Ma(i)croworld

The art monograph Ma(i)croworld presents a retrospective view of the multi-layered work of Jan Rajlich Jr., painter, graphic designer, teacher, and organiser and initiator of a wide range of cultural activities. From a young age, Jan Rajlich embarked on a career similar to that of his father (a well-known painter, printmaker, graphic designer and initiator of the International Graphic Design Hobienale in Brno). After studying architecture at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Brno University of Technology, he worked as an interior architect for seven years. At the same time, however, he was already working with his father on graphic design commissions. Jan Rajlich Jr.’s work initially comprised drawing, and in the 1970s and 1980s also oil painting; furthermore, applied graphics, particularly promotional and exhibition design. From the mid-1980s onwards, Rajlich explored the possibilities of computer graphics and the technique of screen printing. He also devoted himself to creating collages and typefaces. He is the author of five hundred small graphic works, numerous logos and logotypes, information systems, typographic designs for publications, emblems for some Brno city districts, and visual designs for exhibitions; he also created the visual identity for Brno Fairs and Exhibitions as well as other companies. However, the core of the artist’s work consists of posters, of which he created some two hundred. Jan Rajlich Jr.’s teaching activities are also significant. In 1983, he began teaching typography, graphic art and design at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Brno. Since the late 1980s, he has been lecturing in graphic design at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Brno University of Technology. He has published over 200 articles on industrial graphic design. He has presented his work at thirty-five solo and four hundred group exhibitions both at home and abroad. He was a member of numerous organisations, such as the Union of Czech Visual Artists, the Q Brno Association, and the Brno Biennale Association, where he still serves as chairman. The publication was released to mark the life milestone of Jan Rajlich Jr.