Hrvatsko dizajnersko društvo / Croatian Designers Association

A designer who is usually recognised as good at what he or she does quite often exudes that glamorous aura of an inspired individual. However, good design oftentimes remains hidden behind the anonymous and the collective (in big agencies, for instance) or behind the omnipresent and almost undetectable, behind miniature, yet strategically important modifications and transformations of long-lasting brands, etc. One of the advantages of this sort of exhibition format for presenting design is that it provides a general idea about what is perceived as a good standard, an “example of good practice”, a benchmark of excellence. Since design has never been only “one thing” (and certainly it is not today), but rather many different things, it would be naive to talk about some universal standard. – WRITTEN BY: MARKO GOLUB

“I realized, after all my experience on different markets, that design was no longer my only channel for creative expression. I did a couple of independent exhibitions that were very well received, I wrote and drew an award-winning children’s picture book, and now, in September, I published my first novel. I have retained this space in the media because I wasn’t lazy, and people here, like anywhere else, like it when someone makes a genuine effort” – Interviewed by: Marko Golub

Cover photo: Brigitte Lacombe Susan Sellers is a founding partner and creative director of 2×4 and Senior Design Critic at Yale School of Art. At 2×4, she leads a wide range of strategy and design projects in the cultural, commercial and urban sectors, from large-scale brand identity and…

“Programmer’s responsibility should be increasing, but I’m afraid it is not. Facebook’s motto Move fast and break things gained great popularity because it somehow gives us the license to “break things” and tells us this is OK because we need to go faster, further and higher, since we can always go back and fix things. In the end we are left with a bunch of broken things because no one goes back to fix them. It’s fine when all you break is someone’s cat photos or a funny status, but when you’re the biggest social network in the world and allow the spreading of fake news and the manipulation of users by allowing interference in elections, then we are no longer talking about things, but about human lives” – INTERVIEWED BY: MAŠA MILOVAC

“Within the span from the resolute concept of abolishing the autonomy of architecture in the 1960s to activating a diverse source of progressive thought from the 1980s to today, Matko Meštrović is an uncompromising critic of mediocrity, irrationality and particularism, and is moving constantly from the “particular to the general”. Meštrović optimistically demanded a comprehensive acceptance and application of progressive ideas and tendencies that were accomplished only marginally or where merely envisaged as a possibility. This emancipatory, even utopian horizon is, at least from my perspective, utterly convincing precisely because of his deep empathy for reality, expressed by both his work and his personality” – WRITTEN BY: MAROJE MRDULJAŠ

I feel specialization rarely makes sense, and am more prone to an open and flexible structure of the design field. What makes a designer good is the way he or she responds to a certain task and the way he or she gives meaning to the solutions, viewing them in the widest possible context. It is the skills gained that create the specialization, and these can always be acquired through practice and training – Interviewed by: MONIKA DŽAKIĆ

Dizajn je pojam koji se čini toliko širokopojasan da ako je stvarno ‘dobar’ može riješiti sve probleme, a to je fantazija. Problem siromaštva i neobrazovanosti je kompleksan problem koji se rješava generacijama. Dobar dizajn je svjestan tih raskola unutar tržišta i često se svjesno mora donijeti odluka da proizvod pripadne tržištu koje je ‘elitno’, jer je kao takav jedino dostupan u smislu raspoložive i aktualne distribucije – Interviewed by: Monika Džakić

The fashion scene in Croatia is still reduced to self-initiated projects that function in the form of a small business or boutique, which distributes its own products. There is no distribution of collections by multi brand stores, which is how the fashion system works on foreign markets, particularly when it comes to smaller brands. I’ve noticed that some brands decided to distribute their products online, which I consider a great way of getting their products to foreign markets” – INTERVIEWED BY: LEA VENE

“As Valéry said, steps cannot be taken without obstacles, which is why form is so important: the form must take from the obstacle as much as it needs to keep on moving, but no more than what it needs to keep on moving. This is, perhaps, why the language has developed in small steps, but digitalization emerged all at once, which is why I do not necessarily see a connection between the two — it does not matter whether I cut out letters with scissors or a computer mouse” — Interviewed by: BOJAN KRIŠTOFIĆ

“Specific actions should be viewed within their specific contexts, and we can see in the field that some practices resist rules more easily than others. Is the designer dealing with aerodynamics or systematizing a huge amount of data? Is the designer trying to communicate a message to a mass audience or a micro-scene, is he/she trying to provoke a reaction, interaction, contemplation? Designers are trying to find solutions, and in the process of work, they should constantly ask questions and provide answers” – Interviewed by: MONIKA DŽAKIĆ