Žare Kerin and Futura DDB have won their 13th and 14th Red Dot awards; this time, one of them includes the Best of the Best award, which is given for the most innovative design solutions. This is the first time this award has been given in Slovenia in the Brand & Communication design category.
These are significant awards and a good reason for a brief conversation with Žare Kerin, the creative director of the Futura DDB agency and the author of the works recognized as the best among the best by Red Dot.
The first Best of the Best Red Dot award for Žare was given for the Bjana Quatro wine.
“With Miran and Petra Sirk, I decided to create a limited series of different, pioneering packaging,” says Žare, continuing: “While listening to Miran tell the story of this wine, which is made from grapes from four different vineyards and has to go through four different and crucial processes in the production of high-quality wine, I started playing with the concept of four, which then turned into a cube. This is where the name and the shape come from. This is truly an innovation in wine packaging because it allows for stacking and play. With this special packaging, we don’t need a wine rack.”
“Bjana Quatro has all the elements: the story, practical usability, and aesthetics. First, you need to have the story, which is the foundation. It’s the inspiration and guide for all subsequent steps. Then, you need to follow that story and ensure that the solution is functional. Finally, the aesthetics must be at the highest level. The fact that aesthetics come last doesn’t mean they are less important. The materials are also important, and we start dealing with them already in the idea phase. The story is followed by the basic idea, which is materialized through materials, colors, and typography,” concludes Žare.
Red Dot awards were also given for the Cubo Take Away ads.
Regarding what guided him in realizing this idea, Žare says:
“The first version of the Cubo Take Away ads was created during the pandemic. Cubo was the first high-end restaurant to offer take-away at that time. Here, we had to consider the character and specifics of the restaurant and the target audience, which is not a typical take-away clientele. So, I played with the metaphor – take-away allows you to take a part of Cubo and its quality home with you. I combined images of quality food with parts of the logo.”
When asked what he enjoys designing the most, Žare Kerin says that he seems to enjoy designing food and beverage packaging the most. But that’s just a coincidence, perhaps because there are the most opportunities for it in our environment. “I equally enjoy creating logos and designing books. The greatest motivation for me is when the client is ambitious and trusts me. That’s how the most beautiful stories come to be, which is a common feature of all the awarded works. Otherwise, I am interested in everything in design, from 3D to 2D; everything fascinates me. The only important thing is that the client has ambition.”
And finally, what advice would you give to younger colleagues eager for success?
“First: ‘think different’ in every sense and at every moment. That’s the most important thing. When I walk through Ljubljana or Slovenia, I see many trendy visual messages whose only quality is that they are trendy, while the messages themselves are very weak. That’s wrong. Think differently, constantly strive, put a lot of love and persistence into your work, and enjoy it all. Then the result will come.
Second: stay curious, travel, explore! Exploration is the process of filling your creativity pool. Travel, look at architecture, museums, galleries, be interested in history, visit bookstores, buy real books. Today, all of this is available online, but no online content can replace the authentic experience in person. The experience that a visit to a live exhibition can offer you cannot be replaced by any TikTok, reel, or something similar. Nothing on the internet can compare to the feelings you experience at exhibitions of great artists and designers, for example, in Vienna or Milan. It both inspires and humbles me at the same time because I think: ‘Have I really done something good?’
Third: Make sure that everything you do has the power to evoke emotions and push boundaries. Let your works have ‘The Power To Move’.”
