From 1950 onwards it is possible to discuss contemporary Slovene architecture and graphic and product design according to the same criteria that defined the development of modern Europe and paved the way for the current way of thinking. Naturally, the noble heritage of art nouveau and fin-de-siècle predecessors should not be ignored.

Two key dates define this important turning point: 1949, in which architect Edvard Ravnikar was commissioned by the Ministry of Construction of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia to create a town-planning model for Nova Gorica (a new socialist town on the Italian border opposite the town of Gorizia which had been granted to Italy after World War II); and 1951, which witnessed the launch of the key architectural and design periodical Arhitekt magazine and Niko Kralj's design of the Rex Chair, using a technique of bending plywood in three directions.

The year 1950 is also regarded as a turning point because this is when a new identity of contemporary society was beginning to be forged, building new individual and social values in the aftermath of the destructive forces of World War II. While preceding generations had put Slovene architecture and design on the map of Central Europe, Slovenes now began to build an identity which would compete with their most renowned colleagues in Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Austria and the rest of Europe, suggesting that zeitgeist does not depend on information flow.

The first professional overview to feature architecture and design on a par with other forms of art was the 1979 exhibition Slovene Art 1945–1978. Between 2003 and 2005 the Museum of Modern Art Ljubljana mounted a series of retrospectives of Slovene design creativity, making up for the previous lack of such overviews.

See the overview under the Heritage section: Modern and contemporary Slovene architecture.

For the time being our directory of key contacts in this sector contains mostly the studios of the younger generation of architects.

Most representatives of the first post-war generation of graphic designers were architects. Architecture had a prevailing influence on Slovene design until 1984, when the Department of Design was established at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. The most prominent representatives of the first generation from the circle of Edvard Ravnikar, a professor at the Faculty of Architecture, were Jože Brumen, Grega Košak, Majda Dobravec Lajovic, Bronislav Fajon, and Uroš Vagaja. In 1960 and 1961 they tried and failed to establish design as an academic minor. Jože Brumen, a pioneer of Slovene graphic design who had achieved world fame, gave his name to the Brumen Foundation, established in 2003 to promote criteria of excellence, which all but disappeared with the invasion of marketing advertising in the 1980s. The Foundation's founders include members of the second generation of designers, such as Peter Skalar, Nino Kovacevic, Ranko Novak, and Miljenko Licul, all architects by profession, who combined an in-depth insight into European avant-garde movements and modernism with a knowledge of the Slovene mentality, enabling them to include humour in their designs. Painter Kostja Gatnik, who is known for his lucid and witty creations, is also considered the father of Slovene comics, having created the legendary Magna Purga comic book. Other significant designers of the period, such as Tomaž Kržišnik, Radovan Jenko, Zdravko Papič, Alojz Zorman Fojž and Ivan Marko were educated in Poland, while Jože Domjan graduated in Vienna. The most notable figure of this period in Slovene graphic design is Matjaž Vipotnik, a painter educated at the Accademia di Brera in Milan, who dominated the 1970s with his theatre posters and became a pioneer of post-modernism in Slovene graphic design in the 1980s. Professional magazines included Sinteza, edited by Stane Bernik, and Format, published between 1991 and 1995 by the Information and Documentation Centre for Design (IDCO) at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (GZS).

The end of the 1980s saw the emergence of the first design graduates, followed by self-taught designers. The decade between 1985 and 1995 is probably one of the most difficult in the history of Slovene graphic and product design, marked by the lowest average quality. This is accounted for by the fact that with the greatly-increased popularisation of personal computers during this period, participation in graphic design became very widespread, with many amateur enthusiasts taking on challenging graphic design assignments that they were not really up to. At the same time the advertising sector entered the market aggressively, taking over all other graphic design functions and to a large extent turning designers into sub-contractors. The next generation challenged this situation and began to break the rules made by their predecessors and models, using the spirit of eclecticism offered by the period of post-modernism. Novi kolektivizem (NK), part of the NSK collective, is perhaps the most representative group of post-modernists in Slovenian graphic design. In the 1990s they were joined by Ajax, Simon Sernec, Luks studio, Tandar, Botas, Dušan Grobovšek, Maja Gspan, Medja&Karlson, Irena Woelle, Metka Dariš, Tomaž Perme, and Torax. The former advertising giant Studio Marketing was joined by younger agencies such as Futura, Luna, GigoDesign and LUKSstudio, which emphasised both advertising and graphic design. At the beginning of the 1990s too, Slavimir Stojanović followed Eduard Ćehovin from Belgrade and won over Ljubljana (cf Futro). This parallel world of advertising and graphic design has been complemented by representatives of the youngest generation such as Martin Bricelj and CodeSign, whose work brings together visual, music and textual fields. This youngest generation also includes Strup Productions, Ozren Škodrić, Ajdin Bašić, Ivan Kan Mujezinović, Luka Dekleva, and Slavko Glamočanin, who presented their work at the Nu Sko_ol exhibition in ŠKUC Gallery in 2005. Design theory, however, remains underdeveloped. The few exceptions include Barbara Predan and Tanja Berčon, who decided to clarify and develop design terminology.

