Designer Matjaž Vipotnik Celebrates His 60th Birthday

Matjaž Vipotnik, a Slovene design icon, celebrated his 60th birthday at the end of September. In the 1970s he broke new ground in the area of modern design of the theatre poster and made an impression on the minds of generations of people.

Matjaž Vipotnik was born in Ljubljana on the 29th of September 1944. He studied painting at the Brera Academy of Milan, where he graduated in 1972. He embarked on his professional career of independent designer at the beginning of the 70s, when he established or was involved in a number of professional groups: Studio sotto il tetto (Milan, 1967), Team 70 (Milan), Baby Marc (Milan), Studio MSSV (Ljubljana) and finally his Studio Vipotnik (Ljubljana).

Originating from his studio are many emblems which have been seen over the years and can still be encountered almost anywhere in Slovenia – logos and symbols of Ljubljanska banka, the Slovenian Philharmonic, the Slovene National Theatre SNG Drama Ljubljana and Adria Airways. Vipotnik has created theatre and cinema posters for the Glej theatre (Gledališče Glej), the Mladinsko theatre (Slovensko mladinsko gledališče), the Drama theatre and Opera of Ljubljana as well as other theatres and opera houses.

In the '70s he was often involved with theatres as scene painter and created stage scenes for various performances, based on works by Frederick Buechner, Harold Pinter and William Shakespeare as well as by some Slovene authors.
His unique creative opus is based on the creation of visual messages in the area of culture. A great number of posters for cultural events, theatre performances or film projects, and many stage scenes, book covers and overall graphic designs place him among the most prolific graphic designers. Recently, he has been mainly involved in book design projects, such as the overall image of the Wieser publishing house from Klagenfurt, where he was the publishing art director. Vipotnik created a unified graphic design for Sypress Forlag, a Norwegian publishing house which is presently well-established in Europe.

Designer Matjaž Vipotnik Celebrates His 60th Birthday

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