I‘m a designer and illustrator, but my true idols and inspiration came from basketball. Despite being a Los Angeles Lakers fan, as was the case with many kids growing up in the ‘90s, it all began with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and the legendary starting five in which Croatia’s Toni Kukoč also played. Much like drawing, which got under my skin at an early age, watching NBA games, analyzing stats, points, rebounds, and assists at some point became the most important thing in the world. And that was just the beginning, since the marketing boom of the ‘90s and the expansion of brands such as Nike and Reebok contributed to the flourishing of the NBA league, among others in sneaker and jersey design, which subtly brought me closer to my profession; from simplified models like the Air Jordan 6 and 11, typographic Nike Air More Uptempo, expressive pattern on Reebok Shaqnosis and vibrant color palette on Phoenix Suns, illustrations and letterings on Pistons, Hawks and Rockets jerseys, and the bright red guest uniforms of the Chicago Bulls, which served as an accent color on my illustrations. Aside from the game itself, crazy assists, powerful slam dunks and unforgettable games, the basketball world eventually became a good reflection of real, adult life. Legends like Michael Jordan, Dražen Petrović and Kobe Bryant always stressed in their interviews how much they practice. Basketball taught me the need for training in sport is similar to the need to practice drawing and illustrating: if you want to improve a segment — you have to put your reps in. And thus, basketball was no longer only a game, but an inspiration and almost an art of sorts.
Growing up in the suburbs of Koprivnica, watching movies such as The Warriors and Hoop Dreams, gazing at movie scenes with views of New York and Chicago, I developed a fascination for big cities. For a 4-year-old kid, New York and Chicago were hard to reach so on a local level Zagreb took their role. In early days there was TV-series Smogovci, later on Cibona and heritage of Dražen Petrović, from discovering Croatian new-wave music, Mirko Ilić´s comics and illustrations to work of artists such as Zlatko Bourek and Boris Bućan, from glance at art nouveau facades to sun beams on basketball court in Kušlanova – in my world Zagreb became endless source of inspiration and energy.
Art Director, Illustrator, Photographer: Alen Lipuš
2020, Illustration series
In 1966 in his book Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, Robert Venturi, an iconoclast architect often considered the father of postmodernism famously stated „Less is a bore.“. The quote goes hand in hand with a similar viewpoint of Rem Koolhaas—„More and more, more is more.“ These sayings perfectly capture philosophy which strives for a myriad of styles, details, colours, challenging the status quo and experimenting in all creative fields imaginable. Alen Lipuš DS is cultivating that attitude: beauty is a function, never a paltry decoration.
Art Director, Animator: Alen Lipuš
2020, animation
Visual identity, website design, 3d and motion design for ELLI, a next-generation non-custodial crypto wallet by Solrise Finance.
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Idea behind art direction was to connect natural details and textures with crypto & web.3 aestethics and at the same time obtain friendly but proffessional look across all aspects of the brand. An elephant is a main subject of the brand, both verbaly and aestheticaly- his characteristics and atributes of his natural environment effectively represent features of ELLI wallet: strenght and security (biggest land mammal), Sui analogy (store water in their trunks and make a splash), community building (hug you with their trunk), trustworthy information (communicate cleraly using trumpet calls), environment that can easily spark inspiration (savannas and forests) & reliability (never forgeting because their temporal lobe is denser that humans).
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ALEN LIPUŠ DS (visual identity, website design, 3d, motion design)
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SOLRISE FINANCE TEAM (brand strategy, naming, web development)
I‘m a designer and illustrator, but my true idols and inspiration came from basketball. Despite being a Los Angeles Lakers fan, as was the case with many kids growing up in the ‘90s, it all began with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and the legendary starting five in which Croatia’s Toni Kukoč also played. Much like drawing, which got under my skin at an early age, watching NBA games, analyzing stats, points, rebounds, and assists at some point became the most important thing in the world. And that was just the beginning, since the marketing boom of the ‘90s and the expansion of brands such as Nike and Reebok contributed to the flourishing of the NBA league, among others in sneaker and jersey design, which subtly brought me closer to my profession; from simplified models like the Air Jordan 6 and 11, typographic Nike Air More Uptempo, expressive pattern on Reebok Shaqnosis and vibrant color palette on Phoenix Suns, illustrations and letterings on Pistons, Hawks and Rockets jerseys, and the bright red guest uniforms of the Chicago Bulls, which served as an accent color on my illustrations. Aside from the game itself, crazy assists, powerful slam dunks and unforgettable games, the basketball world eventually became a good reflection of real, adult life. Legends like Michael Jordan, Dražen Petrović and Kobe Bryant always stressed in their interviews how much they practice. Basketball taught me the need for training in sport is similar to the need to practice drawing and illustrating: if you want to improve a segment — you have to put your reps in. And thus, basketball was no longer only a game, but an inspiration and almost an art of sorts.
Art direction and design for HT Digital nomads campaign
SEÑOR | Very Creative Director: Vanja Blumenšajn | Head of Creative, Copywriter: Jurica Ćorluka | Strategic Director: Iva Kaligarić | Art Director, Designer: Alen Lipuš | Account Manager: Ana Ključević | Senior Copywriter: Vanja Luetić | Copywriter: Lucija Drača
A shopping mall is usually just a shopping mall – a place to purchase some items where socializing is rarely the main aspect of your visit or even part of the plan. What if we wanted to "buy" something nonmaterial like a nice afternoon, a warm encounter or a new acquaintance?
