most influential websites in China, published an article about me under the title "World-Class Artist Mirko Ilic Signs With Modern Sky | Tolerance Poster Show Will Be Arriving in Shanghai in 2022".

If you read Chinese, you can read more about it here.

 

 

POLITICAL CARTOONS part 5: MIRKO ILIĆ

"I met Ilić in 2013. I had just finished a rousing discussion with Milton Glaser about art and he said, "You know, you should really meet Mirko. He's right upstairs." I'd never heard of Mirko, but when Glaser picks up the phone and tells someone you're coming, you don't say no."

From the Illustration Arts blog by David Apatoff. 

"Make Art to Drive Change" on Skillshare

I am proud to announce that my lecture on Skillshare, "Make Art to Drive Change" just surpassed a milestone of 2,000 students.

 

Head to Toe Featured on Typeroom

Mine and Steven Heller's book, Head to Toe: The Nude in Graphic Design featured on Typeroom. We spoke about the book, our favorite examples of nudity throughout graphic design history, and the cultural status of the human figure today. Thanks to Loukas Karnis for putting this together.

Read the full piece here.

Head to Toe: The Nude in Graphic Design featured in CNN Style

Mine and Steven Heller's new book, Head to Toe: The Nude in Graphic Design is featured in CNN.

Read the full piece here: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/head-to-toe-nudity-graphic-design/index.html

Ten Graphic Design Books to Help You Create Images as Impactful as Mirko Ilic’s Art

Skillshare's blog just posted a reading list based on the recommendations in my course, Make Art to Drive Change (which you can view here: http://skl.sh/mirko).
This is just a small sample of books directly related to the lectures.

But of course, I didn't recommend the book about me—I'm not that obnoxious (yet)!

Make Art to Drive Change: Mirko Ilic on Color, Type, and Icons

Last week, my course "Make Art to Drive Change: Mirko Ilic on Color, Type, and Icons" launched on Skillshare. Since then, I've enjoyed hearing your feedback and seeing your projects.

Today, many visual creatives are wondering how to use their skills to raise awareness of injustice. I hope that my course will give you some insight. Below is a video that previews the course. You can view the course at skl.sh/mirko and if you find it helpful, don't forget to share and leave a review.

VAROOM! Magazine Design

Looking through the very impressive website of English designer, Fernando Gutiérrez,
and to my astonishment, I came across his designs of VAROOM! Magazine, with my illustration,
which made me happy.

 

AIGA Eye on Head to Toe

"In the new book Head to Toe: Nudity in Graphic Design, Mirko Ilić and Steven Heller chart the history of designers using the naked body as a graphic device. The book documents hundreds of examples, from the overt to the subtly suggestive. And in the process, it explores how public perception of the nude body has evolved from a bold provocation to an established marketing tool. We asked Heller and Ilić to choose five of the most significant uses of the nude body in recent graphic design history, and explain, in their own words, how it’s changed the way we think about nudity, and by extension, ourselves." –Liz Stinson

"In 1968, Rolling Stone featured Yoko Ono and a nude John Lennon from the rear (the famed full-frontal image from the Two Virgins album was shown inside). This nudity was not new to the underground press of the ’60s but it was the first time actual celebrities appeared in birthday attire on the cover of a national publication. It was a shock—the magazine and the album. But this was an era of shocks. Once the first jolt of surprise was over, it became part of the cultural flow.”

You can read the whole article at AIGA Eye on Design.

I Want You To Point Finger

Angelina Lippert curator at Poster House wrote an extensive article on their website about my lecture Pointing Finger, a history of pointing finger in graphic design, which was used as a base for their window display for their Hot Poster Gossip window series.

The article includes my comments from the lecture and Angelina's additional research.

The War On Dissent

New issue of the online magazine ColdType is out and it features Milton Glaser's and my new book The Design of Dissent, Expanded Edition as part of the cover story.

You can read the article at this link: http://bit.ly/2BNGIol

100th Anniversary of Sarajevo Project - Featured in the Graphic Design Gallery at Behance.

"Congratulations Mirko Ilic Corp.,

Your project 100th Anniversary of Sarajevo has been featured in
the Branding category of our Graphic Design gallery.
Our curatorial team features a small number of
projects to appear on the front of our gallery each day.
We only pick the best work that effectively promotes
the Branding community.

The Branding Curatorial Team"