Interview with Ivan Orin Vrkas & Bojan Kristofic

Icsid Member School: University of Zagreb, Croatia

What inspired the design of this poster?

The original idea came simply as an answer to the competition brief, or as our interpretation of the theme - "Industrial Design: Humane solutions for a resilient world". We brainstormed several concepts for a couple of days, until we settled on the idea that for a successful and meaningful communication of the theme we need to find out what industrial design can do for us, end users of its products, individuals who touch, taste and feel the very results of the production process. Thus we tried to elaborate what are the essential human needs which industrial design is supposed to provide solutions for and we settled on the need for food, water, home, health, and energy. All these needs are tied into the process of transformation of resources to energy, in which humans naturally belong, both as end users and creators. So there were two messages we had to properly communicate - the idea that industrial design can fulfill the most basic human needs, and the other idea, that to do so it has to engage more and more in the whole process of the creation of products, with an emphasis on recycling and reuse of resources and technologies as the best strategies to achieve the mentioned goals.


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To further articulate this concept, we chose a strong statement - 'don't throw anything away, there is no away' (which is a spoof of old Shell commercial), which unites all our ideas in an effective and catchy phrase. The next logical step was to use this sentence itself as an illustration, making it out of garbage that was thrown away, but could have definitely been continued to use in products life-cycle. Thus we created a colourful, striking, and fun installation which communicates both our interpretation of the production process and expresses the idea of reuse on a verbal level. Photoshop helped us to digitally arrange this assemblage and turn it into a poster.

What was the most enjoyable and least enjoyable part of the process?

We can say that least enjoyable part of the process was arranging all the materials, equipment and space required to create a poster, which lasted for about a week. We were working in a large room in an abandoned factory in the center of Zagreb, which is now a government-sponsored youth center and a squat. The room itself was pretty dirty when we entered so merely cleaning it took a day of work, which ranks this episode low on our list of 'favorite moments of the posters' creation'.

However, actually working on the poster and assembling the installation was fun, fun, fun. Our girlfriends dropped by to help a bit and we hadn't slept for days, but it was all worth it. We knew it was worth it even before we entered in the top 5 - we were so proud we've actually did it.

What has winning this competition done for you?

The effects of winning the competition are still being measured. First of all, this the first official design prize any of us received, and it just feels great to be praised by true masters in our field, members of such an important organization such as Icsid. We wish to thank you again for organizing this competition and offering design students an opportunity to show themselves, their work and their talents. For designers as young as we are, winning this competition means so much: this success shows us that our ideas are relevant and are being widely recognised, and that we are capable of creating top-quality, truly professional design. On the other hand, this success also raised our confidence, and in the future we definitely won't be shy about participating in various competitions. Furthermore, we're so pleased that we won a competition we think is truly important and meaningful, and that we had the chance to communicate ideas we deeply believe in. The fact that our poster is already been distributed around the world and that people are perhaps relating to its message is the best prize we could get, and it still feels a bit unreal. And last but not least, winning the competition helped us to articulate the ways in which we want to evolve as designers, and spot problems and themes we want to deal within the future. Thank you once again.

Our process of thought started with the five basic needs of every human being: water, food, health, a home, and energy. As we believe industrial design can fulfill these needs, and the perfect way to do it is through the development of recycling and reusable energy technologies. We chose the promotion of this idea as our basic concept.

To further enhance the readability of our basic message, we chose a strong statement: "don't throw anything away, there is no away". Thus, solving the content, we moved on to the illustration.


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We found that the only way the illustration could follow the meaning of the copy, is if the copy was indeed made out of old, thrown away items. For each of the five basic human needs, we chose a few corresponding items that we collected from our basements, attics and garbage disposal units.


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As the copy is read, the illustration flows with its meaning. We accomplished this by dividing it into three parts, beginning with the collection of resources, following with the transportation of resources, and ending with the processing of resources into the fulfillment of the aforementioned needs.

We photographed the lettering and put it all together in photoshop. The final product of our two weeks worth of work is the attached poster. We hope you have as much fun viewing it as we had in making it.

Download the poster

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In celebration of World Industrial Design Day on 29 June 2010, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) invites designers from around the globe to initiate events reflecting this year's theme: "Industrial Design: Humane solutions for a resilient world".
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First declared on June 29, 2007 on the occasion of Icsid's 50th anniversary, World Industrial Design Day is an international day of observance in recognition of the profession of industrial design.
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