Bojana Fajmut completed her studies in industrial design. As an art and creative director, she worked at the agencies Dentsu (Tokyo), McCann Erickson, J. Walter Thompson, and as an independent entrepreneur she upgraded her knowledge with an MBA business school. She has received more than 58 international awards for her works: Cresta, NYF, CLIO, LIA, Red Dot, EPICA, ARC, Golden Drum and others.
Her works were published in media such as New York times, Graphis, Creative Advertising, ADweek... She was a member of expert juries both in New York - NYF advertising awards and Cresta Awards, MAD STAR and NEW STAR in East Asia, at the presentation of the upcoming World Expo 2030 in Busan, as well as at the Golden Drum and the Slovenian Advertising Festival - SOF. For the past five years, she has worked with the global company IDEO, which is a leader in the field of strategic thinking called Human Centered Innovation and the Design Thinking process (creating an idea, finding a business model, methods of developing start-up companies and products). As a mentor, she participates in the European project CIRCULAR 04, which accelerates the transition of companies to the circular economy.
Bojana will join Nina Jagodic and Alja Horvat in evaluating the submitted works - accessories for Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 as part of the competition "Inspired by You", which takes place in collaboration between LJFW and Samsung. You can apply for the competition until November 21, 2022.
What project are you currently working on? What are you focusing on? What challenges do you face?
Bojana Fajmut: I like to work on very different projects at the same time and over the years I have realized that my advantage and difference compared to other designers is precisely in the initial or first phase, which is based on research and setting the starting points for design. Therefore, I would like to focus on the two projects that are the most relevant for me at the moment, since I started working on them this month.
The first is a visual image of 60 years of the ARS RTV Slovenia program, and the second is filtering microplastics from drinking running water for the company Clera One, which I met at the European project Circular 4.0, where fifteen partners from five countries and thirteen regions from the Alpine region participated. With the aim of finding solutions for the transition to a sustainable, green and circular economy.
The first project is based on the visual presentation of the ARS RTV Slovenia radio program and the visualization of words and sound that it has been creating on the radio for 60 years. The other is on finding solutions for filtering microplastics from running drinking water, based on a process called Design Thinking, which is used to solve complex business, technological and sociological problems with new ideas, processes and business models. This process helps us find innovative solutions in the initial phase, when we are still looking for what the real problem is and the way to solve it.
Where do you get your inspiration from? It's a bottomless well - how do you keep it from running dry?
Bojana Fajmut: If you want to be successful in creativity, you must definitely not wait for inspiration, because while you are waiting, others can overtake you. Everyone has to find their own process and path. For me, it's about channeling thoughts and thinking. That is why I could say here, if we are speaking in a figurative sense and metaphors, that it is a river and not a well. The fountain is limited and therefore can only rise up and down. The river has a kind of flow - an image like thoughts. It is very chaotic at the beginning with many tributaries and springs and at the end it is calm and clear in one riverbed.
How do you approach designing for a client - what are the first questions you ask yourself, and how could you summarize some pointers for those new to designing for a client?
Bojana Fajmut: There is definitely a difference if you start a project with a client you are working with for the first time, or with a client you have been working with for many years.
I usually start by getting to know and coordinating the meanings, terms and symbols, because certain terms and symbols can mean something different in terms of content as well as visually to each individual. This also depends on the experience, knowledge and emotional perception of each individual participating in the process.
The easiest way to explain this is with an example: If we say geometric figures, the client can imagine a circle, I can imagine a triangle, and if there is someone else in the meeting, a square. It is for this reason that there are misunderstandings in design.
How to reach a breakthrough point? What are the tactics that you have used that have been most effective on the way to recognition? Have you applied for tenders?
Bojana Fajmut: Actually, I can't say that I planned the breakthrough. It is difficult to plan that I will rank among the 100 best designers and receive 58 international awards at the world level and the only world Grand Prix that Slovenia received. I attribute this largely to my determination, resourcefulness, and above all, persistence. You have to believe in yourself with all your mistakes and have the courage to dare to go on and then go on... This is how I gradually made decisions. When you reach a certain stage, you decide which direction to go in and set a goal for yourself. So the path goes up and down and left, right and forward there is no going back. But you learn the most from mistakes. Yes, I also applied for tenders mainly to gain experience and to see where my ideas and work stand compared to the other submitted solutions and concepts and where I could improve them.
What are the most important complementary skills that every designer, creative person, regardless of field, should acquire?
Bojana Fajmut: Knowledge and awareness with which they can set boundaries and that they can sometimes say "NO." Designers and creatives already have empathy at their core. But this, depending on the circumstances and requirements in the team or company, often turns into a desire or the fact that we should please everyone. The English have the term "people-pleaser" for this, and this is what often leads to burnout.
Do you and how do you use a mobile phone in your work? And do you use phone accessories that aren't just to improve functionality?
Bojana Fajmut: I use my mobile phone a lot in my work. Although it's not fair to call it a phone, because we do everything else on it before making calls. We write messages, play games, watch video and TV, record, take pictures. I paint and record a lot and thus make a kind of visual diary of thoughts, moments and events. Basically, minimalism suits me, so I personally use covers and discreet accessories for personification.
What will you pay particular attention to when evaluating the works that have arrived?
Bojana Fajmut: When evaluating submitted works, I will pay particular attention to creative solutions that, in addition to aesthetic and functional parameters, will also take into account a sustainable approach to design.
