Igor Kordej graduated at ŠPUD (The School of Applied Arts and Design in Zagreb), graphic department (1972-1977) and attended two years at Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb, graphic department (1977-1979).[citation needed]
Igor Kordej started as a professional graphic designer when he was 18, and as a professional comic artist and illustrator when he was 19 years old, joining a very influential group of comic artists Novi kvadrat (New square) 1976–1979,[2] and publishing in all relevant Yugoslavian youth magazines of that era. In 1979 Novi kvadrat won the prestigious national award 7 sekretara SKOJ-a, thus marking a break-up of the group.[citation needed]
In the early 1980s, Kordej teamed up with Mirko Ilić again in SLS studio (acronym for "Slow, Bad and Expensive"), and focuses on producing album covers and posters for Yugoslavian pop musicians and groups. After the break-up with Ilić he continues with solo career, doing illustration for Yugoslavian mainstream magazines, film and theater posters,[3] logotypes and album covers.[4][5]
Kordej started a career in European comic market in 1986 (France, Spain, Germany), and since 1989 on the US market (Heavy Metal Magazine). His most significant work from that period is album Les cinq saisons – Automne, published in 1990 by Dargaud. That album was appointed by the Ministry of Culture in France as a work of significant cultural value and was assigned to all public libraries in France (in 2011 the same album was featured in Paul Gravett's book 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die).[6]
Kordej moved from Zagreb to a small Istrian village, Groznjan in 1988 where he leads, as an artist and supervisor, a group of over 20 artists and story writers (among others a young Darko Macan, Edvin Biuković and Goran Sudžuka), as well as veterans Radovan Devlić and Dragan Filipović Fipa,[7] producing comics and design for the German market.
In 1991 he moved to Denmark at the invitation of Semic International company, where he spends almost a year, producing comics and illustrations for Malibu Comics. In 1997 he moves to Canada, invited by Digital Chameleon company, working as a creative director. Having disputes with management, he leaves the company after eight months and becomes a freelancer again.[citation needed]
From 1994 to 1996, Kordej did work for both Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics. At Marvel, he worked under editor-in-chief Marcus McLaurin, when Kordej produced several hand-painted comics for Tales of Marvels series. He returned to Marvel in 2001 when he was invited by editor-in–chief Joe Quesada to work on the series Cable and New X-Men. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks many of Marvel artists produced illustrations inspired by the tragedy. They all went on public auction, with the profits donated to families of fallen rescuers. Kordey's illustration Pennsylvania Plane[8] was bought by The Library of Congress. Because of his speed as an artist, at his peak, Kordej was producing artwork for three or four monthly books at the same time. However, as a result, he has attracted heavy criticism for the quality of his art, especially from the readers.[9][10]
A few months later, in June 2004, Kordej signed a contract with Editions Delcourt. In two decades of his collaboration with the publisher, he published nearly eighty albums on the francophone market.[11]
2013 Honorary member of ULUPUH (Croatian Association of Artists of Applied Arts), Zagreb, Croatia[14]
2020 Gold medal - best of show - Rastko Ćirić for The Rubber Soul Project box set, Global Music Awards, La Jolla, California, USA.[15] Kordey participated as designer and executive producer.
