The dolphin/turtle/seagull on the poster were made from marine litter collected on the Slovenian coast. Raising awareness about marine litter in Slovenia.
The Marine Litter on the Slovenian Coast project is an award-winning series of socially engaged posters designed by Lukatarina in close collaboration with the Eco Vitae society and its founder, ecologist and researcher Andreja Palatinus. The Eco Vitae society has been a key long-term actor in cleaning, analyzing, and protecting the Slovenian sea and coastline. The project was created as a direct visual cry against the growing issue of plastic pollution in our marine ecosystem.
The creation process was highly field-oriented and ecological-scientific. It began with extensive waste collection along various sections of the Slovenian coast. Andreja Palatinus carefully stored the collected waste, preparing several bags of material for the creative process. This washed-up debris—ranging from plastic caps, cotton swabs, and packaging pieces to remnants of fishing nets and ropes—was then meticulously sorted by color and shape. We then began assembling collages, placing these real pieces of trash into pre-designed silhouettes of three native animal species that inhabit or visit the Slovenian sea: the sea turtle (loggerhead), the dolphin, and the seagull.
The choice of these three animals was intentional. They represent species that are the first and most vulnerable victims of human negligence in their natural environment; sea turtles and dolphins frequently perish because they become fatally entangled in abandoned fishing nets or mistake floating plastic bags for food, and it is similarly well-known that a vast amount of plastic debris is often found inside the stomachs of seagulls. By literally building each animal out of the waste that kills it, the posters deliver a shocking yet aesthetically refined message about our impact on the environment.
The project received exceptional acclaim within the professional community. At the 7th Biennial of Slovenian Design Brumen (2015), the poster series won the highest national professional honor—the Brumen Award in the poster category. The jury recognized a superb synergy between activism, ecological science, and original visual communication, which does not merely illustrate the issue but places it directly before the viewer using real material.
The creation process was highly field-oriented and ecological-scientific. It began with extensive waste collection along various sections of the Slovenian coast. Andreja Palatinus carefully stored the collected waste, preparing several bags of material for the creative process. This washed-up debris—ranging from plastic caps, cotton swabs, and packaging pieces to remnants of fishing nets and ropes—was then meticulously sorted by color and shape. We then began assembling collages, placing these real pieces of trash into pre-designed silhouettes of three native animal species that inhabit or visit the Slovenian sea: the sea turtle (loggerhead), the dolphin, and the seagull.
The choice of these three animals was intentional. They represent species that are the first and most vulnerable victims of human negligence in their natural environment; sea turtles and dolphins frequently perish because they become fatally entangled in abandoned fishing nets or mistake floating plastic bags for food, and it is similarly well-known that a vast amount of plastic debris is often found inside the stomachs of seagulls. By literally building each animal out of the waste that kills it, the posters deliver a shocking yet aesthetically refined message about our impact on the environment.
The project received exceptional acclaim within the professional community. At the 7th Biennial of Slovenian Design Brumen (2015), the poster series won the highest national professional honor—the Brumen Award in the poster category. The jury recognized a superb synergy between activism, ecological science, and original visual communication, which does not merely illustrate the issue but places it directly before the viewer using real material.