Branimir mingle mall - the mall where you'll enjoy tasty food, drinks, your company, a movie or a workout while your kids are in the playroom. Energy and liveliness of the mall is translated into visual identity. While mingling around, straight line transforms into playful patterns and illustrations. As a result, combinatorial play between cheerful elements and vivid colours gives inviting visual identity and a cozy background for casual mingling.
SEÑOR | Very Creative Director: Vanja Blumenšajn | Creative Director, Copywriter: Luka Pervan | Strategic Director: Iva Kaligarić | Head Of Account: Danijela Maričević | Account Executive: Anamarija Vuić | Art Director, Designer, Illustrator: Alen Lipuš | Designer: Mishel Kovačić | Photographer: Lucija Drača
BRIGADA | Creative Director: Damjan Geber | Project Manager: Zoja Ivanišević | Architect: Marina Brletić
2019, visual identity, Señor agency
In a time when physical copies of music are fighting for their place under the sun (while digital ones have made their home in the cloud), discovering new music and new musicians becomes superficial - we’re skipping songs and playlists without putting in the time and the effort that would lead to a deeper and more personal relationship with music. SUN U is Sanja Šiljković, talented multi-instrumentalist with an album which essential theme is discovering herself and her own potential – that’s where album name DISCOVER came from. To present the listeners an opportunity to discover the artist not just through music, but through interacting with a physical copy of the album as well album case was covered in scratch foil (lottery card silver) for the listener to slowly discover the photo of the artist by scratching it, just like they are discovering SUN U by listening to her music.
SEÑOR | Very Creative Director: Vanja Blumenšajn | Head of Creative, Copywriter: Jurica Ćorluka | Strategic Director: Iva Kaligarić | Art Director, Designer: Alen Lipuš | Account Executive: Anamarija Vuić
ASSOCIATES | Photographer: Jure Perišić | Packaging Photographer: Damir Žižić | Animator: Sanja Šiljković
2019, CD packaging, Señor agency
Superology is a tech company that boosts the sports betting experience. They create entertainment solutions for the sports betting industry. While most platforms offer either betting or sports stats, they merged them, and built the experience up with live streams, community and more. As a part of the Superbet group, their innovations are being delivered to millions of Superbet app users.
Jamnica, the market leader in Croatia, created a new product envisioned as a brand extension that will infuse the brand with a dash of fresh air. It’s an infusion of sparkling mineral water, with a 10% ratio of fruit juice and aromatic herbs, without added sugars, artificial colors or aromas. This innovative combination still unfamiliar to the locals’ taste buds is positioned in its own “natural indulgence” category. Along with ‘natural’ and ‘pleasurable’, the adjective ‘trendy’ takes the third spot on the list of key brand associations. Herbariums and botanic manuals inspired the illustrations on the label. When selecting the style, we settled on a premium, contemporary, figuratively richer and more fashion-like style, which will please the eye and stir the heart of audience.
SEÑOR | Very Creative Director, Copywriter: Vanja Blumenšajn | Head of Creative, Copywriter: Jurica Ćorluka | Junior Copywriter: Lucija Drača | Strategic Director: Iva Kaligarić | Art Director, Designer: Alen Lipuš | Head of Account: Danijela Maričević | Account Executive: Petra Brandt Barišić
ASSOCIATES | Illustrator: Vedran Klemens
2019, packaging, Señor agency
Filix is a Croatian-based electrical engineering company and pioneer importer of LED technology. They strive to be industry leaders, actively engaging in their profession and committing to a sustainable operation that will have an impact on the generations to come. Filix products are created through economically-sound processes that minimize negative environmental effects while conserving energy and natural resources.
Product portfolio catalogue design is inspired by the calming potential of light whose hue & warmth can be adjusted depending on the time of the day/season/mood. With typography in holographic foil, the cover of the catalogue sparks the same impression.
Art Director, Designer: Alen Lipuš
Photographer: Marija Gašparović
2018, catalogue design
Now that we’ve grabbed your attention with a daring neon-blinking statement, it is time to share a couple of words about the importance and meaning of typography. Written language is the primary means to achieve something exceptional: to communicate with people in other places and other times. Typography is a spine of graphic design and, if done well, it sends a very clear and straightforward message to the viewer. It is different from other artifacts because its use relies completely on a convention. That is precisely what makes type such a wonderful domain for exploration and play. No matter how wild your experimentation gets, you will not get lost in random constructions or abstract expressionism because you cannot – you have a clearly defined purpose.
Art Director, Designer: Alen Lipuš
2020, 3d type-illustration
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the necessities of a single human being are defined throughout several categories: physiological needs (food, water, warmth, rest), safety needs (home, security, employment), belongingness and love needs (intimate relationships, family and friends), esteem needs (feeling of accomplishment) and self-actualization (achieving one’s full potential, including creative activities). One’s accomplishment could be portrayed as genuine satisfaction and joy. A balloon, an archetype of good mood and happiness, is a fundamental motif of “Bring the joy” poster series. Posters represent joy through visualization of significant sighs, shouts and exclamations. Using these sighs, shouts and exclamations as part of a sentence, every person can form a phrase that describes his/her joyful experience in their own way.
Art Director, Illustrator: Alen Lipuš
2017, poster design