Nikola Vucicevic had the pleasure to be a guest speaker in the Design department at Chicago’s Robert Morris Univeristy. In his 70-minute presentation and speech he talked about his experience and his experiences as a designer, his current circumstances and future prospects both in the field of design and marketing.

The topic was “How Much Does Design Cost and How To Sell It.” Nikola shared with his audience one of his truest beliefs: “Design or a good marketing concept actually costs nothing because a good design and a marketing concept always has ROI (return on investment). We don’t just care if the design is visually beautiful, we really care about communication. So sometimes we create something that is not so beautiful or cute, but financially sustainable and cognitively effective.

Design is a complex process that lead us to clever and simple visual solutions

Design is a tool that enables us to communicate by using the visual psychology based on a perception that is built by individual/group knowledge.

That is why a designer is not just a person who knows what is beautiful in general, but the one who knows what is beautiful according to the client’s or the market’s needs. That is why I love my work and this industry. It allows you to play and enjoy while doing something serious. When I look back on my career, I have proven that I am able to do award-winning work and bring publicity to the client, I can produce financially stunning results and even strong social awareness.”

Students feedback and comments:

"His overall speech was really well done. It was great seeing someone who is in my future line of work and is doing nice work and working with all sorts of famous companies. It was inspiring to see what he achieved knowing that one day all of us can also be doing that. It made me realize even more how many opportunities there are as a graphic designer, not only here in the United States, but all over the world. His presentation was good and my attention was on him while the whole class period he was speaking."

"I really enjoyed Nikola's presentation in class on Monday. I thought he did a nice job on presenting the idea of how you have to think of the meanings behind each design and how to create something just from a plain idea. What I thought was pretty inspiring is how he came up with the "R" concept from the map of the street. I think he could have gone into more detail about his overall process on how he came up with his designs. Also, it would have been beneficial if he would have gone into more detail about the research he did on his clients company to really find what type of brand and brand style would be good for each company. Overall, I think he did a great job and I definitely did find inspiration from his work."

"Overall, I thought the speech was pretty well done. He explained, in great detail, his process into how he arrived at his level in the business world. There were a few things I wanted to know about in his speech, though. One, he showed the outcome of his product and explained the reasoning’s behind it's working, but what he did not talk about was the process itself. I understand that as a designer, all the ideas that go into a project are under lock and key; it would have been beneficial though to hear of his train of thought through the development of the projects. Also, even though we all know the importance of doing thorough research into the products we are making, I feel as though he glossed over that entire area. Not to say every designer to ever give a speech must ramble on about how much reading is involved, but that as a crucial part of the process, I feel it deserves at least a mention. Those are just a few things I felt. Like I said in the beginning though, I enjoyed the speech, and I thought it was incredibly informational."

"One of the most parts I found most interesting during the presentation was when Nikola talked about all his clients and how he became the designer he is today. He walked through how it was when he first started designing for a design firm and ultimately opened his own studio. I found his work of arts were very well planned out and executed thoroughly. Overall, his presentation was great and caught my attention the whole time."

"I liked how his design was simple. Also, i liked how he mentioned he doesn’t do coding. He soley a designer. Lately I’ve been dealing with everything being so digital, i don’t like iPad designs and mobile apps. He made feel reassured in the field I’m in, do what i love doing and ill be fine."

"The guest speaker Nikola, who was from Serbia was great. Being able to listen to someone who is the professional field where I am determined to be really helped a lot. His creativity and his final products were very clean and it shows that in order to get to where he is at it takes a lot of hard work, time, and patience. His quotes he chose were the most enlightening part of his presentation. Quotes have meanings and the quotes he chose meant something to him and hopefully to other future graphic designers. For him to be traveling around the world he is someone not just a guy from Serbia but a great designer who talks about his journeys of what he has done to get to where is now."

"The most enlightening part of his speech was the interesting quotes he chose and his own work. It was nice to see his creativity and clean examples of what final products of your work should look like. I wish he went into more detail about his journey to become a designer and how he made it so big all around the world! Also, what he charged coming out of college to what he charges now, as well as if he went into different fields of graphic design before he did it on his own. Overall I thought it went awesome and am grateful to meet someone of our future profession!"

"Having the guest speaker from Serbia come to our class and speak about graphic design was really great and interesting. It really opened our minds up to all the opportunities we can explore all over the world. I felt that Nikola is very talented in all the work that he does it was greatly appreciate that he spent the time to come and speak with us."

Recommendation of the leading professor.

Working on the concept Mind The Gap. Between London and us.