HNK Split 2024/2025

The Challenge This season, we took on the ambitious task of bringing the entire repertoire of the Croatian National Theatre (HNK) Split under one identity, covering new premieres as well as long-running revivals. In the past, the theatre’s visual presence had been fragmented, with no cohesive identity across its varied program. We set out to unite every part of HNK Split’s programming into a single, instantly recognizable whole, giving a distinct visual language to an institution that had never had a unified communication strategy.

The Visual System The design system weighs structural discipline against expressive artistic freedom. A strict framing structure shapes the layout, combined with bold, characterful typography by Marko Hrastovac (Crumbs). At the emotional heart of each piece are vivid, handmade collages. Each visual was painstakingly cut by hand from collected, discarded magazines, lending every artwork a rich, tactile surface that digital tools simply cannot match.

The Philosophy This physical, labor-intensive process carries real conceptual weight. Theatre is at its core an analog, fleeting art form, an impermanent experience shared live between performer and audience. By choosing physical, hand-assembled collage over synthetic generation, we aimed to reflect the ephemeral nature of live performance, while taking a conscious stand against the widespread dominance of artificial intelligence and purely digital creation in today's graphic design. In a world saturated with algorithmic perfection, we opted for the irreplaceable resonance of human craft.