Not many countries in the world can point out the fact that they have a quite recognizable identity, not only through their people or political steps but also through some simple visual cues.Everybody today knows which are the official colors of, for example, Germany, Jamaica, the USA with its stars and stripes, etc. Among all those widely recognized countries, Croatia holds its place as the country with an eye-catching visual identity. We already said a bit about the famous Croatian chessboard and its historical origin and usage, but how did the whole checkered pattern manage to be put in everyday international usage? Boris Ljubičić is the name you’re looking for!
A Croatian graphic designer and academic painter, who improved his formal education all around the world, from Great Britain, France to Japan, started to question Croatia’s visual identity after the decomposition of Yugoslavia and Croatia being a young unrecognized country. His used the traditional chessboard as an inspiration for the motive of two alternating squares, one red and one blue, which was by time used in all segments representing Croatia and most recognizable on soccer (football) (and other sports’) jerseys. Boris Ljubičić is also the author of some of the Croatian famous logos such as Croatian Radiotelevision, Croatian Tourist board and Croatian Ministry of Culture. Besides doing a great job on Croatian visual identity, he also opened ways for the branch of visual and graphic design in Croatia by being one of the initiators who formed the Design Studies at the University of Zagreb and also the initiator of Croatian Design Center . He’s also no stranger to performances and the winner of numerous awards related to art and design, all those given in New York, Chile, Lisbon, etc.
Boris Ljubičić is still active to this day, and we hope to see more and more of him because those are the kind people Croatia needs unconditionally.
