ZGDW 2026

PROGRAM

ZGDW AWARD

Select Language

English

ZGDW AWARD FINALISTS /

Product Design

BILJA

Lastovo Notebooks

Project

The project “Lastovo Notebooks” is the first in a series of notebooks inspired by Croatian nature parks and is dedicated to the Lastovo Archipelago. The area’s rich cultural and natural heritage is translated into two notebook editions.

Drawing on the colour palette of the Nature Park’s visual identity, the notebooks are designed in two shades of blue: the standard edition appears in a lighter pastel blue, while the special edition is distinguished by a darker, deeper blue. The cover motifs are inspired by characteristic cultural and natural features of the archipelago, including fumari chimneys, Carnival traditions, the archipelago itself and the starry sky.

The motifs are created with laser engraving, in a process where technology does not conceal the material but instead further emphasises its qualities. The visual identity of the covers is shaped not only through the introduction of colour, but also through intervention in the very structure of the paper, creating both a tactile and visual layer. In this way, the notebook is affirmed as a physical object whose value is realised through touch, use and the passage of time.

Year

2026

Mentors and collaborators

Ivana Balić
Katarina Batinić

Author

Antonija and Matija graduated from the Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb, in 2020. During their studies, they developed interests in set design, costume design, photography and product design. They contributed to the productions of “Così fan tutte” at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb and “Ubu Roi” for the Prague Quadrennial, for which they received the Rector’s Award as members of large collaborative teams.
In 2018, they founded the brand Bilja, which has been a multiple finalist in the Product Design category of the Zagreb Design Week Award. Their work has been presented at the 35th Youth Salon, the 56th Zagreb Salon of Architecture and the Piran Days of Architecture, where their team received a special international student recognition.
They founded Studio ZBIR in 2021. In 2023, the studio received an honourable mention at Europan 17 and won second prize for its redesign proposal for Vlaška Street in Zagreb.
Ivana Balić, a graduate in graphic product design, has collaborated with Bilja since 2025, including on the exhibition “Bilja: A Voice from Silence”, presented at Zagreb Design Week. Katarina Batinić is a master’s student in graphic product design at the Faculty of Graphic Arts, focusing on packaging design and graphic expression. She has also gained experience in organising a holography exhibition at Galerija Šira.