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Gliptoteka HAZU - Galerija IV / Gliptotheque - Gallery IV
Medvedgradska 2
Zagreb
17. - 26. 11. 2008.
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Rafaela Dražić (CRO)
Thomas Keeley (USA)
Damien Poulain (UK)
Deborah Sengl (AT)
Hector de Gregorio (ES)
Sarah Maple (UK)
John Fekner (USA)
Slang International (DE)
Delaware (JP)
Oliver Bishop (UK)
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Nekomercijalno nije necool
Prije nego počnem priču o časopisu Unzine, želim reći nekoliko riječi o hrvatskom grafičkom dizajnu koji je zapravo jako dobar. Iznenađeni? Sretni zbog moje izjave? Ne biste trebali biti. Mnogo toga JEST dobro, ali jednostavno nema dovoljno FANTASTIČNOG. Hmm... Da pojasnim: biti komercijalan i raditi jednako 'dobro', odnosno na razini svih ostalih zemalja, nije dovoljno. Hrvatski se dizajn treba popeti jednu stepenicu više s dizajnerima koji razmišljaju izvan komercijalne uloge dizajna koja nešto prodaje ili promovira.
Postoje prepreke, ali to nisu mali budžeti i naklade. Većinu zanimljivoga i kulturološki vrijednoga grafičkog dizajna od početka dvadesetoga stoljeća stvaraju ljudi bez novca, ali s puno strasti i želje da promijene svijet. Ako vam je stalo, radit ćete i izvan onoga što radite za svoje komercijalne klijente. Čemu se truditi?
Jer dizajn ima ogroman potencijal postati odraz i poticaj promjene kroz popularnu kulturu. U svom najboljem izdanju može sažeti kulturne ili političke misli jednoga društva, može ga učiniti samopouzdanim, spriječiti ga da gleda unatrag i potaknuti vjeru u «sadašnjost».
To nas dovodi do časopisa Unzine koji dizajnira i često 'uređuje' Rafaela Dražić. To je jedan od onih rijetkih «fantastičnih» projekata. Prvi sam ga put vidio 2005. kad sam sjedio u žiriju za dodjelu nagrada Magalena i nisam ga u potpunosti razumio (kao ni ostatak sudaca). Bio je prijavljen u kategoriji web-dizajna iako se zapravo nije radilo o web-stranici – nije bilo ni zavodljive animacije ni zanimljive interaktivnosti, bila je to jednostavno nekakva čudna 'stvar'. No, bio je daleko najzanimljiviji od stotina dizajnerskih rješenja koje sam vidio taj dan. Konačno je tu bio projekt za koji sam se nadao da ću ga naći u konkurenciji.
Dizajnerica (još bolje, žena u muškom svijetu) koja radi iskreno, ne odvajajući svoja uvjerenja i misli od 'posla' - koristeći vlastiti iznimno snažan osobni vizualni rječnik kako bi rekla nešto zanimljivo, stvorila diskusiju i postavila pitanje.
Nakon što sam vidio Unzine, Rafaela i ja smo ostali u kontaktu. Stažirala je u mom studiju (zbog čega mi je pomalo neugodno jer je očito bila sposobna za mjesto senior dizajnera) radeći na različitim društvenim i nekomercijalnim projektima, a danas je s vlastitom umjetnošću, kulturnom udrugom te honorarnim radom i dalje jedna od rijetkih dizajnera koji rade ono što kažu, a ne ono što drugima govore da rade. Ona radi samo s društvenim i kulturnim klijentima u koje vjeruje, a dio vremena posvetila je i nekomercijalnim projektima poput časopisa Unzine, često nauštrb novca koji bi mogla zaraditi, pokazujući tako da je moguće preživjeti kao dizajner radeći ono što želiš i s kim želiš.
Od tog prvog izdanja Unzine nikad nije stagnirao. Za razliku od mnogih projekata koje ljudi sami započnu puni energije i dobrih namjera, on se nije ugasio zbog svakodnevnih 'poslovnih' obveza. Rafaela Dražić ga je produbila u suradnji s drugima i predstavila veliki broj djela drugih umjetnika.
Nadam se da će oni umorni od dizajna vidjeti i osjetiti kako je moguće stvarati djela koja su ljudima izazov, koja govore istinu kakvu vidite. A onima koji o dizajnu znaju jako malo pokazati da on nije samo komercijalna aktivnost, nego da može odigrati vitalnu ulogu u kulturi i društvu.
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Uncommercial is not uncool
Before I talk about Unzine, I want to say a little about Croatian Graphic Design - actually its quite good. Surprised? Happy with me saying that? You shouldn't be. A lot of it IS good but there is just not enough of it that is FANTASTIC. Hmm... Let me explain, to be commercial and to do work that is as 'good', that is on a level of the work produced in every other country is not enough, Croatian design needs to go up a level and have designers who think beyone the commercial role of design to sell or promote something.
There are obstacles to this, but small budgets and print runs are not one of them. The majority of interesting culturally valuable graphic design has been since the beginning of the Twentieth Century done by people with no money but lots of passion and a desire to change the world. If you care you will do work outside in addition to your commercial clients. Why bother?
Because design has the huge potential to be a reflection and also an instigator of change through popular culture. At its best it can summarise the cultural or political thoughts of a society, it can make a society feel confident stop them looking back and have belief in 'now'
And that brings us on to Unzine designed or often 'curated' by Rafaela Dražić. This is one of those rare 'fantastic' projects. I first saw it in 2005 when I was judging the Magalena Awards and I didn't understand it all (and none of the other judges did either) - it was entered for a web design category but it wasn't really a web site, - no seductive animation, no clever interactivity, it was just some weird 'thing'. However out of all the hundreds of designs I had seen that day it was by far the most interesting.
Finally here was a project I had hoped I was going to see in the competition. A designer (even better a woman in a male-dominated world) working with honesty not separating their beliefs and thoughts from their 'job' - using there own very strong visual personal vocabulary to say something interesting, to create discussion and question.
After seeing Unzine, Rafaela and I kept in contact, she did an internship in my studio. (Something I feel a little embarrassed about because she was clearly capable of being a senior designer here), where she worked on various social and non commercial projects and today with her own art and culture association and freelancing continues to be one of the few designers who do as they say, not as they tell others to do. She works only with social and cultural clients that she believes in and gives a portion of her time to work on non-commercial projects including Unzine, often to the detriment of the money she could make. Showing it is possible to survive as a designer doing what you want to do and who you want to work with.
Since that first issue Unzine it hasn't stood still, unlike many projects which people start themselves full of energy and good intentions it didn't died under the weary schedule of 'work', Rafaela Dražić has broadened the scope of it to collaborate with others and feature an a wide range of other artists works.
I hope that for those that are feeling weary of design that it will make see feel that it is possible to do work that challenges people and tells the truth as you see it. And to those who know very little about design, it shows that it is not just a commercial activity but can play a vital role in culture and society.