Vida tells the story of her mother, Regina Olga Jurcic, née Dakic, her journey as an animator, textile and graphic designer and how she has inspired Vida in her career.
My mother would have been 91 this September, but sadly, she passed away in 2023 after a frustrating decade-long battle with dementia. She has been the most influential person in my life and career path. I spent many hours playing under her drafting table as she created bold textile designs on yards of fabric in the 1960s or crafted intricate chinaware patterns with liquid opaque paint on vellum in the late 1970s. Over the years, I learned many design and printing techniques by observing my mum at work. She taught me about letter-form proportions and type design, and she let me play with her precious Letraset when I was just ten years old. She was an amazing designer and generous spirit, always mentoring students that local high schools sent to her home-based studio in Burnaby, BC, Canada, Regina Art Studio, during the late 1970s and 80s.
Early life and career
Her career was diverse starting off in Croatia. After a challenging childhood through World War II, she studied at the Academy of Applied Arts in Zagreb. She then apprenticed with the renowned modernist Edo Murtic, with whom she collaborated on mosaic tile and painted murals for the now defunct Ritz Bar and Opera House Café in Zagreb. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, she worked for the animation studio Zagreb Film, painting cells, and also worked as a sign painter and graphic designer. The logo she designed for the “School Book” store brand is still used today and can be found on storefront signage all over Zagreb, and on their website. She also danced and toured with a folklore group and played classical guitar in an orchestra.
In the early 1950s, during the Communist period of Yugoslavia, she and her best friend left the country on a tourist visa, staying in Salzburg, Austria, where they freelanced for various clients. They created components for 3D displays for exhibitions and worked in an animation studio. Her aunt introduced her by mail to a young man who had left Zagreb as a refugee via Trieste, Italy, and was shipped to Australia to build a new life. That man was Slavko Jurcic. After numerous letters back and forth, Regina boarded a ship in Italy, and set sail for Australia, assuming. They were married in 1957 in Melbourne, Australia.
New journey in Australia
Regina began by working on various animation projects but soon landed a job at Vida Turner Textiles as a designer, where she was soon running the entire studio. Along with designing bold prints for fabrics and beach towels, she designed pennants for The Beatle's 1962 tour of Australia. The one she kept was a “spoil” with the registration offset. It is heartbreaking to me that she had the Beatles’ original signatures that she traced on a piece of paper but then threw it in the garbage.
In the early 1970s, Regina worked for Westminster, China, designing intricate chinaware patterns and shapes. In May 1974, the Jurcic family made a brave move to Canada. After a 90-day journey across two oceans, the equator and through the Panama Canal, the ship glided into New York harbour with the sun rising between the World Trade Centre towers, giving Regina her first glimpse of the American continent. The Jurcic family then travelled by bus to Toronto Ontario, where they stayed only three months.
Building her own studio
The final leg of the journey was a three-day train ride to Vancouver. Once settled, Regina opened her studio. She continued to work for her Australian client, Westminster, China and numerous local companies. One of her pieces, a plate designed for the life works of W.A.C. Bennett, can be found in the BC Pavilion at the Royal Museum of BC in Victoria. Her final full-time job was at Great West Graphics, where she designed concert tour t-shirts for Bryan Adams, Loverboy, Red Rider and other local bands. After Great West, she designed her own souvenir t-shirts, which she and I would sell at flea markets on weekends. Regina also designed beautiful knitted hats and scarves, ”which were sold in local makers’ boutiques in Gastown and on Granville Island.
Having watched my mum dedicate her life to art, design and music, and all her long hours at the drafting board, I swore I would never follow in her footsteps, but when design is in your blood, it’s impossible to fight that powerful DNA. My journey started with the love and encouragement of my amazing mum, my greatest inspiration and my unsung design hero.
Vida Jurcic RGD
Vida Jurcic RGD is a founding partner and Co-creative Director of Hangar 18 Design Continuum, an award-winning Vancouver design and branding firm with a legacy of strategic solutions spanning two decades. She has been an in-house art director/designer at the Hudson’s Bay Company and Woodwards Department Stores and has worked at various advertising agencies, including DDB and BBDO. She has judged many regional and national design competitions and sat on scholarship juries including the BC Arts Council. In addition, Vida currently teaches at the IDEA School of Design, Capilano University and has taught at Vancouver Film School and Langara in the past. She is an avid design history buff and part-time musician/Morris dancer.
