Miljenko Licul (6 August 1946 – 16 March 2009) was a

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n graphic designer of Croatian descent.(Slovenian) He was one of the most prominent graphic designers in independent Slovenia.

Life and work

Licul was born in the Istrian town of Vodnjan, which was then part of the Yugoslav occupation zone of the Julian March (now in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

). His parents were Istrian

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

. He moved to Slovenia in his youth and lived and worked there most of his life. He was a founder of the group ''Znak'', and leader of studios ''Zodiak'' and ''Diptih''. For some time, Licul taught

typography Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. Licul's work covers a wide spectrum of arts; from designing publications, posters and magazine covers to

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s and calendars. One of his most prominent career highlights was in 1991, when he won the contest for designing new Slovenian currency, the tolar. The banknotes, which were in circulation from October 1991 until the end of 2006, featured portraits of prominent Slovenian personalities, the work of painter Rudi Španzel. When Slovenia adopted the

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

as the national currency, Licul designed the national side of Slovenian euro coins, together with Maja Licul and Janez Boljka. Licul and Boljka designed tolar coins together, as well. Besides the national currency, Licul also designed several official documents, such as the Slovenian passport, identity card and health insurance card. His other works include the designing of a new graphic image for the Slovenian National Gallery.(Slovenian)

Awards

For his opus, Licul was awarded several prizes. In 1985 he received the Prešeren Foundation Award for his achievements in graphic design. In 1988 Licul won the Plečnik Award, the highest award in the field of design, architecture and urban planning in Slovenia. In 2008 he was awarded the Prešeren Award, the highest Slovenian national prize in the field of arts, together with translator Janez Gradišnik. On that particular occasion, it was substantiated that Licul's works were of highest quality and that he was among the authors who renewed the strictly modernistic style of the 1970s, without omitting the historical features.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Licul, Miljenko 1946 births 2009 deaths People from Vodnjan Slovenian people of Croatian descent Slovenian graphic designers University of Ljubljana alumni Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana Prešeren Award laureates