What most coworkers at tershouse will agree with is that Deni is a very versatile young man. Photography, film, art in general, psychology, marketing, martial arts, culture...He grew up in various environments and that left a lot of marks on his way of thinking, but also on his perception of the world and people. He will listen with sincere interest and patience if someone has a different view on a certain topic, but also listen carefully if you have a problem. He says that in his private life, he is completely different from how others know him - as an extroverted, very sociable person.
Life circumstances wanted Deniz (with Z) to be born in the South African Republic - Durban, but to grow up in Los Angeles. "My father is an architect and he got a job in South Africa before the war in BiH started, and when it started we immediately moved there. After two years, since the uprisings surrounding the fall of apartheid had already started, we decided to move to Los Angeles. There I formed a way of thinking that is still present today. My best friends were from Venezuela, Kenya, and Polynesia and I grew up in a culturally diverse environment, where we were all so different but still the same, and that's what shaped me but also what reminds me a lot of the community at tershouse.”
In Los Angeles, he grew up in a neighborhood called Studio City - for a reason, because the biggest production companies are located there. As he says, he was a real Californian kid who loved skateboarding and surfing, and in that period he also began to develop an interest in film that would not pass him by coming to Bosnia and Herzegovina. "After 10 years in L.A., dad decided in 2003 that we should return to BiH. I remember how I explained to my friends where the country I came from and to which I was returning was located, although it wasn't really clear to me either. I remember how the Bosnian language sounded to me when I first came to BiH - a strange mixture of French and Russian. It was difficult for me to get used to living here because of the big difference in lifestyles. Remembering that period now, I wouldn't change anything; by coming to BiH, I built my own path and gained a perspective that I wouldn't have had if I had stayed there, where I would have been just another "California kid."
We continue to talk about the period of growing up in America and what he remembers as significant for today's life and his profession. Deni says that one thing we all need to learn from the Americans is how to do marketing because they are simply fearless at it. "In BiH, marketing is, in my opinion, taken lightly. Marketing propaganda is literally programming the human brain. If you want a successful campaign, something that will enter pop culture, I think you have to take a serious approach to psychology. As a marketing designer, I look at what a visual consists of; from color, text, to where something is located. Everything is important and affects how it will be perceived. In domestic marketing, there is a lack of imagination and willingness to take risks. We are playing it safe. I think people like it when they’re challenged with something. The biggest campaigns are always the ones that are controversial."