Interview with Damir Midzic
Damir Midzic is a Bachelor of Graphic Design, who graduated at the Sarajevo Academy of Fine Arts in 2001.
Designer Interview
25 April 2017
Graphic design was something that fascinated me from my childhood, but then, of course, I did not know the meaning of it. I graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo. My professors Amra Zulfikapasic and Bojan Hadzihalilovic, both infamous and world recognized designers, made a great impact on my education and training. I was also fascinated by the principles of Bauhaus, a famous German design school. But for me, end of my formal design education was just a beginning of further exploration and development of my design skills.
Damirdesign & Co. is a boutique design studio based in Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Having gained years of experience by working on various graphic design projects, we create effective visual communication for small and medium enterprises, as well as cultural and public institutions. We provide services in the fields of corporate identity/branding, design of books, brochures and other publications, advertising of products/services and information graphic.
"Design" is conceptual thinking in the first place, followed by effective communication between the sender and receiver of the product or message.
I like designing posters, especially for the sector of culture.
Probably after regular working hours, when phone stops ringing.
I try to focus on all aspects of design but my favorite graphic design discipline is typography (many find it the hardest one) so I always spend some extra time polishing it.
A very wide range of emotion: there is a scale from frustration to ecstasy :)
I will quote Milton Glaser: "There are three responses to design: yes, no and wow! Wow is the one to aim for". Wow is achieved if the design communicates in brilliant and excellent way.
Designers can make the world better place and their responsibilities are huge. It is very important that they must not always be driven with money, especially not with dirty money.
Design follows the technology and has to evolve like everything else. In today's world we are overwhelmed with images that make people more resistant to them. The challenge is how to find new ways to make your design stand out.
Creativity is often the matter of experience. The more design experience you have, the more pictures, symbols and concepts you archive in your head. Then you put out the certain items from your archive and combine it in a new way. Sometimes the approaching deadline can enhance emerging of inspiration :) Outdoor activities can sometimes help too.
I live in Bihac, town with population of 60.000 placed in western Bosnia and Herzegovina. We experience a global village in this age so the influences are much more global than local. Being a designer in relatively small town has pros of living in a stress-free environment and cons of being somewhat isolated from bigger city centers where all the major things are happening alive.
Companies should carefully explore which designer to hire because not all designers can respond to all tasks equally. It is good to know what is certain designer's specialty.
Thinking, sketching, making concepts, then grabbing the tools and getting the job done. Sometimes it's just grabbing the tools and getting the job done :)
I think permanent education is essential. Socializing as well. There's a saying - It's not what you know, but who you know. Having the both things is a road to success.
Adobe CS and a lot of design books. Books are better than surfing the internet because from the books you memorize the things more easily.
Ten minutes to few weeks, but you never know at the beginning.
My first regular job at the printing press company. The smell of machinery and paper. You can see how the teamwork is applied.
Bihac Brewery, University of Bihac, Austrotherm, Una National Park...
Posters. It is most challenging for every graphic designer I guess.
I am a team player, and most of designs I develop with my team. However there are tasks which I design by myself only.
Through my website www.damirdesign.com