Center for Industrial Design, Zagreb [Centar za industrijsko oblikovanje CIO]

The CIO was founded in the early 1960s on the premises of the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb. It quickly assumed a key role in the education of potential design clients, as an information hub with a well-equipped library in the field of industrial design, a mediator in contracting commercial deals between designers and companies, and a place for developing design methodologies. In 1965, the CIO published a booklet offering ‘instructions for industrial design’ to prospective design clients, and in 1967 it launched the monthly magazine ‘Dizajn’ (Design), encompassing twelve issues through 1967/68, each dedicated to a different industrial sector. The CIO also edited several comprehensive publications on design education and methodology. As part of its mission to educate the public, it organised exhibitions of British and German design in Zagreb. Among the few successful commercial ventures of the Center in the 1960s were the design of tableware for the Kordun metal-ware factory in Karlovac and battery packaging for IPR. In these projects, the Center assumed the role of mediator and project supervisor.