For Graphic Designer Ana Mojas, the path to success starts with trusting yourself. “Personally, I think the most important thing for aspiring designers to remember is to be themselves and listen to their intuition,” she says. “Also, I’d advise them not to miss a chance to learn something new from older colleagues.”

Mojas hails from Dubrovnik, a seaside town in Croatia, where she developed her intuitive knack for design early on. “My town’s old historical center dates back to the Dubrovnik Republic and is on the UNESCO World Heritage sites list,” Mojas says. “Growing up in these surroundings, developing an eye for aesthetics was not hard.” 

She also has family tradition in the creative arts. “Creativity runs in our family. My father was a great drawer, so he taught me the basics,” Mojas says. “My mother’s younger sister is also a creative individual, and I still remember her making me a costume for my kindergarten play! As I grew older, I became invested in drawing and started filling my notebooks and participating in competitions.” 

Mojas remembers noticing packaging and posters at a young age, regularly buying books for the cover design. “I didn’t know much about design as a profession,” she says. “Then, sometime during high school, a local newspaper published an article about a young designer from my hometown who won a Red Dot award for packaging. I was curious about the story behind it, so I got in touch with her, and the next thing I knew was that I wanted to become a designer.”