Mirko Ilic: Fist to Face
The Yugoslavian-born iconoclast designer/illustrator/enfant terrible Mirko Ilic has an unusual theory about design and execution: He believes that concept is paramount and every step along the way towards the final execution of any design project serves primarily to diminish the original idea. So firmly ingrained is this belief that as a young independent designer in Zagreb, in the early 1980s, he called his studio SLS (English translation for “Slow, Bad, Expensive”).
When he emigrated to New York and became art director of The New York Times Op-Ed page, Mirko put his theory to the test. He eschewed illustration per se, instead creating typographic visualizations of the story concept. Here are a few examples of his inventions:
A new book, Mirko Ilic: Fist to Face by Dejan Krši (Print Publications) reveals Mirko as he's not been seen in the West (or New York) before—unless you have had the good fortune of working with him. The wealth of material he has created and produced found in this 300 page plus retrospective volume spans his comics, posters, magazine and record covers from the former Yugoslavia before emigrating, up to and through his American output during the past 25 years.
Steve Heller, a frequent collaborator writes: “[Mirko Ilic] makes distinctly individual marks on paper and the screen. But marks are only part of the calculus. Ilic the person creates profound ideas that reduce complexity to accessibility. I have worked with him for over two decades and his hand, eye and mind has contributed incalculable value to the pages that I designed and art directed.
“Indeed there are times when I was so stymied by conceptual roadblocks that the only savior is Ilic. Like a Sherpa guide, he has led me out of a conceptual wilderness. Sure this may sound like dramatic, but I assure you that conceiving a visual that speaks the proverbial thousand words – and much more – is not easy, especially when the theme has already been hashed and rehashed in media. Ilic, however, appears to have an endless supply of image/ideas that unlock and comment on issues of import.”
Author Dejan Krši writes in the preface: “The story of Mirko Ilic may indeed be told as a 'typical American' self-made-man's story of success: a boy from the Balkan province who filled the loneliness of his boyhood days by drawing, then gained local fame in his early twenties - which alongside to his high quality work was supported by his radical image, provocation and self-confidence in media appearances - and finally reached the success of 'the big guys' league in the very center of the world's media industry. To spice it all up let's add some stories about friendships and betrayals, successes and disappointments, falls and persistent climb, trials and consistency, marriages and love . . . show me someone who would not like to read this? One day some aspiring filmmaker will surely make a movie about it." [Mirko Ilic featured in DART]
You can meet Mirko Ilic on Wednesday, December 12th, from 6 to 8 pm, at a reception to celebrate the publication of Mirko Ilic, Fist to Face (Print Publications, 2012). School of Visual Arts Westside Gallery, 144/141 West 21st Street, NY, NY.Free/RSVP required.
A faculty member in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department, Mirko Ilic has designed album covers for Rage Against the Machine, created film titles for You've Got Mail, and written or designed a number of books, including Genius Moves, The Design of Dissent, The Anatomy of Design, and Stop Think Go Do.