How do you talk about street harassment in a way that goes beyond raising awareness and offers a concrete form of support? That was the challenge that the organization Safe Places set before participants of this year’s Croatian Young Lions competition in the Design category. The solution developed by Dina Juras and Ivan Grgić, titled “Type to Us,” stood out among the competition and secured them a place at the global finals in Cannes.
In just 24 hours, they had to find an idea that would neither oversimplify the problem nor reduce it to yet another awareness campaign. Instead, they searched for a way to make the visual system a tool for reporting incidents, but also a reminder that public spaces belong to everyone who uses them. The solution they developed brought them victory and the opportunity to represent Croatia at the global Young Lions competition in Cannes.
In an interview with Media Marketing, they discuss the responsibility that comes with working on socially sensitive topics, their experience of their first Young Lions competition, the advantages of working under time pressure, and their expectations of meeting the best young creatives from around the world.
Your project “Type to Us” won the Design category with a brief that called for a campaign against street harassment for the organization Safe Places. How do you approach visual language when the topic carries such emotional and social significance?
Dina: With a great sense of responsibility. You really have to think carefully about everything and always keep in mind what your visual system communicates and how it communicates it to people who have experienced sexual harassment. Of course, support and understanding are key.
Ivan: This year’s client, the organization “Safe Places,” gave us a lot of communication guidelines. We paid the most attention to tone, with the emphasis placed on encouraging victims. We infused the visual system with a motif of dots that very effectively connects incident markers but also the act of typing (i.e. reporting an incident), through which a victim can encourage themselves and others. Through visual language, we wanted to highlight the presence of “intruders” in public spaces and the frequency of incidents, while by positioning the organization within those same spaces, we symbolically “reclaimed” the space from those who make it unsafe.
You said that you came to Young Lions primarily with the intention of having fun. Did that approach help you avoid the pressure that often accompanies competitions like this?
Dina: Partly. I would be lying if I said we were completely carefree and in a good mood the entire time. :) Before you manage to catch that elusive “big idea,” the stress grows with every passing hour. Although we didn’t feel pressure to achieve an outstanding result, it was, of course, important to us to create something that we ourselves would be satisfied with.
Ivan: We had absolutely no expectations other than wanting to see what the competition looks like, meet the client, and have dinner 😄. We think that this attitude is exactly what helped us win.
This was your first Young Lions competition. What surprised you the most about the format itself – not the result, but the experience of working on a single idea for 24 hours?
Dina: The time limit is a major challenge, but it surprised me that it also has its advantages. It really forces you to focus completely on your project and leaves very little room for constantly second-guessing every decision.
Ivan: I was surprised by how focused we were. Working on one project all day is not common for those of us in agencies, where there are days when you don’t spend more than half an hour on a particular project. We rarely get the opportunity to completely immerse ourselves in a single brief for a full 24 hours.
What do you think your generation of creatives brings to the industry that is different from the generations before it?
Dina: Every generation is shaped by a different time and society, so naturally our views of the world differ. I think that different ideas inevitably emerge from those different perceptions of the world. That is actually my answer in two words: different ideas.
Ivan: When it comes to design, I can say that my generation and younger generations of designers have less fear when it comes to unconventional design directions. Certain composition rules that we were taught simply do not apply to them (or at least they know when to break them). They are not afraid, for example, to stretch typography – something that until recently was a no-go in our industry. Besides that, I think younger generations are more sensitive when it comes to communication tone and how it may potentially be interpreted.
You are now heading to Cannes, where you will meet the best young creatives from around the world. What do you think will surprise you the most in Cannes – the brief itself, the competition, or the way other teams think?
Dina: I expect to be surprised by everything! The competition is now very close, so I can’t wait to see the brief and start thinking about it, but I am also really excited to see the creative solutions from the other teams. Even though we are competing, I appreciate and love good ideas and creativity in all its forms!
Ivan: Definitely the brief. We can’t wait to find out who the client is and what the brief will be like. What I find interesting is the fact that this time we will be presenting our work to the jury, so that is another factor that influences the final ranking.
