Because of the specificity of your work, people talk about you and your work very much. When it comes to the nearby destination, we would like to mention Tivat in Montenegro and its gorgeous and divine port named “Porto Montenegro” which is decorated with numerous yachts. A lot of them are actually your work. So, in Porto Montenegro your name is mentioned every day many times. You definitely contributed the beauty and glamour of this location. Tell us more about your work which is related specifically to Porto Montenegro?
The Boka area is the pave where I grew up and from where I draw my inspiration. There are some smaller boats in the locality, which I designed or redesigned but since, then my design work has grown globally and you can find my boats on at least five Continents. The Porto is a wonderful place and I have many friends there but never enough time to enjoy it together but we keep in touch and try to meet in the summertime.
One of the projects that you were working on, got our special and full attention. It is a new model of a car brand Jaguar (sedan XF Sportbrake) and carbon Yacht Concept Speedboat. Tell us more about this project and the overall cooperation with Jaguar? Beside Jaguar, have you ever cooperated with any other successful and popular company?
Recently I worked with Ian Callum, Jaguar cars director of design of XK and F-Type fame, on interpreting the Jaguar 50’s design heritage into a 6-meter lifestyle speedboat. The full size model prototype looked great, although, I think Jaguar will not put it into production but I love the idea and the lines.
Then there is the Icon ER175 in collaboration with ICON Yachts, a 54-meter bullet-shaped bow design, a sleek , sculptured hull and superstructure yacht, a real James Bond kind of a boat for which I won “The International Yacht & Aviation Award” for over 50 metre designs.
I must not forget here the “Adamantine” an 86-metre six-deck superyacht that sparkles like a diamond on the sea. The design is a unique, well-proportioned boat, which combines the naval-style strength with elegance and refinements of a superyacht, whilst an interlocking chain of faceted glass along the superstructure give the yacht an original appearance of a diamond.
We would like to talk more about your relationship with your clients. You are known by a very good cooperation with your customers and in those business relationships you consider their ideas and suggestions. However, you never cross the line of a limit where the specificity of your own way of designing begins to loose and where the domination of customer requirements begins to grow. Tell us how do you react in situation where your client, who already owns a yacht, wants to make the change on it? What are obligations of your client in that situation?
My motto is “In Pursuit of Perfection” which drives me on! I believe perfection is possible, a unique feeling of balance and harmony of form. My designs are one of a kind, as unique as my inner world where I draw my inspiration and my Clients know this very well when they commission a design. Besides the Owner’s expectations and comfort, there are guests, a master, crew, safety and security, privacy, ergonomics; the whole picture has to be taken into the account and I try to continuously involve and educate a client and in that way avoid pitfalls of “difference of design opinion”.
Ivan, thank you for taking time to answer our questions. We know how busy you are and we appreciate your time very much. In the end, tell us about your future business plans?
Currently I am working on a 60m superyacht design for a very important client in Europe, which will be a modern classic design with a beautiful shear line and elegant but functional superstructure and with a long-range cruising capability.
My aim for the future is a highly personalized design with a high level of client input, a yacht that is a place to live, work, relax and entertain and be entertained. It will be a self-contained, safe and secure world that is able to move around the Globe. The design will be in the region of 95 meters as the market demands, implementing the newest technology and “green” solutions, expressed by minimalistic styling with clean lines and with sculpture shaped superstructure surfaces. That’s all I can say for now and you must wait for a while to see her design.
Aleksandra Grujić
