Graphic Design
Iva Babaja
Ingeborg's Tollak, Tore Renberg

Project
The cover design for the psychological neo-noir novel “Ingeborg's Tollak” by Norwegian author Tore Renberg, published by Lector in 2025, visually interprets this year’s festival theme, “Friction”. It does so through an intense clash between organic texture and strict geometric discipline. Rejecting superficial decoration, the work draws on a visual language deeply inspired by the legacy of the New Tendencies movement and post-war neo-constructivism.
The central motif – a highly detailed, tactile cross-section of a tree trunk – represents the foundation of the protagonist Tollak’s identity, an unyielding old sawyer whose life is deeply tied to wood, harsh nature and destruction. This raw organic matter is both restrained and dissected by a precise geometric grid of interwoven circles and rectangles. The transitions between structures are rendered through a meticulous pointillist technique, creating an optical friction between light and shadow, surface and depth.
Year
2025
Client
Lector
Author
Iva Babaja is a Croatian designer, educator and international expert in visual communication. Her distinctive practice is grounded in structural analysis, the development of visual systems and rigorous typographic discipline.
As an independent designer, she has created numerous award-winning projects in book design, corporate identity and signage systems. Her work is rooted in the legacy of European geometric abstraction and post-war neo-constructivism, and is characterised by a rational approach to visual communication.
As a former President of the International Council of Design (ico-D), she contributed to shaping international professional standards while advocating for the social responsibility of design and institutional excellence.
She works as a university professor and leads visual communication study programmes, teaching design theory, typography and spatial navigation. Her practice connects extensive professional experience with academic research into visual systems and systematic branding.