At present our directory of key contacts in this sector covers primarily younger designers.

The heyday of product design was the 1960s and 1970s, when design departments in state-run industries provided a boost to creative potential after the initial success of the 1950s. The biggest name in Slovene product design is still Niko Kralj who, while working for the furniture manufacturer Stol Kamnik, designed the Rex Chair in 1951 and patented it in 1954. Stol Kamnik went out of business at the beginning of this century, but the Impacta Company has since started to manufacture the chair. The Rex Chair forms part of the MoMa permanent design collection, which also includes kiosk K67 by Saša Maechtig from 1967-71 and microphones by Marko Turk. The most prominent and innovative designers of the period were Savin Savnik (Iskra telephones), Igor Rosa (Tomos motorcycles), Janja Lap (Steklarna Rogaška Slatina glass products), and particularly Marko Turk, who established his own electro-acoustic laboratory, EAL, where he designed state-of-the-art microphones. Other prominent designers of the period included Biba Bertok (furniture design), Miša Jelnikar (jewellery design), Oskar Kogoj (nature design), Vladimir Pezdirc (Kvadrat Ltd), Janez Smerdelj (Gorenje), Janez Suhadolc and Boštjan Debelak (chair design), and Branko Uršič and Alenka Planišček (Stol Kamnik).

The 17th ICSID congress, planned for 1991, could have been turning point for Slovene design, but because of the War of Independence it was rescheduled for May 1992, the year when the young Slovene state commissioned Miljenko Licul to design the new Slovene currency – the tolar – and the new Slovene passport. The ICSID congress did put Slovenia on the map, but failed to realise the hopes of design professionals that it would provide encouragement and enable a renaissance of Slovene design.

One constant feature in the Slovene product design sector has been the BIO - Biennial of Industrial Design which, following its foundation in 1964, adopted an international orientation, taking over the task of mediating between Western European industry (and design) and the Eastern European cultural region (and market). At its peak, BIO was an important standard-setter whose awards reflected excellence, like the Prešeren Award and Prešeren Foundation Awards, which went to designers more frequently before 1985 than they do today. However, as the years went by the once-excellent BIO began to run out of impetus, and its mission as mediator between East and West ceased to inspire Slovene design.

Immediately before the end of this 'golden era' of product design, the Department of Design was established at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, which has now produced more than five generations of graduates. Slovenia has thus gained design graduates, but for the most part now Slovene industry no longer needs them - a paradox at a time when only good design sells products - as it is preoccupied with finding its place in the storms of transition. Exceptions include Alpina, Elan, Gorenje, Riko and Intralighting. Young designers no longer have the opportunities which were once provided in socialist development institutes – including mass production, which meant regular control of their designs.

The beginning of the 1990s saw the emergence of high-quality design concepts at the Department of Design, which were regularly featured in magazines. Students of that period have since become very creative designers and have introduced many changes. Representatives include Jure Miklavc, Toni Kancilija, Bojan Klančar, Miha Klinar, Gregor Markelj, Tanja Pak, Helena Šuštar and the duo Aleš Bratina and Tandar.

The year 2008 marks the 24th anniversary of the Department of Design at the Academy of Fine Arts and the 64th anniversary of the Biennial of Industrial Design. The institution whose main task is to promote design and architecture is the Architecture Museum of Ljubljana, founded in 1972 and open to the public since 1974.