GRAPHIC DESIGNER MIRKO ILIC
Ilić was born in Bijeljina, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia, and graduated from the School of Applied Arts in Zagreb. He published his first works in 1973, publishing comics and illustrations in magazines and was the art and comics editor of the students’ magazine Polet in 1976. He organized an informal organization of comic book creators Novi kvadrat (The New Square). That connection led to the design of album covers for Yugoslav bands. He designed the cover for the first album of Prljavo kazalište, which became a widely recognizable and iconic symbol for Punk rock in ex-Yugoslavia. He even wrote lyrics for the song Čovjek za sutra. Ilić appears in Sretno dijete, Igor Mirković’s documentary about the Novi val (New wave) movement in Zagreb, as one of the most prominent figures of the movement. He also designed covers for the Croatian political weekly magazine Danas, as well as posters for theaters and movies. His most famous movie poster is for cult film Ko To Tamo Peva.
In 1977, Ilić started publishing his works in the established comics magazines outside Yugoslavia, such as Alter Alter, Métal Hurlant, Heavy Metal and Marvel’s Epic Illustrated. In 1980, Ilic focused upon illustration and graphic design. In 1982, he started working for the Italian magazine Panorama.
In March 1986 he left Yugoslavia and went to New York. He soon started publishing his illustrations in Time, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and many other prominent and influential newspapers and magazines. In 1991, he becomes an art director of Time International, and the following year he became art director of the op-eds in the New York Times.
In 1995 he founded Mirko Ilić Corp., a graphic design and 3-D computer graphics and motion picture title studio. In 1998, he created the title sequence for the romantic comedy You’ve Got Mail with Milton Glaser and Walter Bernard.
In 1999, Designer Mirko Ilic Corp. began designing visual identities for luxury hotels and restaurants. Some of his hotel clients include The Time Hotel in New York City, The Joule Hotel in Dallas, TX, Casa Moderna Hotel in Miami, FL, and Alpina Gstaad in Switzerland. Some restaurant clients include Le Cirque and La Fonda Del Sol in New York City, Summit and “Play” at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Charlie Palmer in Dallas, TX, and “The Seafood Bar”, “Echo”, “Flagler Steakhouse”, and “HMF” at The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach Florida.
Since 1999, Ilić has been a professor at the School of Visual Arts for their MFA in Illustration program.
In 2012, Print published his monograph by Dejan Kršić with a preface by Milton Glaser and introduction by Steven Heller.
In 2015, 39 pieces of his artwork were included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). MoMA acquired artwork including posters, LP designs from his Yugoslavian period. In September 2015, four of his pieces were exhibited for the first time in MoMA’s exhibition Making Music Modern.
His work is also in collections of The Smithsonian Institution, SFMOMA – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and many other institutions and museums.
His original illustrations for the covers of Time Magazine, among other pieces, are a part of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.
BOOKS BY ILIC:
Co-authored with Steve Heller:
- Genius Moves: 100 Icons of Graphic Design
- Handwritten – expressive lettering in digital age
- Anatomy of Design
- Stop Think Go Do
- Lettering Large: Art & Design of Monumental Typography
- Presenting Shakespeare: 1,100 Posters from Around the World”
Co-authored with Milton Glaser:
- Design of Dissent
- Design of Dissent – Expanded Edition
(Source: Wikipedia and MirkoIlic.com)
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