Founder, director, art director, one of designers and best photographer of Studio Ajd (www.studio-ajd.si), which is one of most prominent creators of visual communications in Slovenia, producing a significant part of its work for winemakers in Slovenia and abroad (Italy, Croatia). Also founder of www.bottleshooters.eu – top bottle photography service for winemakers and others, servicing slovenian, croatian, italian, austrian and winemakers from other cuontries/regions with top bottle product-photos.

Art director of most prominent slovenian wine magazine Vino, contributing also as a writer and as a organiser of most of Vino’s major wine and wine tourism events.

Blogging about wine, culinary, design and photography since February 2009
(www.revija-vino.si/blog/mm/).

As photographer publishing in Wine Spectator, National Geographic (Slovenia), Vino magazine (Slovenia), Papageno (Italy, Austria) and others … Published cca 700 photos in monograph on Vipava vinegrowing region.

Occasionally invited to deliver a talk for students of winemaking at Univerza v Novi Gorici (Nova Gorica University) about wine label design (role, how to communicate to the designer) within their Wine Marketing course.

For his design work he received several awards.

Marijan together Aleš Gačnik delivered a talk titled:

Wine Tourism “Boom” / The Phenomenon of Wine Queens in Slovenia

Like elsewhere in the world, wine tourism in Slovenia is relatively young type of of tourism. Over the past two decades we can follow to the development of an extremely interesting Wine Queens phenomenon – at different levels: national, regional, local and on the level of selected grapes varieties. They are connected in the newly established Slovenian wine Kingdom.

Institution of Wine Queen of Slovenia is responsible for the promotion of Slovenian wines, viticulture and of Slovenia as a wine country too. They are spreading the culture of cultivation, care and culture of wine consumption. Across the globe they representing Slovenian tourism, cultural heritage and specially a local, regional and national wine culture. Therefore it is important, which girl will be selected in a public tender for the Wine Queen of Slovenia by a special committee. In 2014 will be chosen already the eighteenth Wine Queen of Slovenia. Over the last decade, we also get more regional and local Wine Queens, which communicate selected wine region or local community. We also have some Wine Queens, who are the ambassadors of certain grape varieties.

At the lecture will be presented a historical and cultural context, protocol, fashion, typology and mission of Wine Queens and specially their communicational role, »power« and influence on the development and promotion of wine tourism.

In vino veritas?

Get the speaker notes here>>