Big: Why did you decide to become a designer?
Maša Okršlar Popovič: Becoming a designer actually wasn’t a decision at all. It was simply a path, that always seemed very natural to me. If I remember correctly, my first awarness of that appeared when I was eleven.
Big: What do you think is the most important thing in designing/the design profession?
Maša Okršlar Popovič: In my opinion the most important is a continuous development of one’s personality. In intelectual, empirical and spiritual aspect. Only then can you and your designing make a progress. Developing yourself can help you see usual everyday things in a different perspective, look at them in a new way – as if seeing them for the first time. And it is this freshly gained juvenile enthusiasm over new revelations that helps you in your creativity.
Big: How do you work – as a free-lancer or are you employed at a company?
Maša Okršlar Popovič: Together with the first awarness of the path I want to follow came the recognition of a desire never to »be employed«. Meaning independance, which I managed to maintain till today.
Big: Do you discuss your work with other designers/architects?
Maša Okršlar Popovič:I ask for their opinion whenever possible. Especially in case of a complex project – when there is enough time of course to sleep on it and think it over, which is pretty rarely in today’s tempo and the environment we live in.
Big: Describe your style, like a good friend of yours would describe it.
Maša Okršlar Popovič: I can hardly label myself with a style. Characteristics that could describe my designs are warmth, grace, freshness, harmony, openness …
Big: Please describe the evolution of your work, from your first projects to the present day.
Maša Okršlar Popovič: Most of the projects followed my interes. It began with visual identities, followed by book and magazine designs, tipography, and after came the development of web pages. At the moment there is a greater stress on visual identities again and much broader knowledge and experience in the field of web pages – i.e. new technologies.
Big: Which of your projects was the most satisfying to work on?
Maša Okršlar Popovič: It was mostly smaller projects, where the customer’s ideology completely coincided with mine so I could feel the project with all my heart. The customer has assigned everything to me and supported me, while the financial barriers presented an extra challenge. The result made us all proud.
Big: Who would you especially like to design something for?
Maša Okršlar Popovič: In my case it would perhaps be more reasonable to ask with whom and not for who. Considering I create mostly alone while having so many creative persons around me, I would prefer a lot more to cooperate in some imaginary project with one of my creative friends. This way we could achieve some kind of a fusion of different knowledges and experience, which would lead to a greater professional progress. We have been talking about it for while now, but unfortunately none of us has enough time along all the other duties.
Big: Is there a designer/architect from the past you personally appreciate?
Maša Okršlar Popovič: There is of course a lot of designers in history that influenced me. However, two that I really appreciate are modern designers. David Carson helped me to make a move in my perception and broke down my limited views of tipography and understanding of its rules. The other is Philippe Apeloig, whom I appreciate mostly because of his methods of teaching visual communication and because of this s pecial relationship he keeps with his students.
Big: Which of the contemporary designers/architects seem especially important to you?
Maša Okršlar Popovič: The people who influenced and still influence me mostly are not designers or architects, but different persons that walk in and out of my life and enrich me with their own experiences of relations and revelations. On this basis I am gaining my empathy again and again and this helps my work a lot.
Big: What would your advice to the young designers/architects be?
Maša Okršlar Popovič: Don’t think of the payment. Design, research, experiment and again design. The payment is only the consequence of the effort made.
Big: What are your fears regarding the future?
Maša Okršlar Popovič: As a mather of fact I have no (more) fears. You cannot be afraid if you are honest and fair and you live in harmony with yourself every single moment. We will be taken care of. Everything that has to happen will happen.