Ziga Testen Studio is a graphic design studio based in Melbourne, Australia but operates internationally. Typically the focus of the practice is contemporary art and culture and we prioritise work in close collaboration with artists, curators and cultural organisations. Rather than an aesthetic or style, a context and project specific solution is sought out for each individual commission.
For inquries and new commissions get in touch at inquiries (at) testen.studio
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Collaborators
Stuart Geddes, graphic design
Jake Bonin, web developement
Kim Mumm Hansen, graphic design
Tom Ross, photography
Ziga Testen is the founder and creative director of the studio. Testen is born in Slovenia and has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts of Ljubljana, holds a masters in curating at Konstfack University and has been a participant at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Since 2013 he has been living in Melbourne, Australia. He regularly contributes to the academic discourse as a critic and lecturer for academic institutions in Australia and overseas. He is currently running a studio at the Masters of Visual Communication at RMIT University, Melbourne. He also writes on and about graphic design and design history and has curated exhibitions and edited publications in the field.
Clients include (alphabetically)
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, AU
Damiano Bertoli, AU
Discipline Magazine, AU
Institute for Contemporary Art, AT
Institute of Modern Art, AU
Jan van Eyck Academie, NL
Katarina Zdjelar, NL
Milica Tomic, SRB
MUMA, AU
Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana
Nicholas Mangan, Melbourne
Nicholas Tammens/1856, Melbourne
Perimeter Books, Melbourne
Revolver Publishing, Berlin
RMIT Design Hub, Melbourne
Schwartz Media, Melbourne
Spector Books, Leipzig
Sternberg Press, Berlin
Surpllus Press, Melbourne
Tara McDowell, Melbourne
The Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana
Tom Nicholson, Melbourne
Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne
Willem de Rooij, Berlin
Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam
Exhibitions
Tokyo Type Directors Club Exhibition
Melbourne Design Week, ‘Which Mirror Do You Want to Lick’
27th International Biennial of Graphic Design Brno, ‘Which Mirror Do You Want to Lick?’
Beijing Design Week, ‘The Best Dutch Book Designs’
Russian National Book Festival, ‘Zhar-Kniga’
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, ‘The Best Dutch Book Designs’
Toppan Printing Museum Tokyo, ‘World Book Design 2012–13’
Frankfurt Book Fair, ‘Book Art International’
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, ‘The Best Dutch Book Designs’
24th International Biennial of Graphic Design Brno
Typopass, ‘Critical Design and Conceptual Typography’
Lungomare Bolzano, ‘Atti Democratici’
23rd International Biennial of Graphic Design Brno
Awards
70th Australian Book Design Awards
Best Design Awards 2021
AGDA Awards 2021
69th Australian Book Design Awards
Stiftung Buchkunst (Finalist)
Best Design Awards 2020
AGDA Awards 2020
68th Australian Book Design Awards
Best Design Awards 2019
Cornish Family Prize for Art and Design Publishing
Museums Australasia Publication Design Awards
Best Design Awards
AGDA Awards
Museums Australasia Publication Design Awards
AAANZ Book Prize
AGDA Awards
Cornish Family Prize for Art and Design Publishing
Cornish Family Prize for Art and Design Publishing
AAANZ Book Prize
De Best Verzorgde Boeken
De Best Verzorgde Boeken
Lectures and presentations (selection)
ICDHS (International Committee for Design History and Design Studies) 12, ‘Lessons to Learn? Past Design Experiences And Contemporary Design Practices’
Melbourne Design Week, ‘Which Mirror Do You Want to Lick’
The Anatomy of the Book Conference
REDO International Graphic Design Conference
The School of Design and Architecture, Nagoya City University
Melbourne Art Book Fair International Symposium
RMIT School of Media and Communication Melbourne
Typography Summer School, RMIT University Melbourne
Monash Art Design & Architecture Speaker Series
The International Conference ‘Designer: Author or Universal Soldier - Historical Battles’, The Cultural Centre of Belgrade
‘Agency : Assembly’, WIELS Brussels
‘Weak signals, wild cards’, De Appel Amsterdam
Add Comment: ‘Designing Critique in Public Forums’, Casco Projects Utrecht
Selected writing
The Master Approving of His Own Work
Jan Tschichold — A portrait: The Master approving
of his own work
‘So what you are really asking is...' The right answers
to the wrong questions
Our Group Wourk
Exhibitions, Projects, Conferences (curated, organised)
‘Inflation of Radical Phrases as Opposed to a Lack of Radical Action’, The Cultural Centre of Belgrade, Belgrade, RS
‘Practice Praxis with Jan van Toorn, Ken Garland and Richard Hollis’, Jan van Eyck Academie, NL
‘Surfing the Black. Yugoslavian Black Wave Cinema.’, Jan van Eyck Academie, NL
‘Inflation of Radical Phrases as Opposed to a Lack of
Radical Action’, Jan van Eyck Academie, NL
‘North by Northeast. (And South)’ with Daniel van der
Velden, Jan van Eyck Academie, NL