Design for Change Zagreb Exhibition

I am pleased to let you know that on Friday, May 29th, an exhibition opened as a part of the Design for Change project in front of the ŠPUD in the open air - Trg Republike Hrvatske 11 and in front of the Academy of Music in Zagreb, Croatia. This is the finale of the UBU project of the School and Faculty of Design and Algebra Bernays University, as well as Sintoment, Organism, and others. This exhibition is the product of the Design for Change student art workshop.

"The Design for Change project/collaboration seeks to connect education, the creative process, and social responsibility, encouraging young authors to actively reflect on the world around them through design and recognize their own potential for action within the community.

Mirko Ilić, New York, workshop leader, guest critic, lecturer / creative director; Marija Juza, workshop leader, project/collaboration leader, Design Studio, UBU (collaborators: Maša Poljanec, Franka Tretinjak, Tomislav Vlainić, Dina Milovčić); Bernarda Cesar, workshop leader, project/collaboration leader, exhibition curator, UBU, ŠPUD (collaborators: Dinka Pavelić, Vinka Mortigjija Anušić, Petar Novak, Igor Kozlina, Nenad Weltinger, Andro Grdinić, Marina Ćurković); Iva Babaja, workshop leader, coordinator, Algebra Bernays (collaborators: Siniša Bogdanović, Goran Božić, Ivana Kos, Ivan Klanac); Tena Bošnjaković, project coordinator for Sintoment Visual; identity authors: Mila Cuculić and Dora Šimpović (Design Studio); Design and layout: Marija Juza, Katja Malešević; SD Gallery, exhibition set-up: Filip Vrcić, Klara Crčić, Nera Hasan, Mila Cuculić and Dora Šimpović ISO – Izidor Kršnjavi Exhibition Hall, manager; Jelena Daić, assistant; Igor Blaha Filip Pintarić, director of ŠPUD."

Photos by Lana Andjelopolj and Ivica Črep 

 

Milton Glaser Poster Show at MSURS

I’m pleased to share with you some images from the opening of the exhibition 'Here's What I've Learned So Far' by Milton Glaser at MSURS-Museum of Contemporary Art of Republic of Srpska, which was a part of the Museum Night 2026 event, on Saturday, May 23.

“The exhibition was realized in cooperation with the US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the occasion of commemorating the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States of America.

The exhibition is organized as part of the "Freedom 250" initiative, which marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America and celebrates the ideals of freedom, creativity, and cultural exchange that still connect people around the world today.

The exhibition was opened by Daniel Koski, Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Assistant Minister of Education and Culture of Republika Srpska Tanja Đaković, director of MSURS Dr Sarita Vujković, and art historian Simona Čupić also spoke at the opening.

The posters presented at the exhibition are part of the collection donated to the MSURS by the designer and illustrator Mirko Ilić.

Milton Glaser (1929 – 2020) is one of the most influential creators of contemporary visual culture and the author of the cult logo ‘I ❤️ NY’. The exhibition presents a selection of posters and visual solutions by Milton Glaser, an author who marked the history of contemporary graphic design and the visual culture of the second half of the 20th century. His work strongly influenced the development of graphic design, illustration, typography, and visual communications, and he remained recognizable for the combination of playful psychedelic graphics, intense colors, and strong visual language.

A special segment of the exhibition is a selection of Glejzer's texts and reflections on art, design, and the responsibility of visual communication, which still today represent an important frame of reference for contemporary design practice.

His works are in the collections of the world's most important institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris. He is the recipient of numerous international awards, including the National Medal of Arts awarded to him by US President Barack Obama in 2009, making him the first graphic designer to receive this award.” 

 

 

Design for Change, Zagreb

I am pleased to share with you that on Thursday, May 28th, I gave a lecture titled “Invest in Yourself” in the Grand Lecture Hall at the Faculty of Architecture in the University of Zagreb.

The lecture was part of the "Design for Change" event, hosted in collaboration with the School of Applied Arts and Design Zagreb, the Design Study of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Zagreb, and Algebra Bernays.

 

Images by Lana Andjelopolj.

 

Lecture at the OPUP!2026 Festival

This year, along with Catalina Estrada, Jelena Vasilijević, Enis Ćisić and Srdja Dragovic, I was invited on behalf of the POPUP!2026 festival to be one of the lecturers.

“POPUP! Sarajevo is a festival organized once a year by graphic design students at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo with the aim of bringing together as many leading designers, illustrators, animators, artists and creatives from the region and beyond.

The festival is designed to provide a useful experience for students and invited lecturers. Students contribute with their energy, desire for knowledge and enthusiasm. Lecturers have the opportunity to present themselves and their work, meet their colleagues, hold a workshop and encourage and motivate young people to persevere in their dreams and ambitions in order to achieve their own careers.”

 

For this occasion, the students of the Academy of Fine Arts organized a small exhibition in the gallery of the academy, where they presented four works of each lecturer. I was presented with four posters of the JDP-Yugoslav Drama Theater.

 

"A.C. 2020" in the Java Gallery in Sarajevo,

On Friday, May 22, organized by the "POPUP!2026" festival in the Java Gallery in Sarajevo, was the opening of the exhibition of pages from my visual essay "A.C. 2020".

"Poster Thinking"

I am pleased to let you know that yesterday, I received this booklet from Spain titled Poster Thinking by Sonia and Gabriel Freeman, aka Sonia Díaz y Gabriel Martínez

The two head the visual activist group Un Mundo Feliz. UMF (A Brave New World) is a collective of designers interested in the creation, production, and distribution of committed images, both socially and politically.

The booklet is for the design school Artediez and uses work from some of the leading designers around the world, including mine, to discuss the importance of posters as a medium for information, not just as an art piece.

They also included a quote by me, although I’m not exactly sure when I said this:

“Content is very important to me. I am not particularly interested in pure design; I find it a bit boring. I have always felt that my design needs to push back against something. That is probably because of where I grew up. [...] Designers must have a logical explanation for their work. [...] I am not only a visual artist but also a designer. One aspect of that profession is information. The poster, as an informational device, must operate on two levels of information. The poster must convey the first level of visual information within four or five seconds. That is roughly the amount of time it takes for a person to walk past it. If that initial level of information succeeds, the person will stop—and perhaps look at and read the additional information.”