Little Creative Factory

MXN

When Mateja and I opened our Mateyaneira showroom on Primorska Street, one of the first Saraj women to visit and support us was Mirna Dizdarević Rogić. My acquaintance from past lives; she was a film director while I worked as a costume designer, among other things, and today, she is not only a friend but also a pilates partner and neighbor from Trešnjevka.

When envisioning this blog, I compiled a list of creatives and friends whose work I wanted to feature. MxN was among those initial choices, along with the Waga brand. Their collaboration perfectly complemented this narrative, allowing me to have two blogs from one text. 😊

Mirna and Nera established MxN during the Covid pandemic. During the era of cooking and dancing, they ventured into creating intriguing greeting cards (of which I proudly own two personalized ones). Subsequently, their venture expanded into engagements for logo designs. Over the years, branding and rebranding have become their primary focus. Nera, a graduate engineer in architecture, cultivated her passion for design throughout her studies, making graphic design a cornerstone of her creative journey. Mirna, originally a film director, transitioned into a columnist and copywriter for MXN due to a fortuitous combination of circumstances

WAGA

In 2015, architect Jasmina Dizdarević opened a small woodcarving workshop, and in cooperation with masters, craftsmen whose skills she appreciates, WAGA was created.

Each object created in the workshop is unique and pays tribute to the rich cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina, cherishes authenticity and is part of a limited edition that bears the mark of the unique touch of its craftsman.

The Waga brand is rooted in a long tradition of woodcarving from Konjic and specializes in handmade and hand-carved household items made from sustainably sourced wood.

I especially like the fact that their products are focused on slow living rituals, which in a way connects their manufacturing process and ultimate purpose.

It is also important to mention their work on the preservation of the craft and the motivation they give to young people in order to start (and continue) to engage in woodcarving.

MxN x WAGA

The title is not a mathematical formula – a team of four women with strong characters and refined tastes, resulted in a collaboration that gave us modern, with a touch of traditional, new look of the Waga brand.

The primary focus for Mirna and Nera was on understanding the unique vision of the brand, communication is key and according to them: “Process includes a combination of creative insights and thorough research of the client’s aspirations. Through this combination, we achieve a design that is not only visually appealing, but also strategically tailored to meet the specific needs of the client. This holistic approach ensures that each project reflects authenticity, functionality and aesthetics, creating a lasting impression and meeting all aspects of the client’s expectations.”

Their goal in this project was to create a new experience that would keep the core of the brand, adding at the same time a touch of luxury and artistic finesse. This collaboration was an opportunity to reshape the brand, reviving its authenticity with a modern vision.

DESIGN

As my goal here is to demystify the design process, I asked Mirna and Nera how their process goes from the first meeting to the final idea, so I summarized the answer in one sentence;

-First comes the phase of creative chaos, brainstorming, ideas are born and rejected, then the strongest ones turn into sketches, a mood board is created, then the presentation of the favorite ideas – following clients’ comments and revisiones, sometimes final idea is the one from the presentation, with slight improvement, and sometimes they start the whole process from the beginning, but certainly any feedback from the client is a step closer to the final solution.

The final solution for Waga was a design that reflects the core and soul of the brand, achieving a perfect balance between tradition, luxury and elegance.

As someone who has a strange love for cutting boards (even though I only cut cheese), I always regretted cutting on a nice board and leaving uneven knife marks, but now I’m of the opinion that these marks are exactly what the Waga brand wants on its products – marks of life, use and continued shaping in our hands.