ABOUT

Klasja

Klasja Habjan is an illustrator, graphic designer, and writer. She graduated from the School of Design in Zagreb. Although her style and techniques vary, she most often expresses herself freehand, using ink and a brush to create simple yet captivating figurative drawings. Her affinity for illustrating her own stories and combining both mediums defines her solo exhibitions and residency projects.

She wrote and illustrated the graphic novel Duh Bauhausa / The Spirit of the Bauhaus (Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 2020), and later illustrated and designed the card deck Bauhaus Around You (produced by Form Function Studio and the Goethe-Institut Washington). Klasja published her own collection of illustrated short stories and poems, Pieces (Petikat, 2019). She has illustrated numerous children’s books, including the award-winning picture book Darklets/Tminice (Igor Rajki, Mala Zvona, 2023) and Windwalker/Vjetrohod (Igor Rajki, Mala Zvona, 2025).

During her residency at La Maison des Auteurs in Angoulême, Klasja began developing an artist book – a portrait of her grandmother – Chocolate is My Grandma’s Name. The work was exhibited at the Institut Français in Zagreb in May 2025, with a book launch planned for 2026.

She began exploring the art of hand-painted tiles in 2024 during her artist residency at the historic Portuguese tile factory Viúva Lamego. Her central motif – a series of intertwined Dancers rendered in various compositions, colors, and stylizations – served as a tribute to the factory workers who have preserved the tradition of tile-making across generations. This tile panel was later exhibited at Lisbon’s National Tile Museum in October 2024, as part of the celebration of Viúva Lamego’s 175th anniversary. Additionally, in collaboration with her brother under the name Klasjakov, the artist-and-designer siblings created a series of collectible tiles, marking the beginning of their future handmade creations. Their tile-based project Tales in Tiles was showcased at Oris – House of Architecture in Zagreb in 2025.

Together with Zita Nakić, Klasja runs the design studio klasja&zita, specializing in branding and visual identities. They created the visual identity for the documentary series Modern Times, which earned the Grand Award from the Croatian Designers Association (HDD), presented by an international jury at the 2025 Exhibition of Croatian Design at Lauba House.

Solo exhibitions

Chocolate is My Grandma’s Name / Moja se baka zove kao čokolada (Institut Français, Zagreb, 2025)
Tales in Tiles / Priče u pločicama (Oris, house of architecture, Oris kuća arhitekture, Zagreb, 2025)
Melting / Otapanje (Kranjčar Gallery, Zagreb, 2022)
Finally, someone! / Napokon netko! (Rigo Gallery, Novigrad, 2020)
Pieces / Crtice (Galerija Šira, Zagreb, 2019)

Selected group exhibitions

175th anniversary of Viúva Lamego, National Tile Museum Lisbon (Lisbon, Oct., 2024)
Dimness. A Delayed World / Polumrak. Odgođeni svijet;
collaboration with Marina Milanović, collection of illustrated poems, Gallery of Croatian Designers’ Association (Zagreb, 2024)
29th Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava (Bratislava, 2023)
Croatian Illustrators on BIB, Kupola Gallery (Zagreb, 2023.)
Situacija, (Anti)salon mladih (Canvas Gallery, Zagreb, 2020.)

Awards

Ovca u kutiji / Croatian Children’s Picture Book of the Year; first jury prize: Darklets / Tminice; illustrated by Klasja Habjan, written by Igor Rajki, Mala Zvona, 2023
Grand Award, Croatian Designers Association (HDD), for Best Work in the Complete Project/Product category, Exhibition of Croatian Design, Lauba House, 2025

Illustrated books

Windwalker / Vjetrohod, children’s picture book (written by Igor Rajki, Mala Zvona, 2025, Zagreb)
Lucky / Srećko; children’s picture book (written by Ana Đokić, Knjiga u Centru, 2024, Zagreb)
Monsters / Čudovišta; children’s picture book (written by Dorja Anić Pjevac, Mala Zvona, 2024, Zagreb)
Darklets / Tminice; children’s picture book (written by Igor Rajki, Mala Zvona, 2023, Zagreb)
Piccola con piccolo; children’s picture book (written by Bruno Mezić, Mala Zvona, Mala Zvona, 2021, Zagreb

Written and illustrated books

Chocolate is My Grandma’s Name / Moja se baka zove kao čokolada, (Mala Zvona, 2026, Zagreb)
Dimness. A Delayed World / Polumrak.Odgođeni svijet; collaboration with Marina Milanović, collection of illustrated poems (Croatian Designers Association, Zagreb, 2024)
Pieces / Crtice, collection of illustrated short stories and poems (Petikat, Zagreb, 2020)
The Spirit of the Bauhaus / Duh Bauhausa, graphic novel (Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 2020)